Group Skills riding clinic

Went to a group skills riding clinic - had about 2hours lecture, 3hrs on bike. Even though it wasn't focused on what I was wanting (it was more race oriented), I'm sure it will all be useful in the future.

The first thing they had us do was a cone drill, going through about 10 cones on a track, shifting our bike over only and keeping our body on top of the white line. I was able to get through the cones with minimal side to side movement, but my body stayed with the bike, not over the top.

They worked us some on steering and counter-steering. Makes a little more sense now. I definately prefer the counter-steering method.

We did some pole drills to prepare us for bumping and touching wheels a little later. At first we had to ride up and bump the front wheel to a basketball post and have that stop us, track stand there, then pull off and turn and go around. I could get myself there and stopped, and I could get off the post and go around, just kept putting my foot down on the track stand part. The next part was "kissing the post" where we came up just to the side and leaned our bike and front wheel up against the post, then pulled off and went on.

Next we had to pair up on a grass field and practice bumping back to front wheels. One person in front keeping a steady pace and line and the person had to come up and either bump treads or bump the wheels side to side. I didn't have any problems when somebody bumped my rear wheel, and did okay with me hitting my front wheel. Almost went down a few times, though.

After that we went on the road to work on pace lines in 3 groups: fast, moderately fast, and "velocity challenged." I thought I was inbetween the mod and "challenged group", but decided to suck it up and go with the moderately fast group. After some work we sort of got the idea down. Had some gaps opening up due to surges, and people pulling off and slowing down at different speeds. My main issue was riding that close to somebody - I'm just not comfortable there yet. Got a little better as we went along, though. And I was pleasantly surprised that I stayed with the group with no problems over 20+ miles, probably riding 16+ with some hills. And of course I always seemed to be at the front on the hills, either pulling and having to make sure I didn't go to fast and shatter the line, or as we were starting to descend, and since I'm the smallest there, I was holding everyone up. Oh well.

Afterwards the guy leading my group came up and talked, said what I already knew (need to get used to being in close quarters - which he purposefully did to me a few times) and commented that I was a strong rider, which I appreciated. I mentioned that I was considering doing a few races next year, and he said that physically I was just about there, just needed to get used to the group dynamic. I definately didn't think I was even that close.

Overall, this was useful. I was put into situations that I've never been in before, and I survived. And I got some clarification about things that I've been wondering about. And the best part was that it was free from our local cycling club, so I was able to meet some of the other riders in the area.

If any of you gals want more info about any of the drills, I'll be glad to try and explain further. Not sure it will make sense, though.

Hi ladies. First post here, although I've really enjoyed learning from your experience for a while.

The skills session sounds wonderful, and I'll try things like nudging a post etc next time I'm out. But what is counter-steering?

Some of your post confused me since I am still basically a newbie to the cycling world, such as the pole drills. However it sounds like a great training tool that would seem very beneficial.

Congrats on being a better rider than you thought! We are our own worst critic you know, so maybe you will be racing sooner than you think :)

I'd love to find a class like that in the DC area. I don't plan on doing any racing or big group riding, but it sounds like they covered some really interesting aspects of bike handling.

oz rider - counter steering is a method to get through the corners. What you do is put most of you weight on the outside pedal (the one you are turning away from) and push down on the inside handle bar. You end up leaning your bike over as you go through the corner - great on dry roads, bad on wet ones as you can slide out. You have to look where you're going as you go through the corner. I know there are some other discussions on here that might describe it better.

CyclChyk - sorry some of the post confused you - I know I was confused a few times going through the clinic. The post drill, I felt like wasn't as useful as some of the others. They said it was for getting used to touching something with your wheel (like someone elses back wheel), and then getting off of it. The first part of the drill had us ride up slowly to it and then have the our front wheel tread gently hit the front of the goal post - as if you were touching another wheel tread-to-tread. That stops you and you stay there in a track stand (sitting on your bike balancing in place - no movement of the bike). You then have to pull your bike back off the post slightly, turn the fron wheel sharply, and ride off. The next part is similiar, except instead of tapping your wheel on the tread, you come up just to the side and lean your front wheel against the side of the post (as if you are behind someone, just to the side, and get a little close with your front wheel and the other back wheel). You then have to pull your bike back off, and turn your wheel enough so that your handle bars get through, and ride off.

I never got through the post drill all by myself - I had somene spotting me, and helping me balance while I was still - I worked on actually touching the post, and pulling off of it. The main thing I got out of the drill was being able to maneuver my bike better at slow speeds. I definately don't want to bummp into somone with my wheel, though. You almost always go down, even if you practice these types of drills.