A friend of mine had already raced in one triathlon before she knew how to shift the gears on her road bike... No wonder she didn't place well.

I've been helping her train, and I've found that in actual fitness she is great (better than me), so we don't have to work on that, but we do have to work on general bike skills. Like how to operate her STI levers, how to brake properly, how to make turns, etc. We went over the different hand positions, on the hoods, the drops, the flats, etc. How to start and stop properly, etc. She's scared to death when she rides her bike, because she just doesn't know HOW. She's getting a lot better though, and races in another tri tommorow morning. Hopefully the hour we spent practicing mounting and dismounting safely yesterday will help her confidence. We also did a bunch of hill repeats, not so much for strength (though it wiped me out), but so she could practice using her gears.

I just wonder, where are the bike shops in this?!? If you buy a new bike (like my friend did), how is it that you can leave the shop without knowing how to use it? If I were a salesperson I'd be tempted to give the person a little class before letting get out of the store. You know, it might take about 10-15 minutes, we could put the bike up on a short stand, and go over all the parts. Here is your front derailleur, see how the cable pulls it side to side? Here is your rear derailleur, see how the other cable moves it as well? Pedal with your hand in this gear, now we'll try this gear, see how its harder, but the wheels spins faster? Etc... Even someone who has biked a lot before may need to be shown how the STI levers work (which are totally confusing if you aren't expecting to push a brake lever sideways to shift).

I say, if you aren't willing to learn how your gears work, you should ride a single speed. And honestly, many of those people you see out there would probably be good candidates for single speeds. My girlfriend hates biking (horrible, I know), but I got her a 3-speed raleigh that she enjoys. I told her to stay in the middle gear most of the time, and go down into the first gear for going uphill, and into the third gear for going downhill. Thats all the more gears most people use, and at least this way she doesn't get confused, and there isn't a bunch of useless stuff hanging off the bike just waiting to break.

peace,
sam