Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - List of Crucial Skills to learn Rinding in the streets?

Dressing/gearing up for the weather is also important. It's all about the layers.

*reaching over the bars to close opening car doors...
never knew anyone fuked with that except me till I saw that king of messengers video (or something like that)...I guess it is common practice
*peripheral vision/being able to look behind you on both shoulders
*holding a straight line with one hand (or none) while turning body to make eye contact with drivers behind
*'dancing' in front of a vehicle to keep it behind you
*making loud noises (whether it be from a yell or whistle) to alert others

*reaching over the bars to close opening car doors...
never knew anyone fuked with that except me till I saw that king of messengers video (or something like that)...I guess it is common practice
*peripheral vision/being able to look behind you on both shoulders
*holding a straight line with one hand (or none) while turning body to make eye contact with drivers behind
*'dancing' in front of a vehicle to keep it behind you
*making loud noises (whether it be from a yell or whistle) to alert others
+ 1. i think flowing with traffic is very crucial but it has to tie into predicting a driver to do something stupid. my philosophy is expect every driver to not use a signal or purposely block them so they dont cut you off with a turn. its amazing how many drivers have the !very easy ability! to signal and don't use them. i mean moving the hand doesn't even burn a calorie so how hard is it? i hope someone makes a signaler for bikes so i could let others now what im doing. i guess folks don't have the patience or kindness or care to let others know what they're doing.

Peripheral vision is key. Gotta know what's going on all around you at all times.

I'm also working on the no handed whistle to replace yelling. I can't do the whistle with two fingers yet, so it'll be a bit till I learn the no hander.

enjoying it

Peripheral vision is key. Gotta know what's going on all around you at all times.

I'm also working on the no handed whistle to replace yelling. I can't do the whistle with two fingers yet, so it'll be a bit till I learn the no hander.

yea...learn the whistle homie!!!!...learn both too, with fingers is easier to do in the winter when your lips are freezing and is louder too...but without fingers is quick and very key

if you need tips, learn from someone who can do it well....or PM me, I'll try to give you tips

being able to buck up a wheelie out of a trackstand as to challenge the cars around you and intensify yourself as a cyclist on the road and just a general badass to the surrounding people on the sidewalk.

skitching is necessary when you're really freakin late.
- a correllary to skitching is learning how to get your feet back in the cages while the pedals are spinning like crazy, or at least being able to stomp the bottom of your platforms.

learning to curse properly is a must.

skidding has very little practical purpose or value over simply resisting or skipping, so i wouldn't say it's crucial to learn.

it is crucial fun though.

and it seems like it's going to be crucial expensive for me, i have to break my habit of skidding too too much. evan, remember that tire i put on on thursday night? by the end of work on friday, i had skidded through it. b'oh.

Do these vary from state to state because I remember right turn being a 90 degree angle pointing upward with the left hand.
It's more like "old way" vs "new way"..... I just point to where I'm goin' if I think the cager needs to know....

To supplement this, if you ride in a very bent over position and wear a backpack, your pack will stick up about half a foot higher than your head. Remember this when you try to go under the side mirror of that public bus you're passing.


oh man i tried to go under a low tree limb one time and forgot about my backpack. my body made it under then the pack hooked, popped my torso up and then rolled my off the back of the bike. at least a girls walking by said it looked graceful and nothing got busted up....

one skill thats tough for fix is coasting with your inside pedal over the curb so all you take up of the road is your tire and one pedal's worth of width. i use this one all the time to get by cars traffic. the ducking/backpack skill comes in pretty handy at this time too.

oh and i dont know if anyone mentioned it yet, but being able to look back over your shoulder and keep a dead straight line is essential. tough too.

When you're at a red light along side a car, I don't pay any attention to which way the driver is looking to determine if he is going to turn left or right or go straight ahead. I look at the driver's front wheels. The car is going to go the way the wheels are pointed, no matter what the driver is doing.

When you're at a red light along side a car, I don't pay any attention to which way the driver is looking to determine if he is going to turn left or right or go straight ahead. I look at the driver's front wheels. The car is going to go the way the wheels are pointed, no matter what the driver is doing.
i agree and disagree. from personal experience i do the same too but there have been times when wheels are straight and then they go for a turn quickly and then times when pointed to turn and they go straight. what i do to determine if they turn is look to see if they signaled (which is a suprising thing to find sometimes cuz some drivers dn't use them). but the overall best thing i do and suggest to everyone, let them go ahead so you protect yourself. 4get the gyesing games and let those guys go first so give ease to your mind (even thought there will be other things stressing you about how they drive but one less is better than none at all)

one i haven't heard mentioned yet... using cars or other windows on crossing streets as mirrors to see oncoming traffic. works best at night b/c of lights, but it works pretty good durring the day too. as said before, make sure you have plenty of room to bail if you see something heading your way.

also, knowing when to be a little agressive so people know you are there on a packed street during rush hour.

