Form and Technique

Position on the Bike - think aero

This article is packed with pictures and data on the aero profile and its impact on your riding. It isn't height but the cross sectional of shoulders, head, legs, and part of the torso that is important. And as you'd suspect, this is dependent on whether one is sitting upright, is slightly aero, or is very aero. Height is not as big a factor as total body "bulk". Go to image 1.5 for visuals.

This article from Bicycling.com that demonstrates five tried-and-true cycling positions optimized to give you the best speed and endurance during specific portions of a road race.

Pedaling

If you're relatively new to cycling, you are probably riding at a cadence below your optimum. Most new riders think they are getting a better workout if every pedal stoke is a strain and the quads are burning. Lance Armstrong popularized high-cadence pedaling. He'd spin at about 90 rpm on even the steepest climbs and regularly over 100 rpm in time trials. Does this mean you should be pedaling at a high cadence as well? Cadence can be increased through training but yours will have to fit with your personal biomechanics.

The make-up of your leg muscles (the ratio of fast-twitch to slow-twitch fibers), combined with your fitness, will self-select your cadence. For most experienced riders, ideal cadence is in the range of 80-100 rpm - and most tend to automatically pedal at around 90 rpm in normal condition . Non-cyclists tend to spin a bit lower at around 60-70 rpm.

More details on cadence plus a few tips to help you find and fine tune yours.

Smooth pedal stroke.

A smooth pedal stroke is essential for a high cadence and wii more efficiently transfer energy from your leg muscles to the bike. And it just feels better when you are out on a ride. Here are a couple exercises that may help:

• One-Leg Pedaling. Another way to adding strength (and variety to your indoor training at the same time). Normally, when you pedal with both legs, the leg that pulls the foot through the bottom of the stroke and back up to the top of the 360 degree "cycle" is under used (as the other leg, when pushing the crank through the down stroke has significantly more power and thus allows a bit of slacking).

  Learning to pedal a complete, 360-degree circle with both legs working together will make you a better rider. Practicing with one legged drills will embed this into your muscle memory and improve your pedaling style. You can give it a try on your trainer.

  1. Warm up on the trainer for 20 minutes while pedaling with both legs.
  2. Unclip one foot from the pedal. Rest it on a chair or stool just outside the left pedal circle.
  3. Pedal at 90 rpm using your right leg, using an easy gear until you get accustomed to the feeling of one-leg pedaling. The muscles that lift your thigh and push the pedal over the top will fatigue quickly at first, but you'll improve rapidly.
  4. After a few minutes, switch to the other leg.
• A fixie (a fixed gear bike). If you are handy and have an old road bike in the garage, you might be able to add a fixed-gear rear wheel from a used bike shop. Unthread your chain from the rear derailleur, shorten it, and place it around the small chain-ring in front and the single rear cog and you're done. A track bike would also work but you should install at least one brake before you go out on the road.

  Training on a fixed gear bike will bring focus to your pedaling technique as well as increasing leg speed and strength. The mechanics of a fixed-gear bike require you to pedal as long as the bike is moving forward. Inexperienced riders should try the bike on a stationary trainer for the first couple of rides.

  The requirement to pedal continuously develops a smooth pedal stroke as you spin down hills and increases leg strength as you climb the hills. Generally, gearing for a fixed-gear bike will be light (42x19, or about 60 gear inches), which is a nice balance for various types of terrain.

Shifting

Just as you move the lever, ease up pedal pressure. The shift will occur during one crank revolution. If you time it right, you won't lose significant speed. And if you are worried, push a bit harder for several strokes before lightening the pressure on the shift stroke.

Bottom line: Any time you shift either derailleur, be conscious of your pedal pressure. Shifts made during a moderate application of power have the best chance of being smooth and quick.

Riding

Precision Steering (look where you want to go)

Here are two secrets that might help:

• The first is to keep your eyes focused 20 - 30 feet ahead.

  Don't look down at the front wheel. It's tempting to look just ahead of the front wheel to make sure it's going where you want it to. But this results in frequent steering corrections that translate into wobbles that make you lose your line. You can practice on the road by riding on the white line along the edge of the road. Remember to keep your focus 20 or 30 feet ahead.

• The second is to look where you want to head, not at the obstacle you want to avoid.

Cornering

• Slowing too much

  The secret here is to keep your momentum during turns. Novice riders will waste their momentum when cornering, while the more experienced will sweep through the curve and open a gap that costs others precious energy to close. Corner after corner, this efficiency really adds up.

  A few tips:

  • Shift down before the turn. If the corner is tight (which will naturally make you slow), shift into a lower gear before you enter the corner, stop pedaling, and start leaning the bike. If you are in too large a gear, it will take more time to get back your momentum.
  • Practice standing versus sitting when exiting the curve. Cornering soaks up your speed, so you may choose to stand and sprint to regain momentum. However, standing uses more energy so in wide, sweeping corners you may opt to stay seated, and work a little harder to keep contact with the group (especially in a downhill turn). There are additional benefits of standing out of corners.
    • You use body weight to power the pedals and the tendency to shift to a lower gear.
    • Standing avoids the temptation to use more forceful pedal strokes in the saddle and increase knee strain.
    • Standing relieves saddle pressure - and even a few seconds will add up to decrease discomfort over the ride.
    • Standing will stretch your legs - and back. This will combat the stiffness that occurs with long rides.
    If you get in the habit of standing for a few strokes after most turns, even if it isn't necessary to stay with the group, you'll ride more comfortably.
  • Be prepared to sprint. Be ready to invest a sudden burst of energy after each turn. But if you can stay seated, and still stay with the bunch, it will save you energy to use on that final sprint at the end of the day or in the hillier sections.

