Slow Speed Skills can Save your Life

 

  So far, we have spoken about what to wear, how to ride, where to ride, and what floral treats and treasures to look for.

  In this entry let’s look at another skill set as important, and at times even more important.

      Slow Speed Skills.

Those are the skills that are just as they sound and refer to.

  There is a large group of cyclists that thinks the faster the better.  Frankly I at times can support that theory.  If you are in the greater Vancouver area, out in Coquitlam area you might be aware of a hill called Mariner Hill.  It’s about a 6/7 % down grade for about a kilometer and a bit.  The speed limit on the road – for cars – is 50 KPH.

  If you have ridden a road bike down a big hill, the temptation is to get up into the biggest gear and just go for it.  It is a rush going down a hill as close to 70/75 KPH !! and yes I know that is against the law… but darn it is fun !!
A buddy of mine is a traffic officer and threatened to write me a speeding ticket for exceeding the speed limit, on my bike.  Well, at the time, being a commuter with an attitude, I let Richard know when I would be there, so he could set up to write the ticket. I told him, if he writes it, I’ll happily accept it, pay it, and then frame it.  He never did show up at the same time as me.
I survived this part of my riding life in spite of myself.
The reason for that story is to show that going fast is really quite easy and an act that over takes cyclists all too easily.
  Now you have to think about the fact that there are others on the same road as you, at the same time as you, and they are likely travelling at near the same speed as you, likely over the posted limit, like you.
Rider and bike – about 250 pounds, car and driver – about 2250 pounds.  Do the math, who will win if those two come together. Then think about the speeds and the lack of surface around the rider if and when they hit the ground.  This year in British Columbia there have been about 12-15 cyclists killed in traffic for assorted reasons.  That is a number that is far too high.  One is a number that is too high a price to pay.

This brings me to my point.

               Can you as a cyclist move about in confined spaces with confidence and control?

 I refer to confined spaces as spaces such as on the road? in a bike lane?  and along that same lane coming up to corners? 

Information tid-bit one: Bike lanes normally do not continue through intersections, unless they are specifically marked as doing so.

  When was the last time you as a rider went into or through a parking lot and didn’t have to react and react quickly to a driver seeing a parking spot and not you?, or along a bike path and have a dog run out in front of you, or another cyclist decide they want to turn and not signal?, or a jogger groovin’ to their tunes, with ear buds firmly implanted and run across your path? And we all know that drivers respect riders using bike lanes … ya right.  Did we mention weather conditions at times are less than ideal?

   It doesn’t really matter which type of bike you ride, being able to go slow with confidence and control is a skill that I believe is a required skill, and a skill if not practiced is a diminish-able skill.
The CAN-BIKE program has a list of basic slow speed skills, which once mastered, can be viewed as the corner stone of the program.

CAN-BIKE has the following slow speed skills as part of their program:

* Straight Line Riding          * Hand Signals          * Shoulder Checks             * Slalom  

 * Figure 8                             * Rock Dodge            * Threthshold Braking      *  Quick Turn / T Turn

We talk about and practice using gears and brakes and actually moving the gears through the full range of their gears. We also speak about unclipping from pedals, and what is their power leg and why you need to know that. Along with which hand controls which brake.

These are an excellent grouping of slow speed skills and there are those classes that these are the sum of their riding ability.  No two classes and groups of riders are the same, or have the same skill level.  Each and every class there are different skill levels. Not everyone sees things as the Instructor does.

As an Instructor you have to be prepared for this skill spectrum.
Then there are those classes that you breeze through the above noted skills with very little problems.  You are looking for more, as the students are looking for more because they can do more.
I have added a number of slow speed skills to challenge those that can do it.
 These are not CAN-BIKE. I refer to them as Survival skills.
 I make it clear there are two different sets here, that way the insurance company can be satisfied and the integrity of the CAN-BIKE program is intact.

   *  Parking Stall  (8’6”)  *  Riding the planks (2”X 4” 8 feet long and 2”X 6” 8 feet long) 

   * Dismounts and * Cross Over Dismounts   * Curb hopping - both straight on and side on

   *  Bike carry  * Bump and Go

There are more that I will also speak about for the more advanced skill levels, up to the infamous “M” Drill. I will talk about the “M” Drill in a future blog entry.

Over the next few months I will talk about these slow speed skills and how I teach them. I am not implying my way is the most correct, but rather this is what has worked for me for over 80 classes that I have taught. What the secrets are along with why and where these slow speed skills work.

I am using some foreshadowing here by telling all what is coming.  Sort of like a movie trailer, drop a few hints and make you want to continue to read and follow my entries …… looking for some inside secrets.

