Zan

Wow, I've never seen anyone lift a wheel off the ground on a road bike unintentionally. Especially not a back wheel. Must be hardcore where you're from.

I'd say a few top mistakes that haven't been mentioned are:

1) Riding without a helmet (especially if you're a mountain biker)
2) Not stopping or slowing down at stop signs?
3) Riding on a bike that isn't adjusted properly (i.e. seat)
4) No liquid.

These might not be the "top" mistakes per se, but I'd say these are things to consider. The stop sign one bugs me, yes, but i at least slow down and make sure the coast is clear before going through. Where I ride I don't see too many other cyclists, but the ones I do see are adults (so, they SHOULD know the rules of the road) who blast through all the stops in a residential area. Someone is going to get crushed. Where I live, cyclists have the least amount of right to the road.

Carbonfiberboy 

If you have shoes with a substantial heel cup, relax your ankle on the upstroke and allow your heel to pull the pedal upward. Once you get the feel of that, pull on it like hell. If you have decent hams, you should be able to easily lift the rear wheel when cadence builds. Once you get the feel of that, try pulling up just as hard, but not lifting the wheel because you're pedaling better circles. Bingo, you can sprint.

Then you can work on getting your back flat and shifting weight forward to keep the front end on the ground during steep hill sprints. Watch videos of Lance doing mountain top finishes. Watch his feet. Hell, examine every little thing he did. Unlike the sprinters, he's pedaling slowly enough that you can see what's going on.

catherine96821

wow, thanks.. I have seen this rythm on my hill, where Kona Iron man people sometimes train. It is about 20% grade and they have a very unique stomp/climb.

I occasionally get inspired and take off from my house and hit the first hill, stand up...and s-t-o-p. Of course, being clipped in is a problem at that point and it is like *TIMBER!*

I will try that technique on smaller hills.

Also, I am trying to figure counter stearing on cornering out. Am I utilizing the back side of the front tire when I turn to the right to go left, when banked? I have been doing a 3/4 mile loop for 10-15 miles as fast as I can, for some reason. Just to work on cadence and form and cornering.

hey, try Honolulu at 4:30 to 6:30, I am surprised not to be dead. I finally have put myself in a neighborhood on a loop because it is too nuts.

Carbonfiberboy 

There's a lot of stuff talked about cornering on bikes. Back in the good old days, I put about 50,000 miles European miles on my BMW R60. I was young and an absolute terror, but I got pretty good at it. Weren't any speed limits, you know.

Anyway, there are basically two ways to corner. You put your body into the corner and the bike follows, or you move the bike out from under you and drop into it. So try this on a fast downhill sweeper. You ever watch m/c racing videos? You know how they hold their head vertically, even when way over? Do that. So you're coming into this corner. Outside pedal down. Kind of twist your pelvis a tiny bit, leading with the inside hip like you were skiing. That will transfer some weight to the outside buttock. Then just drop your head - just your head - into the corner. The bike will follow. You want to corner sharper? Drop the head more. This is only good in sweepers, because it takes time to set up. Since this isn't m/c racing with power going to the rear wheel, there's no point in dropping the inside knee. An affectation, I say. Instead, press your inside knee against the top tube. Less wind resistance and faster. You can change the lean of the bike a little with pressure from your knee.

The other way is what people call countersteering. The basic problem with cornering is that you can't if your body weight is vertically over the contact patch. Nothing happens. OK, so with a good bit of speed on, say doing 20, and coming into a sweeper, unweight your bars so you can see what's happening. If you want to turn left, take one finger and gently pull back on the right bar. That will cause the bike to move to the right, out from under you. You will have no choice but to turn left. It's either that or fall over. If you watch Floyd Landis descending in his famous testosterone-powered stage 17, you can see him doing this very clearly, especially in the hairpins. I don't think it has anything to do with the back side of the contact patch, but I could be wrong. You're probably already doing this correctly.

I'm saying to do these drills with a good bit of speed on to make it easier to do and to see what's happening. It's harder to turn well going slowly.

There are other ways to do it. Some people just slam the bike over underneath them, leaning the bike more steeply than their bodies. That works, too, but you can't corner as hard that way.

Roody

A common mistake I see noobs make is coasting too much. Keep your legs moving. If you're getting too tired and you want to coast, ride a little less and gradually increase it.