Improving Balance for the Beginner Cyclist

When you ride often enough, after a few years you tend to forget what it was like to be a beginner rider. Conducting beginner clinics (and reading some of my old journal entries) helps me remember that cycling can be a really daunting challenge. Here are a few tips for new riders that I've picked up over the years.

Practicing your études.

While no one approaches a piano the first week and starts pounding out Bach, we often forget that good cycling comes from good fundamentals. Doing scales on the piano was one of the most tedious things I had to do as a child, but it taught my fingers and my brain where the keys were, so that when it came time to read complex music, I didn't have to look down to hit the right note. In cycling, you practice finding your balance and shifting gears.

So here are the exercises for finding your balance (Etudes for Bicycle). All exercises should be done in the small ring up front (middle ring if you have a triple) and the middle of the cassette in the rear.

Removing your hand from the handlebar.

For those of you who grew up riding bikes, riding through your teens and into your 20's and 30's, you will simply not understand this. For the rest of us, if you don't remember it being a terrifying thing to remove your hand from the handlebar while riding, just to take a drink or signal a turn, well, you've probably blocked that memory. It was terrifying. If you are just learning to remove a hand while riding, here are the steps to take to move to the next level:

1. Admit it's terrifying and unnatural to remove a hand from the mechanism guiding you in a straight line. Don't beat yourself up for being afraid.

2. Take your fear, mentally put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your back pocket. Don't look at it.

3. Find a nice open parking lot (like the back side of a mall), and with a water bottle in the cage, ride in a straight line. There should be no cars, dogs, kids on skateboards, or errant squirrels to distract you.

4. Take your hand from the handlebar, bring it to your chest, then back on the handlebar. This is a quick but smooth movement that does two things: a) keeps your center of gravity all in one plane and b) lets you start to get comfortable with having one hand on the bar. Gradually increase the time your hand is off the bar. When you are comfortable, move to step 5.

5. Touch the water bottle, then put your hand back on the bar. Repeat this step, gradually increasing the time your hand is on the bottle.

6. Remove the bottle from the cage, bring it to the handlebar, then replace the bottle. Drink if you can hold steady and feel confident, but only when you're ready. Yes, you are still riding around the parking lot.

When you have mastered removing the water bottle, drinking, and replacing the bottle in the cage, find a low-traffic location where you can increase your speed to 13 - 16 mph, and continue this drill at speed.

Signaling

Back when Mildred and Algernon were sitting in the Edsel and had to signal a right or left turn, all signals were made with the left hand out the driver-side window. A roadie bent over in the drops making this kind of right turn signal doesn't make so much sense. You should signal LEFT by extending your left arm left-wards, and signal RIGHT by extending your right arm right-wards. This is the most unambiguous way to tell cars and other cyclists what your intentions are.

1 - 4. Follow the same steps as above to get comfortable removing a hand from the handlebar.

5. When you're ready for Step 5, be aware that your center of gravity will be affected by an outstretched arm. Tighten your core muscles to aid in stabilization. Practice riding in a straight line, alternately holding the handlebar with only the left hand, then the right.

Girls on a Team LUNA Chix ride practice riding the white line near Cabrillo.

Riding in a straight line.

This is honestly harder than it sounds.

1. On a low-traffic stretch of well-paved road that has a white stripe signaling the edge of the bike lane or the start of the shoulder, ride the white line, keeping your front wheel on the line.

2. Listen for cars and move to the right when they approach from behind.

3. Once you are confident, hold the handlebar with your right hand, sit up straight, pull your left shoulder back, opening the chest. Glance over your left shoulder. Turn back forward and see how far off the white line you moved.

4. Practice looking over your left shoulder while riding in a straight line. Don't forget to engage your core muscles to keep you stabilized.

Note: You can also practice riding in a straight line in a large empty parking lot with long rows of white lines.

Practice slow, tight turns.

In a quiet empty parking lot, practice making figure eights between the parking spaces. Use the width of 4 spaces to begin with, and make your turn radius tighter as you gain confidence. Work towards completing a figure eight within two to two-and-a-half parking spaces.

Hopefully these tips will help you develop better balance!

In my next blog entry, I'll discuss shifting. Yes, much like the rising of a soufflé, shifting can be somewhat elusive and mysterious. But there are tips and tricks for everything!

Hope to see you on a ride soon!

Bike Maintenance: So Easy, a Baby Could Do It

An important part of bicycle maintenance is keeping your bike clean, which not only keeps it looking good, but ultimately prolongs the life of your wheels and drivetrain (everything the chain touches). You don’t need a repair stand or even a water hose - you can turn your bike upside down and rest it on the handlebars, using a spray bottle, brush, and a soft cloth to do the work.

Let’s get this out of the way for you who have never done this and are concerned: You will not hurt the bike.

