how many seasons and/or miles til experienced?

[Tater]

You can pass a motorcycle going downhill.
V.

Hey, no fair if it was your hubby on his motorcycle!

I know I still have a lot to learn about cycling, but I figure the more T.I.T.S I get, the more I learn. For instance, hills; I have a love-hate relationship with them. I hate doing them, my technique sucks (but is improving), but each time I go out to do them, I learn something. Hopefully, in time, these little learning sessions will make me a better rider.

[mtbdarby]

I would be what I consider athletic, but when I tried one of the tests they had Jeremy do to test his balance (stand with your arms straight out to the side, place one foot on the inside of the other thigh and close your eyes), I couldn't hold that pose for 5 seconds! I too would like to improve basic bike handling skills so I can teach them to my son.

Velogirl, looks like you'll be heading out on tour to teach us TE girls how to really ride! Let me know when you're in WI.....

[BeeLady]

I will be looking for a cycling coach - my husband has mentioned that already and it does make sense. Meanwhile I have recently done lots of internet reading on proper ettiquite/safety when riding in a group and in general because a large neighborhood group ride sponsored by our LBS is what has really gotten me fired up about cycling besides just using my bike for errands. Just competed my first event (36.5 miles) and am raring to go.

I enjoy my bike and wouldn't not ride because I felt I wasn't skilled enough. Seems like more skill will come with time and mindfulness in the saddle. Fortunately I rode a unicycle as a kid and roller skated for years so I do have some natural balance. In the '70s I rode in Houston traffic on my ten-speed for miles and miles each day, no real thought about whether or not I was skilled enough to be doing that (the bliss of being a teen).

Fast forward thirty years and I am much more cautious in traffic but will take a downhill as fast as they come, even on my 12-year-old, $200 (new) bike. (BUT, I just ordered a Bianchi Volpe to replace my workhorse -- can't wait!). Hopefully on a decent bike I won't keep thinking my front wheel is about to spin off. That's where skill would come in handy -- knowing whether I'm on a safe descent or not (easy to know its fun ).

I will re-new my search for a coach - guess cycling is like skating - most people can get around a rink but for jumps, spins and spirals it takes some instruction. Will use the limited skills I have but am always happy to learn more.

Would like to live the rest of my life as an experienced cyclist - I'm at the starting line now.

[mimitabby]

I have been logging my miles all year and I have ridden almost 2000 miles already in just this year!
Do i feel like a real experienced rider? NOPE.. you know why? Most of the people i ride with rode 5000 miles this year so far, and have done so so so much more than i will ever do.

I am seriously considering taking one of Velogirl's classes, but one of my bigger problems is that i will be 55. I don't want to fall anymore, so there are a lot of risks I just don't take (I will try the waterbottle thing though)

I guess you're experienced when you feel like it. Even the newest newbies
can get on this forum and give practical advice. it's because they've learned something and now, through their experience, they can help someone else. It's a great feeling to be able to help someone else. When you get there, you are experienced.

HOW experienced? that's another question.

[7rider]

"It's a joke son. I say it's a joke."

V.

When you ask for someone's opinion, that's what you're going to get. It doesn't make it truth.

WHEW! That's a relief!!!
Cuz, when I read your list, I thought "Where's the bar? I thought your aren't a REAL cyclist until you walk into a seedy neighborhood bar while clad in lycra and ask to refill your waterbottles!"

And BTW, I thought I was experienced (anyone got Jimi Hendrix running through their brains?) but perhaps not! (BTW, I'm breathing down the neck of mile 2,000 also this year...a personal best for me.)

Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do with a chain tool and keep my LBS on speed dial on my cell! I know just enough about bike mechanics and maintenance to be dangerous. I figure, I don't change my oil in my car by myself and I have no clue how it works, so do I really need to do all my bike work by myself? Sure, I can fix a flat, adjust my saddle, replace my cleats, and change pedals. But repair or replace a headset? Overhaul a bottom bracket? Swap out a cassette? Nope. Mostly, I rely on routine check ups with my trusted mechanic to keep the machine running correctly from the start.

P.S. I never picked up a waterbottle from the ground, and I"d probably break my neck if I tried!

[RoadRaven]

Well, I have heard from local coaches, local "top" riders, riders who have been riding for decades and also read in some articles and books that it is two years...

Its not miles on the bike, or actual hours...

It two years of getting your body used to cycling on a regular basis...

Thats what I heard anyway...

[aicabsolut]

Velogirl,
You raise lots of great points. I've wondered many of the same things as someone who teaches people how to ride horses.
I think that prior athletic history is a pretty small part of it, though, and maybe can get chalked up to talent. I say this because I can steer a 1,000lb animal towards a 4'+ high fence with my hips and legs and bodyweight. I've jumped over fences with no hands, while taking a bite of a doughnut (on a dare). But I am not comfortable reaching for my water bottle in its cage yet, while holding a line.
Part of it is that I've been working on tweaking my saddle position and my butt's position on that saddle to be better balanced. But without being able to grip the top tube with my legs, for example, I'm still pretty hopeless. Also, on a road bike, you're still bent over, which I know from horses takes amazing body control, fitness, and practice to keep from falling on your face when hands are removed--unless you've got them stuck out to the side or in some other position that helps you balance better.

