Bicycling Skill Sets for 50+'rs

OK, most of us can hop on something with 2-3 wheels and ride for a good number of miles.

What about more advanced levels of bicycling? Are there skills (or sets of skills) that folks can learn to be better, or more safe, or faster or more advanced bicyclists?

If so, what are some of these skill sets, how are they best learned and practiced, and are any especially applicable to 50+'rs?

A few skills/skill sets that immediately come to my mind:

Techniques of riding safely in traffic.

Descending steep and curvy hills safely

Maintaining one's bike

Climbing skills

Riding in poor/wet weather

Riding at night

Riding on MUPS safely

and many others

So, what is your favorite skill set to discuss? How is it learned and practiced? What are its characteristics? Do you practice it? Is it especially important to 50+'rs?

Could you list the elements of the skill or skill set and a series of steps for the important features and for training someone in the skill set?

We learned this at the track skills clinic. When you want to look to your right, left or rear and do not want the bike to go in the direction that you look, keep your shoulders square to the line of travel and turn your head and touch your chin to your shoulder.

You can see to the immediate left or right and with your peripheral vision see what is behind. The bike continues in a straight line. At the track, this is a crucial technique since no one has brakes or any type of mirror. You must check to the side and behind before changing position while keeping the bike going straight at high speed.

It works very well on the road in pace lines and checking for traffic. Keeping your shoulders square to the direction of travel will keep you going in a straight line and out of trouble.

As a note, Many riders move left when they hear someone say on your left. IMO, the reason is that they turn their head and their shoulders together to look at what is coming the bike moves left into the oncoming rider.

Even if you are using a mirror, I see riders go left when they look in their mirror. Once again, they turn their shoulders slightly and the bike moves left.

As I get older, I find that my balance isn't as good as when I was a kid. On days that I don't feel like a big ride I go out on my half mile long street and practice. I'll go down the street doing slow sloloms around acorns. I work on getting the s curves more and more violent. Then I go back to slow speed and start over doing the exercise while standing up on the pedals.

Even though my balance isn't as good as it used to be, the practice seems to make me more comfortable with and around the bike.

Small steps.

This might be off-topic, but nutrition would be high on my list for regular riders over fifty.

Michael

SKILL SET FOR RIDING SAFELY ON MUPS!

This is not rocket science, yet I see many violations.

1. A MUP is generally not a place for racing, pace lines and aggressive bicycling. Don't do that.

2. Announce your presence to others, even if you think they see you (I have been fooled a few times, thinking that someone was looking at me - and they weren't). Use a bell and/or "passing." If they don't appear to hear you, slow way down while passing.

3. Beware of kids or dogs. Kids have absolutely no idea of sharing space or of the dangers of a bicycle. Dogs will run out right in front of you.

4. Along with Hermes', above, expect folks to pull their bodies or bikes to the left when you announce behind them. Be prepared for this.

5. Yield to horses and pedestrians.

6. When passing a horse and rider, ask the rider for permission to pass, and talk to the horse/rider while passing. Horses determine where you are by listening. They may startle and jump (perhaps on you) if they are surprised. Horses are BIG!

7. Have an attitude of fun and relaxation when riding a MUP.

8. Don't walk/run your dog on a leash while tied to your bike!

9. Don't wear headphones - you need to hear and be aware of what is around you.

10. Choose the time of day and day of the week when the MUP is least busy for the most enjoyment.

11. Be aware of deer and other fauna.

OK - I am sure there is more, but those are the skills I think are important for safe MUP riding.

Great, but any specifics. Saying nutrition is important is like saying exercise is important.

Using your balance skills helps you maintain your balance skills. Riding a bicycle might help you avoid a bone-breaking fall while walking.

I find it increasingly important to know how to pace yourself so that you have enough energy to complete a long ride but to ride fast enough to finish in a reasonable amount of time. It is a complex mix of knowing your limits, preparing, refueling, knowing when and how to get a big increase in speed for a minimal output of energy, bike setup and maintenance, persistence and luck.

