Face..meet Pole..almost.

[Jenn]

Ok, wen't out for a quick ride, wind was wsw coming home I was flying didn't have my computer on left it at home, but it was awesome, then I turned and the light changed and I hit both brakes............I squezzed with everything I had and I swear....my nose was 2 inches from kissing the stop light pole. Should brakes stop faster, or do I need to do something different?

[KnottedYet]

Sounds like you were pretty lucky! And you didn't do an endo!

I've panic-stopped a couple times and been surprised by how *long* it took. I think most of the time we are used to slowing down well in advance of when we need to stop, unclipping our ground foot, checking the traffic, etc. The bike stops darn near instantly with the brakes at that slowing-to-stop speed.

Going faster and doing a panic-stop doesn't happen that often, so I am not familiar with how long it takes to stop from high speed. And it does take me a lot longer distance to stop.

Scares the crud out of me!

[Grog]

Scary! [Long response ahead sorry!!]

I might have assessed the traffic and either gone through at higher speed (adrenalin-fueled) or taken a right turn. But those were probably not possible for you at that time. It very well might have been the right thing to do.

It doesn't reallly answer your question, but you could have gone (and now: you can go) to an empty parking lot to practice braking. Go at some speed (more than 10 mph?) and try braking with different strengths, and with only the rear brake, only the front brake, different combinations of the two, etc. You will get acquainted with the actual braking power of your bike. You're right: it's not that efficient.

You will discover that if you brake only or mostly with your rear wheel, you skid. Often dangerously so. Your rear brake mainly slows you down/drags your wheel on the pavement. Try squeezing it and pedalling: you can still move forward a bit even when it's engaged. The front brake is what stops the bike for real. You have to learn to use it in combination with the rear brake, throwing your weight towards the BACK of the bike as you do it (even better with hands in the drops). Obviously you did something right because you didn't go flying over the bars. Good reflex!

It won't solve every situation. On the flats as much as possible if I need to stop somewhat quickly I use mostly the front brake. (Throwing the weight to the back prevents you from going endo.) Going downhill at high speed, you might not have a choice but to use both brakes strongly to even just slow down quickly. I had to brake in an emergency in a paceline recently in very ugly conditions: going off a bridge on a 3 feet shoulder with about 8 cyclists ahead of me and 3 behind, and traffic going 30 mph to our left. The rider in the front made a decision that was really unexpected and the riders in between did what they could but were not very experienced, did not pass the message very well, and, well, we at the back paid the price. Thankfully no one was hurt. I was probably going down at more than 20mph and I had to squeeze the brakes, my rear wheel skid quite a bit (1-2 feet to the left; if it had gone to the right I would have crashed I'm afraid). I still am not sure what I could have done better, I'm just happy I could reestablish balance, but it was sure a great demonstration of the dangers of the rear brake.

[Jenn]

Thanks for the encouraging words, I felt like a fool! Usually I anticipate the light and either speed and blast through or slow way down and just wait, but this light for whatever reason, changed so I was going to turn right and ,....Oh it could have been bad.
I am DEFINATELY going to take the advice on going to a parking lot and practicing braking though. Thank goodness I'm comfy with my clips or I would have hit the pole and been laying on the ground like a turtle on it's back.

[TrekJeni]

The front brake is what stops the bike for real. You have to learn to use it in combination with the rear brake, throwing your weight towards the BACK of the bike as you do it (even better with hands in the drops).

Like Grog said, as an LCI (League of American Bicyclist Certified Instructor) you need to get your weight off the saddle.

Front brakes have the most power but can cause a crash if miused. Either brake makes the rider's weight shift forward. Shift your weight over the rear while by sliding out of the saddle. Use your arms to push your bike you in front of you. Don't try to turn. (that's a whole nother subject ) If you start to skid your rear wheel, start to feather your front brake.

In becoming certfied instructors, we had to demostrate this ability while going about 15+. The Quick Stop is my most FAVORITE evasive maneuver. What's great about the QS, is you can practice it anywhere. My fellow LCI's and I (who are great friends) will usually sprint to stoplights and see who can stop the quickest. Much fun!

Good luck! And way to not hit your face.