Go, stop, turn left, turn right.

being able to buck up a wheelie out of a trackstand as to challenge the cars around you and intensify yourself as a cyclist on the road and just a general badass to the surrounding people on the sidewalk.

hahahahaha

being able to look back over your shoulder and keep a dead straight line

Chin to shoulder is the best way I've found.

Learning to ride a track bike without making an A#$ of yourself.

Learning to read traffic.

Learning to follow the flow of traffic.

Learning to know what to to in case of an emergency example : chainring breaks and chain flys off.

S/F,
CEYA!

Ride without spilling your coffee. Can't do that, you have no business being on a bike.

being able to buck up a wheelie out of a trackstand as to challenge the cars around you and intensify yourself as a cyclist on the road and just a general badass to the surrounding people on the sidewalk.

:D


YES!...

Learn how to say "**** YOU" in a real thick New York accent. Much more efficient than "Hey buddy! That sucked!"

wheelies.

and it seems like it's going to be crucial expensive for me, i have to break my habit of skidding too too much. evan, remember that tire i put on on thursday night? by the end of work on friday, i had skidded through it. b'oh.

are you a heavy guy by any chance? i've been skidding my tires religiously since september, still no signs of wearing to the thread and i have a backup of gatorskins on hand. i clock in ~160lb.

i cant remember if i said this already but if you run brakeless, well-executed skid stops are mandatory. as in well-executed, i mean being able to do them under split second reflexes, and barely having to get out of the saddle as to ensure shortest braking distance.

stopping is all well and good. Neccessary sometimes. But many times stopping quickly is the best way to get an SUV's bumper up your a$$. I ride with the theory that if you have to stop, you've done something wrong. Not always true, but it keeps me focused on avoiding situations rather than reacting to them.

One of the best lessions I've learned is that I'm not in a race (most of the time) and I'm not getting paid to get package C from A to B as fast as possible. Slow down, enjoy the ride. Traffic is like a river.. If you flow with it you can use it to get where you want to go. If you fight it and try to conqure it, it will kill you.

stopping is all well and good. Neccessary sometimes. But many times stopping quickly is the best way to get an SUV's bumper up your a$$. I ride with the theory that if you have to stop, you've done something wrong. Not always true, but it keeps me focused on avoiding situations rather than reacting to them.

One of the best lessions I've learned is that I'm not in a race (most of the time) and I'm not getting paid to get package C from A to B as fast as possible. Slow down, enjoy the ride. Traffic is like a river.. If you flow with it you can use it to get where you want to go. If you fight it and try to conqure it, it will kill you.
i lyk your philosophy

Stopping. Skid, slow, whatever...or even maybe using one of those "brake" things everyone's ranting about.

Beyond that it's all show. Handy, but show.

tricks teach you balance and handling. anything you can do on a bike might help you out sometime when you least expect it.

now that I've finally got it down, also knowing how to track stand in all 4 wheel positions. Very useful when you're in traffic and you don't have the space to position yourself the way you most feel comfy. It's awkward at 1st when you turn your wheel opposite the direction of your forward facing foot but it's definitely nice once you get it down

Situational Awareness.

"
Although the term itself is fairly recent, the concept appears to go back a long way in the history of military theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_theory)—it is recognizable in Sun Tzu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu)'s Art of War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_War), for instance. The term itself, can be traced back to World War I, where it was recognized as a crucial component for crews in military aircraft (Press, 1986).
Before being widely adopted by human factors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_factors) scientists in the 1990s, the term was first used by United States Air Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force) (USAF) fighter aircrew returning from war in Korea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea) and Vietnam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam) (see Watts, 2004). They identified having good SA as the decisive factor in air-to-air combat engagements—the "ace factor" (Spick, 1988). Survival in a dogfight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfight) was typically a matter of observing the opponent's current move and anticipating his next move a fraction of a second before he could observe and anticipate one's own."

Not sure if this was mentioned or maybe just too obvious, but learn to avoid getting caught in the street car tracks, or take an alternate route all together.

I'd say freehanded skidz are the most important so as to be able to break when drinking coffee while riding brakeless.:)

Sorry to get all practical on everyone but...

holding a line
riding in a group
recognizing slick/unsafe conditions (oil, metal plates, wet leaves, manhole covers, sewer grates, painted crosswalks, etc...)
predicting driver and ped behavior
quick acceleration (including getting into the pedals quickly)
not getting right hooked at intersections
staying the **** out of the door zone

This list is way more useful than the hipster OP. I'd add;
- always having at least two "outs", watching the street and always having at least two places off line if something goes the way you don't think it does. I suppose you could just call it looking two steps ahead.