As long as you do not turn screws or bolts, drop large solid objects on your bike, or leave parts soaking in undiluted chemicals, you will not hurt the bike. You can pull on the chain, drop the chain off the front ring, and scrub front and rear derailleurs with a small brush. But just in case, here are some things to know.

Important reminders:

• Never use WD-40 on your bike. WD stands for “water displacement” and will make it difficult for lubricants to stick to WD-40-treated metals. You want your bike clean and lubricated.

• Dilute concentrated cleaners like Simple Green or cleaners containing citric acid very well, since the chemicals react with aluminum and may cause it to weaken structurally (that said, I use citric acid cleaners but rinse parts really well).

• Always rinse cleaning agents from your bike frame and components after cleaning.

• Never spray high-pressure water near bearing areas like hubs or bottom brackets.

Here’s what you need:

• Water - hose or spray bottle
• Brushes - thin cassette brush or toothbrush, (also a cattail brush and soft-bristle frame brush are very helpful, but optional)
• Bike cleaner - bucket of dish soap and hot water or almost any bike cleaner or Simple Green and hot water
• Bucket
• Rags

One more note before we get started: If you haven’t had a professional tune-up on your road bike in 12 months or 1000 miles (mountain bike would be more like 8 months or 500 miles), clean your bike up, make an appointment, and take your bike in. A mechanic will check your chain and tires for wear, make sure it’s shifting and braking properly, and that your spokes are properly tensioned. This 5-step bike clean-up procedure presumes that your bike is in good mechanical condition.

1. Drivetrain
I go for the messiest part first, which is usually the chain. If you can remove the chain with a quick link, do so and soak it briefly in a Simple Green and hot water solution. Then scrub it with a brush and rinse it thoroughly before letting it dry in the sun or drying it with a hair dryer. Clean the other parts of the drive train while the chain dries. If you cannot remove the chain, using a brush and a solution of Simple Green and hot water, scrub the chain thoroughly. Scrub the chain rings and the cassette. Scrub the little pulley wheels on the rear derailleur making sure you remove any caked on grease and dirt.

2. Wheels
If you have a road bike and do not have access to a hose, it’s probably best to wet a cloth with water and minimal bike cleaner, and wipe down your rims and spokes, being mindful that citrus cleanser left on your aluminum rims is not good for them. You can spray your rims with diluted solution from the bottle and use a soft brush, but make sure you rinse them well and wipe them down with a dry cloth afterward.

3. Frame
Same goes for the frame as the wheels. A damp cloth should do the trick unless you’ve been riding in the back pasture after a heavy soaker. Be sure to wipe around the bottom bracket where grease and grime can collect.

4. Finishing touches
I wipe down my handlebars, making sure to wipe in the direction of the bar tape on the road bike. At this point I take a clean cloth and make sure everything is dried off.

5. Lubricate the chain and spoke nipples
Once the bike is clean, you are ready to lube the chain. Wet lube and dry lube are both liquid, no matter what it sounds like.
WET LUBE is a wax lubricant that is usually recommended for riding in wet weather or if you live on the ocean and keep your bike outside. It allows a wax film to form on the chain, protecting it from rust. Wax lube must harden after application before you ride. You should not apply a wax lube right before you ride. Note that if you are riding in dusty areas, some wax lubes will cake up with dust and will not glide smoothly, while others shed dust very well.
DRY LUBE is more like the consistency of cooking oil and is often preferred by riders in dry climates (like San Diego). Dry lube may be applied immediately before riding.

Which is the best lube for you? Tell your local mechanic where you usually ride and ask for a recommendation.

If your chain is clean, you can put whatever you want on there to lube it. If your chain is not fresh-from-the-brush clean and it needs lube, you should re-apply whatever lube is already on the chain. The only way you can really hurt the chain is to not lube it at all.

Use Tri-flow with the needle-tube attachment to lube the spoke nipples every so often after you clean the wheels. This will keep the nipples from seizing up and preventing your mechanic from truing the wheels.

Enjoy your clean bike!

Cycling routes added to Google Maps

Cycling routes added to Google Maps

I've been a Google maps fan for quite a while, and soon I'll be able to map out my rides there, too.
As of this post, the function is not available, but check back soon:http://maps.google.com/cycling

It sounds like they have put some serious thought into providing some great functions and features. Read all about it at the official google blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/biking-directions-added-to-google-maps.html

Elfin Forest Ride

I have a confession to make.

I've been a mountain biker living in San Diego for six years and I had not been to the Elfin Forest for a ride until last week. I had heard this trail had "a lot of climbing" and was difficult. Being a climbing sissy, I dismissed it as something probably not very fun. I could not have been more wrong.


While the Elfin Forest is not for everyone, if you enjoy a good technical challenge and have some power in your legs, this is one of the most beautiful climbs you will do in SoCal in under an hour.