• Going too fast
  • Lean into the curve. It's better to increase your cornering angle even though you may lose traction and fall to the inside. Consider the alternative - slide down or ride off the outside of the road and hit things like guardrails or trees with more than just road rash to deal with.
  • Stand. Give your tires more grip by standing and putting most of your weight on your outside pedal. Virtually all of your weight should be on it. Push your bike into the turn. The bike should always be angled more than your body.
  • Brake early, then not. Take off as much speed as you can before the turn, then release the levers. This goes against instinct, but braking in a turn makes a bike want to straighten, the opposite of what you need it to do. You can also feather the rear brake, but be ready to let up if the wheel grabs and threatens your control. Don't even think about using the front brake while turning. It is a sure way to send the bike where you're aren't aiming or cause the front wheel to slide out abruptly.

• Eye On Your Line

  Use your eyes to corner better. The next time you take a corner at speed, concentrate on eying your line. Don't stare directly in front of your wheel, watching for debris, cracks or potholes. You won't notice even more dangerous obstacles farther ahead. Instead, "sweep" the whole corner with your eyes before you enter.

  • Check your entry This is the section of pavement where you enter the turn and begin to lean the bike. Look for gravel, oil, potholes, slippery leaves, anything that could loosen your tires' grip.
  • Check the apex of your arc. Cracked pavement where the concrete curb meets the blacktop is a common danger. So is water -- from sprinklers or puddles on the roadside. In winter, this might be ice.
  • Check the exit. Sweep your eyes ahead, through the turn and up the road on the line you're riding. Don't let yourself spy the trouble as you are coming out of a successful corner.
  Then, just before you begin the turn, look through it to visualize the correct line. The trick is to visualize your line just before you begin to lean the bike. Then you can spot hazards and make adjustments without risking control. Remember, the bike goes where you look. Focus on the best line all the way through the turn and that's the path your wheels will take.

"For fast, accurate and safe cornering I teach people the following (most to least important)..."

• Look where you want to go and ALSO shift your pelvis on the seat so it faces into the corner.
• Keep you chest close to your top tube and handle bars, lowers the center of gravity and prevents the unstable feeling. On high speed descents I am practically kissing my handlebars.
• Point your inside knee into the turn by sticking it inwards towards the apex of the corner. Some people (Lance among them) say keep it tucked on the tube. I feel this makes it harder to lower your center of gravity, also GP motorbike riders practically put that inside knee on the ground and they are going much faster!
• Keep pressure off the inside pedal but keep pressure on the outside pedal. However, that force must be directed vertical towards the ground not directed down the vertical line of the bike which is leaning inwards. Doing this correctly adds additional force in the direction of gravity helping to increase the friction on the tire and prevent it sliding out on you.
• As you make the turn keep pressure on the outside hand. Sounds a little weird... "Turn the opposite way of the turn" but the front tire acts like a gyroscope, so pushing away from the turn causes the bike to lean into the turn! It's one of the reasons kids find it hard to learn to ride a bike. However once they gain confidence they go faster, the angular momentum of the wheel then helps them to stay upright because it is harder to turn the handle bars to lean or corner the bike, where as at slow speeds it is easy to over adjust and hit the pavement.

Paceline Training

"With a few friends, find a hill several hundred yards long. It doesn't have to be steep. Ride up in a paceline. Work on pedaling smoothly and maintaining 12-18 > inches between bikes. Here's the key to this drill: Keep the speed low. Around 5-7 mph is perfect. Everyone should be pedaling with the same cadence. No one should be struggling to keep the pace. Low speed ingrains smooth technique. In a normal paceline, if you speed up, you quickly overrun the next wheel. If you let a gap open, it takes effort to close and this messes up riders behind. But at slow speed on a gradual hill, there's less penalty for mistakes -- and you can simply put a foot down if you make one. Trade the front position after short pulls. Just 20-30 minutes of this slow-motion drill will make you and your friends noticeably better when you're in a paceline that's traveling 3 times faster."

And a second article, same e-zine (roadbikerider.com):

"Catch a draft! The best way to learn good drafting technique is to pair up with an experienced rider. So if you're an old hand, help a new rider learn. If you're a newbie, find a grizzled vet who's willing to help. In this example, we'll assume you're the rookie.

• Ride at a moderate pace on a low-traffic road. Put your front wheel about 3 feet behind your guru's rear wheel. As you feel comfortable and confident, get a bit closer -- maybe 2 feet, then 18 inches.
  • Notice how the draft is stronger when you're closer to your partner's wheel, weaker as you drift back. Notice how you feel more draft when speed increases.
  • Feel how the draft moves slightly to the side in a crosswind. Protection increases to the right of your partner's wheel when the wind is from the left, and vice versa.
• Good drafting depends on smooth, even pedaling. If you pedal and coast, pedal and coast, you'll find yourself getting too close to your partner or too far back. Keep the crank turning and use slightly more or less pedaling force to maintain a constant gap.
• Now practice rotating the lead.
  • The front rider checks over her shoulder for traffic, drifts a couple of feet to one side (determined by wind direction, road conditions or traffic) and slows slightly by soft-pedaling.
  • You take the lead not by accelerating but by keeping your speed constant as your partner slows. Pedaling will feel a bit harder because you're bucking the wind. Glance at your cyclecomputer to make sure your speed stays steady.
  • Stay close as you pass each other while rotating the lead. The closer your shoulders are, the less wind each of you will be pushing and the narrower your combined width. That's important so motorists can deal safely with your presence.
  • When you're the person dropping back, begin accelerating slightly when your front wheel is beside your partner's rear wheel. Then you can slip in behind before a gap opens."