Bottom line… you need to practice these skills because you don’t when that moment will come that you have to do it, without thinking about it, and doing it right.  The above skills don’t require fancy expensive articles to make them work.  Most parking lots will have curbs, parking stalls, painted lines, parking partitions, rocks and pot holes. 

 Find a place where you can take the time and practice.  You won’t regret the time and effort.

It’s like a term about reading a good book - It’ll be time well wasted.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

    Safe Ride Home

Chuck

 

Leaves, Shadows, Winds and Wet Roads

Just a quick note about the Logo below.  Part of why I started this blog was to get the word out about cycling safety in a down to earth way that can be easily understood by those of us “down in the mud”, that ride the streets and path ways. I ride, I teach and I believe in safety.

The Logo is that of my company – Tri M Sports & Consulting Ltd, I have the trade name CANBIKEBC, and that is the official logo.

It’s all about the message and the branding is just as important to give credibility to what I want to say.
My Logo will be now be on the postings from here on out. 

I can be reached at      chuck@canbikebc.ca

  This past week-end here on the West Coast the first Environment CANADA Storm/Weather Warnings were issued.  Heavy rain, up to 60 mm and winds up to 90 KPH.  Just another lovely fall day!?!?  This is why they sometimes refer to us as the Wet Coast.

I have the Environment Canada weather page book marked on my computer, and in particular the satellite photos.  It is much easier to watch the storm tracks with that.
  Another aspect to safe cycling is also planning where you are going to ride and how you are going to get there.  Knowing the weather along your route and at your destination is a first step to being safe when and where you ride.
  I have started with this for a reason.  We here on the West coast have just come to the end of a great summer.  The leaves, as happens in the Fall, are turning colour and dropping. The municipal governments across the lower mainland have worked very hard at planting trees along each and every street.  With trees come leaves and with Fall comes leaves dropping. Those leaves now become a mush on the streets.  The expected heavy winds will accelerate that process.
  As the leaves drop they will stick to the wet roads, and that can make the roads much more slippery than they were.  The leaves start to rot, as leaves are want to do, they mix with the moisture and oils and smag on the roads and you have a slippery mess that is worse than loose gravel and more akin to ice.
  As the leaves are falling from the trees, they cause the sun to come through it different patterns, if at all.  This is where the shadows along the roads come into the equation.  Depending on the lighting conditions some spots are lighter than others, some are darker than others.  The distance can be just inches to feet, and each tree/over hang is different.  Now let’s complicate this, as can quickly happen in real life.
  Those same shaded spots that are here today, were different yesterday and will be different again tomorrow.
When you add the rain, wind and general lousy driving and riding conditions, this can be a recipe for problems.
It becomes very hard for drivers to see cyclists coming out of the shadows, unless the cyclists are using their lights.

  I have mentioned in this column on more than one occasion that I firmly believe in cyclists using lights at any time of the day or night.  I have also mentioned that I believe in very bright coloured riding vests. 

  You can get cycling rain jackets that are in very bright colours, such as bright green/and yellow.  You can always add reflective ties around the bottom of your legs, something that has the ability to move about.  That just might give a driver that doesn’t see you the cyclist, but he might catch the glint of something moving, that being the reflective strap.

The eye sees much more than we realise, so this just might be the piece the driver sees and reacts to, and gives a safe distance around the cyclist.

With the onslaught of the fall weather comes the shorter days and longer nights. The leaves wind and combine to clean out the tress over the next couple of months. Once you know to be cognisant of this added feature/hazard, then you will become a safer better cyclist.

  Bike paths and bike lanes are not immune to this. I fact they are likely to suffer this same fate with more leaf build-up as the paths and bike lanes are generally much closer to the trees and dropping leaves.  The problem on the bike paths and bike lanes there isn’t the volume of traffic to assist Mother Nature to break down the leaves, leaving them on the riding surface much longer than they would be on the roads.

Again here is where the four core CAN-BIKE values of

              Manoeuvrability, Visibility, Predictability and Communication

Also known as   See, Be Seen,  Be Heard,  Be Predictable

 I believe words to ride by, and will someday could likely save your life when cycling

Safety is everyone’s responsibility when you are out riding.  Be it on the roads or paths or lanes.

Lights really should be used at anytime of the day and night, when riding.
Wearing a very bright coloured reflective vest can only enhance your chances of having an uneventful ride and getting back safe.
Helmets really should be a standard piece of your cycling apparel.  If you are Avon guard and want to attach your light to your helmet, then go ahead and make the bold safety statement !!

Watching where you ride and the road surface will allow you a much better chance to stay up on your bike and not checking out the rotting leaves at a much closer view than you had planned.

 

Thanks for stopping by

   Safe Ride Home

             Chuck