I came out on a Wednesday morning with a buddy who also had never been there and had no idea what to expect. We were struck by the beauty of the hills, lush and green from the recent rains, the purple heather and other flowers in bloom and spread out across the hillside like a random picnic blankets.


The trail starts off by crossing a creek, then immediately ascending, leading you on a sometimes narrow and rutted, sometimes wide and easy, and sometimes impossibly rocky trail that snakes up the hill for about 2 miles.



I found out something about myself: it's not that I hate climbing, it's that I hate boring climbing. A fire road climb is simply uninteresting. But THIS climb was so technical, you were constantly looking for a good line up the hill. It was infinitely interesting. Although I had to stop a number of times to study the ground at my feet (read: hang over my handlebars gasping and wheezing till I caught my breath), I enjoyed the climb so much I came back the next day with the GoPro helmet cam to film it.

Click here to see the helmet cam video of the CLIMB.

And click here for the helmet cam video of the DESCENT.

My only disappointment was that I didn't see any elves.

MTB Clinic with LUNA PRO Danelle Kabush

Every so often the women of the Team LUNA Chix San Diego will host a bike skills or maintenance clinic. I am one of the nine team members who assisted with the mountain bike skills clinic with Danelle Kabush a couple weeks ago. For more info on beginner-friendly bike rides, skills clinics, and women's maintenance clinics in the San Diego area, please see our website or email me!

Wow! What a great way to spend an afternoon!

Meeting at the UCSD campus, mountain bikers of all abilities and backgrounds gathered Sunday to experience an afternoon of bike riding, bike handling skills and coaching with LUNA pro rider and 2x XTERRA Championship medalist Danelle Kabush. Not only were pro roadies in attendance, but the mountain bikers ranged in age from nine to... OK so nevermind on the upper limit, the youngest person there was nine years old!

After a brief discussion of proper shifting, trail etiquette, and introductions, Danelle led the group of 26 riders over to a gently sloping grassy area to coach us on some body position techniques. She emphasized the importance of understanding how your bike will move and react to your body position. Ultimately, you want your body and the bike to act in concert as one entity, not as two separate units. Taking time to pedal through the grass and note the responses from your bike when you brake first with the front, then the rear, then lean the bike from side to side as you ride is vital to developing confidence on your bike, and to understanding its nuances. (Yes! Your bike has nuances!) I remember during my second year of racing downhill, I finished a practice run and one of my teammates told me with a smile, "Hey, good work! Looks like you're finally riding like you're in control of that bike and not the other way around!" Danelle's techniques would have really facilitated that transition back then!

From the grassy hill, we headed north on campus, past the library and into the Eucalyptus Grove. A popular running trail, the Eucalyptus Grove offers the beginner as well as the advanced mountain biker a bit of everything, with wide double track, winding singletrack, challenging rocky climbs and rutted descents. Since there were so many of us, we broke into two groups, with the more advanced riders (along with the bursting-with-enthusiasm school-age crowd) chasing Danelle down the trail, and the more novice riders following me. Throughout the clinic, we tried to be sensitive to the desires of the advanced riders to challenge themselves while taking care not to overwhelm the less experienced riders. With so many options for different routes and trails at UCSD, we were able to strike a nice balance, split off and meet back up when necessary, giving everyone a fun and challenging ride. At the base of one of the hills, Danelle talked to us about the importance of finding the perfect balance point and gear ratio when climbing, and encouraged us to practice climbing a hill at different speeds and in different gears, so that we would be better able to predict the best gear and body position to use when on group rides. We then ascended the hill one by one, the young kids going first and the rest of us cheering for them as they crested the hill.

To give the advanced crowd a challenge, we took them to a short steep roll-in. The degree of difficulty was partly in rolling the descent without flipping onto your nose, and partly making the 90° turn and not rolling off the edge of the cliff. Once a couple spotters were in place, the intrepid riders lined up to make the short steep descent. Many of them had never done anything like this, and would not have thought anyone would even attempt it. Seeing so many riders take a deep breath and go for it, descending to the bottom to the cheers of their friends and fellow riders was a huge boost. I think everyone felt the collective mood and spirit of the group bubble over with excitement at having conquered the challenge.

While the advanced group made a loop down the narrow singletrack and back up a challenging climb, the rest of us wove our way through the trees to an open area that contains a winding twisty trail. This trail helps you to practice working on your body position, keeping your chin up, and anticipating the next turn. Once through these areas, we all regrouped on the fire road and headed over to the final section of trail for the day, the bridges section.