Rock gardens help to keep the balancing skills intact.

I think that if you do group rides, drafting and that sort of thing, you have to learn a skill set that you needn't worry about riding solo.

Having said that, I would love to be able to ride without touching the handlebars. That is something I have never been able to master, even though I have been riding since the early 60's on all kinds of different bikes.

Most other skills are just learned on the fly, trial and error. Night time riding comes down to a good light set - handlebar mount, helmet mount and rear mounted light. In addition, a bear bell warns critters of your approach. Their heads pop up and their eyes are reflected back to you. I learned that after a painful crash with a startled raccoon last September.

Riding at night

Dnvrfox- you have set a problem as it does take a different mindset expose yourself to the dangers of night riding in traffic. First of all you have to be seen and although clothing will come into this- Bike lights are imperative.

The occasional ride at night and I have seen riders without lights but with refelectors. They do work- but are illegal on their own and don't help you see. So lights are the main requirement. Rear lamps and over here we have no rules on quality or performance to be legal. But if you have any sense you fit two. One set on steady and one on blink. The idea for two is that if one fails- you will still be seen. Of course additional lamps will help to be seen better and if you do a lot of night riding it is worth investing in the Powerfull HID types.

Front lamps and remember that these are for two reasons. For you to see and for you to be seen. If you always ride in well lit areas- then all you need to be legal is a lamp. If you have any sense though- you will get a bright light to attract others attention. The others also includes pedestrians that are just as blind to bikes as cars are. But if riding in dark areas- there is a rule that you can only ride as fast as your lights will allow you. Once again I would suggest two lamps and I have a powerfull rechargable lamp that has 2 x 5w luxion LED's and that is bright. Completely adequate for road use- and just about powerfull enough for offroad downhills ar 35mph. There is a more powerful type of lamp called an HID- but these are expensive and to be be honest- are possibly too powerfull for road use. Good lamps though if you can afford them.

But even with a good front lamp- you do need a "Backup" lamp for additional lighting or if the main one fails. My backup is battery operated and is a Cateye 1w that is no longer made. Adequate enough to get me home and I carry spare batteries aswell. By far the best lamp you can have as the backup though- is a helmet lamp. They are very handy for pointing in the direction of drivers to catch their attention and to look outside the area of the main lamp to see what "Beastie" is lurking there. Also very usefull for map reading and repairing the bike if you ever have to.

Night riding takes some practice. The shadows thrown by the lamp do give a different perspective and no matter how powerfull a lamp you have- you will not see everything in the road. Potholes are not as visible- and you can only see where the lamp points. Just takes a bit of getting used to but for me Offroad night riding is fantastic. Can't say the same for the roads and the MUPS as you have to be aware that no matter how bright your lamps are- there will always be the one idiot that still does not see you.

I agree with all of them but have singled out #7 for special acknowledgment. I think it best not to take yourself too seriously on the MUP.

Great list so far- I'd add cornering skills to it.

How to text message while descending.

And they are?

Night riding in a nutshell: P7 on the bars, Fenix on the helmet, superflash or two on back. Add a Dinotte on the back and it would be impossible for anyone not to see you. The big benefit being that this set up is cost effective too, other than the Dinotte that is. Still $100 for a taillight that could save your life ain't so bad.

When developing a set of skills, try to think of what you would tell a newbie about the skill - a step-by-step approach.

Telling a newbie that cornering or descending is important would be of little use to the newbie. What are the skills utilized in proper cornering (or descending or whatever). For example, position on the road, gravel, brake fade, etc., etc.

I have done a lot of "task analysis" where one breaks down skills needed to accomplish a task into the smallest steps/dimensions (i.e. for assisting someone with profound developmental disabilities to learn to vacuum).

For example - to vacuum a room, here are some of the steps:

1. Locate the vacuum

2. Bring the vacuum to the area to be vacuumed.

3. Unwind the cord

4. Find a plug

5. Plug the vacuum into the wall safely

6. Go back to the vacuum

7. Place foot on release to lower the handle

8. Press button to turn the vacuum on.

Etc,. etc.

In a similar detailed format, can you describe the skills needed to descend or corner or???

Fixed it.

I can do that, but much more slowly than many folks I know.

And what skills would you use in doing that safely? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't bike well or is new to biking? Any special tips?

No one's mentioned cussing and swearing at motorists who come too close, yell, throw things etc. If you don't keep those skills up you might forget some choice epithets when you really need them.

I've got to hand it to you Artkansas,

When it comes to the important skill sets for cycling, you zeroed right in on the most important one !

Okay, Cornering While Descending, I get this a lot from riders I introduce to Glendora Mountain Road, who are insecure on the descent after doing just fine on the climb.

Before we get into the specifics, the overall rule is: Look where you want to go! Your body will follow your eyes, and while I think most people "know" this rule, it is all to often ignored by perceived danger elsewhere (i.e. "Whoa, look at the huge drop off this corner!" . . . no, don't do that!).

1. Weight (push down on) the "outside" pedal. Given that (for example) when going around a right-hand curve, you left pedal is down, your right pedal is up. This is the most important skill to remember in this context.

2. Push down on the inside (i.e. the right on a right turn) handlebar, preferably on the drops, but failing that, the brake hood (note, not lever).

3. Steer with the saddle. This always sounds funny, but practice pushing your outside leg against the saddle (i.e. left leg on a right turn) as one more part of getting your whole body comfortable through the turn.

4. Do all your braking before you enter the turn. Some folks would have put this further up the list, but I didn't, because when learning to corner more quickly/securely, I've found most riders brake far too much, hence go through the turn much more slowly than they could have, hence don't really learn the techniques I'm trying to teach them.

Finally, it all comes down to practice, which gives you confidence in your abilities, which allows you to take the next step (up one level) in cornering speed.

Also, should be needless to say, but I will . . . always watch for anything that could reduce traction and reduce your cornering speed accordingly. This includes (but is not limited to), gravel, sand, water and leaves.



Photo of Jimmy and Carlos on the descent on Glendora Mountain Road

Rick / OCRR

YES!!!

Great "skill set" explanation

Any more??

I think the intent here is to discuss skills, rather than rules, guidelines, and metrics.

Some skills I think are very important now (second half of the 50s and onward) are

>>> Rearward observation. Not only the technique of how to look back, as has been raised, but the habit of LOOKING back and sampling the environment at an appropriate rate.

>>> Self-fitting. Nobody can really tell me what will and won't cause pain, because no one else is in my nervous system. We each need to be able to diagnose pains in light of fit and adjustment. If you get nasty knee pain while 25 miles from home, you need to do something by yourself to protect your knee, not hie thee to the nearest Fit Kit supplier.

>>> First aid. I think this is self-explanatory.

Within each of these, and of the other skills, there are rules, guidelines and metrics, but to discuss them inevitably leads to personal assumptions and preferences. Some of those may be arbitrary, but I think most of the differences in opinion are driven by the diversity of cycling environment and experience in the USA. Plus the guidance for optimum practice in one skill might contradict the optimum practice in another skill. In this case there really isn't a right or wrong, but actual best practice is a matter of judgement and of assessing practice in context. It becomes very complex, and is ultimately subjective, when legal compliance is not affected.

Road Fan

Dnvr. I have to say I didn't take your post very seriously (which explains the flippant 1st response), and wondered why you started it. It just seems to me that the skill set for a 50+ rider shouldn't be much different than for a 30+ or 40+ rider. And while I know there are physical changes that take place with aging, I'm not sure I support the notion that there are skills especially applicable to the 50+ crowd. It seems to portray us as less capable; which seems so out of character for you.