Originally Posted by Rattlebag
OP: Take your bike out on wet roads, it will be much easier to get the feel of skidding/skipping. If you have a brake then don't just use it for emergencies, brakes are pretty useful.
It's a pretty good idea to be able to brake both wheels and not have to pulse the front brake on long descents as your only method of slowing down, surely this is why road bikes have a rear brake?
Being able to stop both wheels is a necessity. Everyone who rides with one brake should know how to skid. Yeah if you are going down multi-mile descents then you should probably not be riding a single brake the whole way. But if the choice is between skipping and riding one brake who cares. If you are going down multi-mile descents very often you probably also should have two brakes anyway.