Peek the Geek

Great line, also used in the Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez classic, "Men at Work"
"Looks like somebody threw away a perfectly good white boy."

daver42

Heh, you made my Friday. Going to try and find a used copy of this classic.

"I'm going to race. I'm going to lose. And, I'm going to die."
"You ski the K-12 dude, and girls will go sterile just looking at you!"

dstrong 

Okay...back on topic here...I saw this handling tip in this week's RoadBikeRider newsletter. I tend to ride close to the edge of the pavement when I ride the shoulder...maybe 6-12 inches. Occassionally I'll drift a little too close and have to battle to get away from it. Then I read this and tried it on yesterday's ride. It'll take some training before it becomes instinctive but it sure works as advertised.

Steer right to go left (and vice versa).

Here's a valuable tip that we like to dust off each spring when everyone is back on the road. It's a steering technique that most new riders don't know and too many veterans don't practice.

*** Please be cautious when you first try it. ***

To explain, imagine this situation (we've all been in it). You're cruising along, riding as usual about a foot from the white line on the edge of the road. Something catches your attention to make you turn your head or look down for a moment.

Whoa! The next thing you realize is that you're drifting to the right. Your wheels are about to drop off the pavement. You need to move left -- quickly!

To make this instant correction, override your natural instinct to steer left. Instead twitch your handlebar to the right. Yes, that's correct -- in the direction you don't really want to go.

You'll feel this twitch offset your weight to the left of the bike. This makes you "fall" toward the left and away from the road edge.

Try it on your next ride. But be careful -- it takes only a slight twitch of the bar to make it happen. Experiment on a quiet road till you get the feel. You want your bike to move several inches to safety, not veer several feet.

Practice to the left and the right. Once you've got the knack, reinforce it several times on every ride when conditions allow.

The idea is to ingrain this technique and erase the first-reaction instinct to steer away from danger. As you now see, doing that can actually move you toward it.

thebankman

Never heard of the mud scrape and knee raising form, but it really works! Thanks for the info. The difference is easy to see, it makes you use different muscles so your upper legs don't get tired. Pretty sweet.

rmwun54

Ride far.
Ride hard.
Ride lots.