This list is way more useful than the hipster OP. I'd add;
- always having at least two "outs", watching the street and always having at least two places off line if something goes the way you don't think it does. I suppose you could just call it looking two steps ahead.

that's why it's contributory thread for others to add to. Since you feel the need to call me a hipster based solely on a thread posting, maybe we can ride together since we both live in NYC so we could eliminate the childish name calling and just be two people who enjoy riding bikes. What do you say?:thumb:

I'd say that being able to skid with both feet is a must. When I'm bombing a hit toward and intersection I like to do short little half second skids and then rotate 180 and do another it saves your tires a ton as well as allows you to stay in your saddle and in better control. Not to mention that if you can skid with both feet you can throw on the emergency fishtail between a car on the spot. Which by the way is one more skill thats been eluded to but I think being able to make a 90 turn between a hood and trunk with no skid to avoid the moron cutting you off is a must, it just takes confidence on your bike and knowing what your clip point on your pedals is. Not that it's necessary but certainly helpful to comfortable riding on the yellow line so you can make your left turn without slowing down.

being able to buck up a wheelie out of a trackstand as to challenge the cars around you and intensify yourself as a cyclist on the road and just a general badass to the surrounding people on the sidewalk.

Plus one.

Not sure if this was mentioned or maybe just too obvious, but learn to avoid getting caught in the street car tracks, or take an alternate route all together.

This has pretty much become a rite of passage in sf. Everyone I know has learned the hard way how to get over the rails.

It's like when a baby sticks its finger in an electrical socket. Never again.

posting in a shiznaz thread!!!!

Peripheral vision is key. Gotta know what's going on all around you at all times.

I'm also working on the no handed whistle to replace yelling. I can't do the whistle with two fingers yet, so it'll be a bit till I learn the no hander.

Yeah, I learned to whistle really loudly with no hands years ago. It's super useful, but I think you can either do it or you can't (genetic).

Well, this might sound stupid or too elementary to consider, but I consider the ability to look behind oneself, left and right, without turning in the direction one has looked, a very important skill.

So, I say to new riders, in non-critical situations, practice holding a line while you look completely behind yourself over either shoulder, left and right.

Right on, Ken. In any riding environment, I think holding a line is crucial.

I like when an old thread gets dug up and all the posters from a few years back come back via visually memory of their screen name and pictures, signatures, bikes, etc.

Marquemoon listed some great ones. Yep, definitely avoid doors, watch out for those huge steel plates the cover pipe work in cities (slippery in rain, death to a rim at speeds).

I'd also say that watching and getting used to car "body language" is key. I rode in a big city for a few years, now live in not such a big city. But, today my big city skills:) came in handy and helped me avoid a bad situation.

Watching the driver, the wheels, crosswalk flashers, traffic lights...all sorts of things and being able to kind of "process" them all at once is very helpful. The more you ride, the better you'll get at it. And for people riding in heavy traffic who are new to riding, a good way to improve these skills faster is to always plan on the worst and go through what you would do *if* that bus turns in front of you. Hopefully it doesn't, but if you are constantly mentally rehearsing, you might be more well prepared when it does hit the fan some day.

above all, just have great balance and common sense and you should be able to take care of the rest

For conversion riders mostly...

Knowing how far you can lean on fast/tight turns without pedal strike. I just got some new pedals and almost ****ed myself up on a turn! I have been on the same pedals for years and got so comfortable on them, I completely forgot about strike.

It's like when a baby sticks its finger in an electrical socket. Never again.

Hahah, exactly.
When it happen to me I ended up right in front of a car, I felt like such a jackass.

tricks teach you balance and handling. anything you can do on a bike might help you out sometime when you least expect it.

and sometimes when you least realize it - when you're utilizing skills without realizing it, in a pinch, when you have to react fast.

Do these vary from state to state because I remember right turn being a 90 degree angle pointing upward with the left hand.

while driving....

I think one of the most important things is looking well ahead.

this is one of the most important things I learned during Driver Training, and it helps me tonnes with cycling as well.

I think one of the most important things is looking well ahead.


+1
Look ahead, and learn how anticipate what people will do. Also, learning how to control speed without needed to skid that much is nice. Your tires last way longer, and its a more fluid ride.

barspins...

Situational Awareness.

"
Although the term itself is fairly recent, the concept appears to go back a long way in the history of military theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_theory)—it is recognizable in Sun Tzu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu)'s Art of War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_War), for instance. The term itself, can be traced back to World War I, where it was recognized as a crucial component for crews in military aircraft (Press, 1986).
Before being widely adopted by human factors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_factors) scientists in the 1990s, the term was first used by United States Air Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force) (USAF) fighter aircrew returning from war in Korea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea) and Vietnam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam) (see Watts, 2004). They identified having good SA as the decisive factor in air-to-air combat engagements—the "ace factor" (Spick, 1988). Survival in a dogfight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfight) was typically a matter of observing the opponent's current move and anticipating his next move a fraction of a second before he could observe and anticipate one's own."


Only read the first page of this thread and was amazed something like this was not mentioned before.

For me I would describe it as observation and awareness of your limits. Observation and awareness of where you and your path fit into the system is easily the most important skill when on the road whether driving or riding.

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm