--- "Michael R. Clements" <mrclem@telocity.com> wrote:
> 1. On the downhills: swallow your fear and lean the
> bike. On clean dry smooth pavement a road bike can
> lean over further than you think. <snip>
About 450 relative to the bank of the curve (so if the
corner is banked 50 you can lean the bike about 500
before you lose traction) before you start to lose
traction. Unfortunately once you start to lose
traction on a bicycle it's pretty much time to pull
out the TegaDerm because you're going down! There's
nothing really gradual about a road bike losing
traction.
<snip>
> Personally, I can't stand riding in large groups. I
> put more miles on my bicycles than I do on my car
> and still I hate riding in packs, especially
> with strangers, and even more especially with club
> rides. Too crowded!
I actually prefer club rides for a point you brought
up, trust. I trust my teammates, they have good bike
handling skills, they're experienced and they're all
fairly predictable. What I don't like is riding with
recreational clubs with riders who don't have peloton
ettiquette, and are uncomfortable riding in groups.
These riders are predictably unpredictable, don't
track straight, will drop kick you on hills, leave
their line when looking in another direction, etc.
> There's nothing wrong with riding solo or in small
> groups of people you trust. This lets you build up
> your skills in a comfortable way. And you get to
> enjoy the peace and solitude.
Good point, in fact a lot of training goals need to be
done solo. It's hard to do a zone 4 ride on a group
ride as the rest of the pack aren't going to adjust
their speed to your heart rate. However, for Katie's
goals I would encourage her to ride in packs as much
as possible. The reality of bicycle racing is that you
will get pushed, cut off, locked handlebars, crossed
wheels, etc. and you need pack skills to deal with
this. It's also a good place to start learning about
strategy (cycling afterall is like playing chess while
riding a bike). In addition you will almost always
ride harder on a club ride than solo. Having others to
mock race with or encourage you can really provide
some excellent motivation.
Joe
Oh... as for bicycles not having brake lights... keep
an eye on the rear calipers or watch the leading
rider's hands or shoulders. That will tell you quite a
bit about the rider's intentions. Also, it's best to
stay off the brakes in a paceline. Modulate your speed
by getting out of the slipstream or using your body as
an air brake.
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