skidding?

[HiyuuX]

Whats the best way to avoid something like what happened to Beloki in the Tour De France? kinda scared that it might happen to me. Does skidding occur a lot in sandy areas and bumpy roads? On my last ride, one of our group members slipped on a rough area, he was going slow so he got out ok. I am mostly scared of slipping near a side walk and getting the side of my head split.

[-=£em in Pa=-]

Sand, gravel, wet leaves ( :eek: ) and up north, oil trucks who leave trails on the road after
depositing their stuff into a house.
Scan the road you are turning onto and look for loose stuff and dont use your front brake in a
turn, only before while going straight :)
Its a good idea to get learn to use both brakes all the time. The front has most of the power.

[San Rensho]

Whats the best way to avoid something like what happened to Beloki in the Tour De France? kinda scared that it might happen to me. Does skidding occur a lot in sandy areas and bumpy roads? On my last ride, one of our group members slipped on a rough area, he was going slow so he got out ok. I am mostly scared of slipping near a side walk and getting the side of my head split.

What happened to Beloki in the TDF?

[Brian Ratliff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_8m5-sR6I4

Ugly crash that involved 40mph speeds, soft tar, and a rolled tubular tire.

[Brian Ratliff]

Whats the best way to avoid something like what happened to Beloki in the Tour De France? kinda scared that it might happen to me. Does skidding occur a lot in sandy areas and bumpy roads? On my last ride, one of our group members slipped on a rough area, he was going slow so he got out ok. I am mostly scared of slipping near a side walk and getting the side of my head split.

One of the best ways to learn to keep the bike upright when the wheels are sliding is to ride some gravel roads or ride singletrack with a mountainbike. If the surface is slick, then try to keep the bike upright and your center of gravity over the wheels. Then, even if things start sliding around, you will stay upright.

Beloki's crash was a one-in-a-million crash. The end result was because his tubular tire rolled off the rim. Had this not happened, he would have likely kept it upright, or at least merely washed out. As it was, his tire rolled, which caused the wheel to catch and he went over the highside of the bike and broke his leg. This is very unlikely to happen in normal riding conditions.

[RobertHurst]

One of the best ways to learn to keep the bike upright when the wheels are sliding is to ride some gravel roads or ride singletrack with a mountainbike. If the surface is slick, then try to keep the bike upright and your center of gravity over the wheels. Then, even if things start sliding around, you will stay upright.



That's exactly right. I would even say go out and ride dirt on your road bike.

In the end it's about staying loose over the bike. Don't grip it like Frankenstein. Relax and let your body correct its balance when the bike turns, slips out a little, hits a pothole, rock, or does any of the other things that bikes are known to do. There is absolutely no reason that a rear tire skid should be the cause of a crash except in the most extreme circumstances.

Robert