There are two bridges in the Eucalyptus Grove, one is long and wide, about 3 inches off the soft ground and has a few slight turns, the other is short (only eight feet across) but spans a dry creek bed about 3' down and is no more than six inches wide with raised edges lining the sides. While we all charged across the first bridge with most riders making it all the way across and the others simply riding off the edge like it were a curb, we all stopped at the narrow bridge to take a look and think about the technique to cross it. In addition to being confident, you have to spot the entrance, immediately spot the exit, think about giving an extra pedalstroke at the exit to make it past the roots, all while not losing your nerve or looking down. Danelle assigned two spotters to stand in the dry creekbed while the riders came one-by-one and triumphantly crossed the bridge. As with the steep roller, some of the riders had never attempted anything like this, and you could tell by their faces that they were both surprised and delighted by their having stepped up to the challenge and conquered it!

The last skill Danelle introduced us to was the pop-over-the-log skill. We didn't have enough time to do a real bunny-hopping session, but Danelle laid down the foundation of the move and encouraged us all to do our best popping over a log in the trail. Our two spotters really earned their LUNA bars this time, as they caught three or four riders in mid-air, their front wheels bouncing off the log as they anticipated the log too early. Everyone got a chance to try, and Danelle was on hand to give individual instruction to anyone who was having trouble.

From the moment we all arrived, we were excited to be there, knowing this was a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and improve our skills. The added bonus was that as we started testing what we were learning and cheering for each other, the collective enthusiasm began to grow, and we began to see ourselves less as individual riders, and more as a part of a pack. As time on the trail passed, we were more and more thankful that we were there and a part of the action.

With time running short, we finished up the trail ride and headed over the the Outback Adventure Center on campus. There, Danelle spoke to us about sports psychology. She asked us to think about what we each liked most about mountain biking or cycling, and what mental skill we saw as most important to being successful at it. She then discussed different ways in which our minds play as important a role as our bodies in truly preparing us for success in our sport. I've been racing mountain bikes since 2004, and know the importance of focus in a race, but Danelle took it one step further to say that it is important to know how to re-focus when the visualization we had for ourselves and our race is not met, be it by doing worse than we expected or even better than we had expected. What a great point! She also talked about how vital relaxation is, and that as an athlete, you must know how to actively relax your mind and body. That sounds like an entire class in and of itself that I would love to take.

Our session with Danelle at a close, we gathered our things and prepared to head back to the parking lot where we'd met before the ride. The riders all thanked us for a great ride and clinic, and filed out of the conference room, leaving just the San Diego LUNA girls and Danelle to pack up while we chatted together about how successful we felt the afternoon had been. The air was still crisp with the excitement of challenge and triumph, and we all felt it. After packing up our things, those of us on bikes headed back to the parking lot, wondering if any of the riders would still be there, even though we were only a few minutes behind them. Imagine our delight when we rolled around the building into the lot to hear one of the young girls shout, "Here come the LUNA girls!" and all the participants from our clinic stop and begin to cheer for us.

Indeed, it was a great afternoon.

Special thanks to Jay Hines and Steve Kowaluk who helped on the trail, to the Outback Adventure Center staff who provided us the room, to all our attendees, and especially to Danelle. We hope to see you all out on the trail again soon!

Riding with Children: Bonita (South SD)

Bonita, CA, just south of San Diego (near CA-54 and I-805) is another great place to ride with children. When my eight-year-old friend Esther was visiting me from New Mexico, I borrowed a Trail-a-bike, hooked it up to my bike, and off we went on our trail adventure!


The Bonita Bike Path is a great ride to do with kids, even if they are on their own bikes and not hooked up to yours, because you are on a dedicated bike path and not riding in traffic. If you don't want to cross Willow Street with children on bikes, park your car at Rohr Park and ride around the golf course to get to the bike path.

Route from Donny's Cafe (link goes to MapMyRide.com)

Location: Start at Donny's Cafe or Rohr Park
Distance: 6 miles out and back to the horse stables
Elevation gain: Almost flat
Riding time: 1-1.5 hours
Road conditions: dirt path
Traffic conditions: pedestrians, horses, bikes
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment: knobby tires work best
Kid-friendly: Yes
Notes: Rest rooms at Donny's Cafe or the Bonita Library. Mostly shaded route.

Esther and I took off from Donny's Cafe, cutting through the Kaiser parking lot, and carefully crossing Willow St to get to the bike path. The bike path skirts the Bonita Golf Course and runs along Bonita Road.

Although the ride can be done on a bike with slick tires, it's best to have knobby tires, so you will have better traction in the dirt.

Once we arrived at the stables, we parked our bikes and asked the owners if we could walk through the stable and look at the horses.

Inside, we found chickens running about. It was more than we expected to find at the end of our bike trail.

From the start of our ride at Donny's Cafe down to the stables was about 3 miles. The horse stable was a good half-way point to get off the bike and stretch our legs a bit. We had some water, then got back on the bike to return home.

It was a very fun, healthy, and interesting way to spend the afternoon.

Bicycle Theft Prevention

Theft-prevention advice from the man.