From Bicycling.com
By Molly Hurford
“It’s just like riding a bike” might be the most common cliche, but let’s be honest: Riding a bike is rarely as simple as pedaling in a straight line. There is a skill element involved—unless you plan to stick to riding back and forth on your flat driveway. So when was the last time you thought about your bike skills? We often get so caught up in progressing our fitness, we forget about honing our skills.
“We talk about progression a lot when we talk about fitness: If you follow a training plan, you’re going to gradually progress each phase of your fitness,” says Lorri Lee Lown, founder of Velo Girls and longtime head coach at Savvy Bike. “But when we look at the ‘skill’ part of cycling, we don’t do the same thing. If I were to do anything else as an adult learner, I’d take classes and practice, but we don’t do that on the bike. We tend to think about how far or fast we can ride, but we don’t think about how precisely we ride.”
Not only do bike skills require dedicated practice and awareness, they also require slow, steady progression. Take climbs, for example. “Every little grade that I go up, I’m climbing, and every little grade that I go down, I’m descending,” says Lown. “It can be the smallest hill, but I still try to think about my position, my shifting, my braking—I’m reinforcing the skill set. Then, when you’re in a higher risk situation, like those 10% grades and higher, you feel more comfortable.”
Here, we dig into a few of the key skills for safe, smooth, and fun road cycling, with help from a few expert coaches and pro riders. Now, all you have to do is practice!
Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash
