Help me stop swerving
 

I know, quit drinking... I ride back roads and when traffic comes behind me , I get nervous and tend to swerve and wobble. I try to relax, but I keep looking at that drop off road edge and waiting to get passed, and the swerving starts - especially if they don't pass right away. Any tips on stance or body positioning to control this? Or is it just mindset?

When you get nervous, you're probably concentrating on a spot on the road that's too close to you. Look further ahead or at the horizon.

I sometimes swerve a little when the car is not yet close, in order to make the driver decide to give me some more room.

Actually, that's one of my traffic tips for noobs. Too often guys who are new on the road will get scared by passing traffic and edge too close to the right edge. This is bad for a couple of reasons - first the bad pavement / no shoulder problem, and second because it encourages unsafe passing by the motorist who thinks s/he can squeeze by with oncoming traffic.

So, get out in the lane where it's safe. Ride in the right hand tire track, and when traffic comes up, do a bit of wobbling out to your left (not the right!). Cars will give you more room and you'll be safer.

See that smooth white line? Don't let your tires wander off it while you ride, shift, eat, drink...

Practice that and folks will like riding with you a lot more.

As to traffic: utterly refuse to be intimidated.

Definatly a noob! Thanks for the tips, I do tend to edge to the right and come to close to the sholder. I'll try keeping my lane and looking a little further ahead, instead of at the road edge.

Concentrate on whats coming ahead of you not whats behind you. One thing I learned from mtn biking is that your wheel wants to go where you're looking. If you're looking at the road edge then your front tire will naturally begin to migrate that direction.
Even if i have a shoulder i usually ride close to, or just to the left of the white line. There's usually crud on the shoulder but it also gives me someplace to move into if I need it.

Practice riding on the white line when you are calm and there's no traffic. Don't look down at the pavement right in front of you, keep your head up, and look down the road. Also, don't grip your handlebar too tight. You'll be able to tell whether or not you're on the white line because it's usually smoother than the road surface. Once you get that down, you should be able to maintain a straight line even when traffic is passing.

Quote "See that smooth white line? Don't let your tires wander off it while you ride, shift, eat, drink..."
We don't have no stinkin white lines out here!

Quote "Practice that and folks will like riding with you a lot more."
That's the other thing, I haven't riden with anybody else yet, so I haven't learned to define my space.

Thanks again for the tips - this is what I'm looking for.

I just started riding and I was totally afraid to ride with traffic. I had never done it before and I didn't know where to begin. So, I guess I sort of did the 'dumb' thing (or maybe the smart thing...depends on your way of thinking :)) and just went out and did it. I rode on the right side of the rode but I noticed if I go too far right, cars tend to get really close. If you ride comfortably on the right side the oncoming cars will have to account for you and will pass you safer. At least this is what I have noticed.

Another thing to remember is the old Mountain Biking tip: "Look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go." In other words if you are looking at the drop off at the edge of the pavement you will tend to steer towards the drop off at the edge of the pavement and then you will have to swerve back towards the road to avoid it. Don't look at the obstacle you want to avoid, look at the path around the obstacle.

Put a quarter on the ground and practice running over it with both wheels. then put two quarters on the ground some distance apart and practice hitting both of them. Then three. And four. Arrange them in patterns... slaloms, turns, etc... do this in a parking lot or other open space, obviously.

Relax your grip, and loosen up! Tight muscles in the upper body feed the over-correction.

Ride more. Seriously, all my ultra distance friends look like statues when they ride. The more you do it, the better you'll get (assuming you don't get killed first).

Also, how fast are you riding? The faster you go, the easier it is to go straight. Momentum is your friend. So if your tensing up and slowing down, that doesn't help you to hold your line.

What everyone else said, and also rollers will help you with your bike handling skills immensely.

How much do rollers normally cost?

Yep, trying to ride more, and yes I do tend to slow down, tense up and look at that road drop off... So, what are rollers?

Mindset sounds like the key issue here so just relax and focus on the road ahead because if you start swerving then that will make the motorist behind you nervous as well and delay their passing you safely. There's usually a white line at the right side of the road so keep the wheels on them, this will help but if there isn't one then focus on keeping the wheel going in a straight path along the road.

Eddie riding rollers

And no...if you ride off the rollers you will NOT go flying through the wall in front of you.

+1

I try to speed up and race the cars for a couple of beats. Keeps me fast, straight and aggressive.

Wait until a big german sheppard wuf at u as the pickup he's on passes by. It happened to me yesterday and it always startles me. I love dogs but this #&$^% pooch can't wait until he's in front of me to say hello? :notamused:

Stationary training device, sort of like a treadmill for a bike. Rear wheel sits between two rollers, and the front wheel sits on one roller, which is driven by a belt from the rear.

Takes some practice with balance at first, but most folks learn pretty quickly.

Helps your pedal stroke and balance.

Cheap rollers can be had for $99. Best rollers like Kreitlers can get up around $300-500.

http://www.kreitler.com/

And TeddyKGB, if you can untwist oreos, and eat the filling while riding on them you'll be doing well.

+1 -- look at the holes between things, not the things you want to avoid.

And look far ahead 50 to 60 yards. Your peripheral vision will take care of seeing things in the intervening space.

You're going exactly where your attention is leading you.

Look at the edge of the road, and that's where you'll subconsciously move; pay attention to the traffic behind you, and you'll move towards them. Put both together and you've got a wobble.

Funny thing is, in marching band, it works the same way. I had a bass drummer trying to fit with a diagonal form by looking forward down the line and to his rear, and his intervals were just all screwy. I told him, "Forget about everything going on behind you, and just look down the line." Bam, just like that, he was arrow-straight through the move every time.

Some more tips:

If you're looking around, you'll tend to turn your shoulder when you turn your head. Hand is connected to arm is connected to shoulder so when you turn shoulder, you pull the bar that way. If you look over the left shoulder, you tend to steer a bit left.

To avoid this put your left hand on your thigh, hip, knee, anything but the bar. Then turn around.

You can also look under your arm to see where things are behind you.

You can hold your bars near the stem. It's easier to hold a straight line when it's harder to steer the bars accidentally, and holding the bars near the stem helps immensely.

Relax your grip. You should be holding your bars as if there was an egg under your fingertips. Okay, small egg, but no death grips, not unless you're about to crash or something.

cdr