Jeni

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have a policy of never ever approaching a light at a high speed, and never "blasting" through an intersection, even if the light just turned green for me. You never know what cars are going to do in intersections. Usually they do the unexpected, and usually they don't see you. I leave myself plenty of "comfort zone" for stopping in case something happens- and it often does. Intersections and lights are dangerous places.

[Jenn]

Like Grog said, as an LCI (League of American Bicyclist Certified Instructor) you need to get your weight off the saddle.

Front brakes have the most power but can cause a crash if miused. Either brake makes the rider's weight shift forward. Shift your weight over the rear while by sliding out of the saddle. Use your arms to push your bike you in front of you. Don't try to turn. (that's a whole nother subject ) If you start to skid your rear wheel, start to feather your front brake.

In becoming certfied instructors, we had to demostrate this ability while going about 15+. The Quick Stop is my most FAVORITE evasive maneuver. What's great about the QS, is you can practice it anywhere. My fellow LCI's and I (who are great friends) will usually sprint to stoplights and see who can stop the quickest. Much fun!

Good luck! And way to not hit your face.

Jeni

Thank you!! Definately maneuvers I'm going to practice that's for sure!

[quint41]

I agree with Lisa. Intersections in New England are no places to tease fate. We have right turns on red lights here, and you should never try to guess what the vehicles are going to do.

(I recently did not follow my own advice and crept up on the shoulder at a red-light intersection. Just as I braked to stop at the corner, the box truck to my left turned right with no signal light on and almost ran me over. I was clipped in with a high curb to my right and a truck inching closer and closer to my left and front. NOW WHAT?! I was screaming at the driver as I was quickly unclipping and throwing my bike and self onto the sidewalk. I think he got as close as an inch. I was kicking myself the rest of the day -- what was I THINKING? Never, never test fate! Last year I was in mid-intersection with a green light, and a mom in a mini-van turned right into my path when SHE had the red light! Obviously, she didn't see me, but I was right there, so I guess she wasn't really looking for me.)

[Jenn]

Ok, so what do you do when..like, last week, I was leaving our neighborhood, and "Soccer Mom" in a van was at a stop sign. I was really moving along and pointed...LEFT..Like a car with a blinker she KNEW I was going LEFT. She still pulled out in front of me and again it took everything I had to slow down...Oh I was SO pissed. The sad thing is this all happens ON BASE where the MAX speed limit it 35 mph!!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ok, so what do you do when..l.

Jenn, what you do is...you always ride in such a way that you will be able to either stop or turn in time to avoid being crushed by the car that is going to turn in front of you in plain sight without having the right of way. You ASSUME ahead of time they are going to do the wrong thing and you ASSUME they don't see you at all. Always leave yourself an escape route- some way to either have sufficient time to stop or else a clear place to turn to avoid collision. Having had the right of way in an accident doesn't help you when you are dead. Unfortunately, in car/bike collisions it is almost the biker who gets seriously hurt, not the car driver. Expect trouble always and create a safe buffer zone around yourself by riding defensively.

[Kano]

I have a policy of never ever approaching a light at a high speed, and never "blasting" through an intersection, even if the light just turned green for me. You never know what cars are going to do in intersections. Usually they do the unexpected, and usually they don't see you. I leave myself plenty of "comfort zone" for stopping in case something happens- and it often does. Intersections and lights are dangerous places.

Me too, Lisa! DH will get through an intersection a bit ahead of me, but five cars may be right on his tail. And strangely enough, even though I don't remember back far enough when turn signal lights weren't on cars as standard equipment, it sure seems like a lot of people don't know they've got them!

Just the other day, DH, who insisted I needed to ride ahead of him on the busy street was making a big deal that I should GO GO GO, but since I could only see him in my rear view mirror or by turning my head, and I knew that there was TONS of traffic, I refused, and told him I wasn't going through this y-turn intersection until _I_ could see what was coming at me or not.

Perhaps I could trust him, but when I'm on that teensy bike, and there are a bazillion cars of various sizes buzzing around me, I'd just as soon see for myself and err on the side of caution!

Karen in Boise

[Jenn]

Karen, it sounds like your husband and my husband would ride VERY well together. My DH does the same thing to me and when we are not on the base and people are running 50-60 mph I just get very nervous, and he does the same thing, yells at me to GO...GO....I hate it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Do NOT go faster than you feel safe and confident going. It is irresponsible for others to urge you to go faster than you are comfortable with, especially in traffic!