Still, the physics of cycling versus other balance sports is different. While I understand the difference in how a racing cyclist versus a motorcycle racer versus a jockey takes a corner at speed, doing it is another thing, particularly without someone watching you on the ground and giving you feedback.

I've always wondered why so many cyclists have limited (e.g., email) access if any at all to coaches. I'd love someone to help me the same way I tweak body position and 'handling skills' of an equestrian--whether it be a beginner or a pretty advanced competitor. I'd love a clinic, but I still feel that I'm really starting from scratch--with just a smidgen of athletic talent--when it comes to bike handling.

Besides losing the fear of falling on your face, what does it take? Just hours on the bike? Any way to speed up the learning process and flatten out that learning curve some?

[Crankin]

Veronica, I sort of knew that you were kidding (i.e. the lycra comments...), but I always feel inadequate compared to the people who ride 5,000 miles a year and can do all of their own mechanics. In fact, I feel like a poseur (sp?) a lot of the time. Yep, I've ridden 2500 miles this year and I can climb pretty well for an old lady. But I don't know how much more I can improve. My speed has gone up a lot, but I seem to have reached a plateau. It takes me longer to recover now that I have been doing more longer rides (50-100 miles).

This is sort of like when I taught aerobics. I was constantly comparing myself to the 20 year old instructors who had strong dance backgrounds and had nothing better to do than to hang out at the gym. It made the whole thing not fun. I don't want this to happen with cycling. You have to put it all in perspective. Most "regular" people, who don't ride or even do any exercise at all think all of us are amazing. When i started thinking that a 50 mile ride is not a big deal, i knew something was crazy...

[Veronica]

(i.e. the lycra comments...), but I always feel inadequate compared to the people who ride 5,000 miles a year and can do all of their own mechanics.

I wasn't joking about the last thing on the list.

It's the whole comparision thing. Why do we do that? Ride your ride and enjoy it. Get as good at it as you want to get. But don't feel like you have to be like someone else.

I ride so much because I'm an insane lunatic, who actually likes the way my body feels at mile 150. I learned to do my mechanical stuff, because I ride alone A LOT - even on a big ride I'm alone. Does that make me a better rider? No - just crazier and I need to be self sufficient.

BTW I have never passed Thom on his motorcycle. It was three other guys that I have passed on three different rides. Yes, I'm counting.

V.

[SadieKate]

Unfortunately, most new riders never take the time to learn the basic prinicples behind the sport -- balance and weight distribution. Instead, they learn the more intricate "tricks" of the trade -- cornering, descending, steering, taking one or both hands off the bar, etc. All fine and good, but these are the icing on the cake. These are the implementations of those two basic principles. And if you never really understand those two principles, you'll never really master cycling.

Amen! Especially true for road-only riders.

I add to this that one should know enough basic mechanical skills to get you home.

You can ride for miles and miles and take forever to learn some things, or get a coach and have a much steeper learning curve.

[xeney]

SadieKate, does your comment about road-only riders mean that you think mountain biking is a good way to learn some of these skills?

I ask because that is exactly why Jeremy (uh, my husband, not the Jeremy in the article) encouraged me to get a mountain bike and take some skills clinics (which I am going to do this spring; it is much easier to find mountain biking clinics than road clinics, it seems), because he said he learned most of what he knows about bike handling from mountain biking (and also from riding BMX bikes as a kid).

[SadieKate]

Absolutely! You must move around on a mtb and learn about weight and balance or . . . else.

Yes, it is easier to find skills clinics for mountainbiking. It's too bad. I think there is a cultural assumption that we all learned to ride a bike as a child and road riding isn't any different. It's only from experience that you learn how much you don't know.

[SadieKate]

In what issue should I look for this article?

[velogirl]

You can ride for miles and miles and take forever to learn some things, or get a coach and have a much steeper learning curve.

A steeper learning curve with a coach? I'd think working with a coach (assuming you spend on-bike time with her), would shorten the learning curve.......maybe a little slip, SK?

[latelatebloomer]

Great thread. The first month on my road bike (still in my first year), I rode brave and happy and stayed upright until beginner's luck ran out. It ran out on May 15! And then I started to be realistic about how I had not ridden a bike since I was a a child, or done anything else that required any athletic skill orfitness. I am just now seeing how much I have to learn about my balance and ALL the road skills that others seem to take for granted. When I see DH ride no-hands for fun, I just want to cry! I'm still FORCING myself to ride one-handed to signal. (And I make myself signal even if I'm the only human being for miles, just to practice.) So I guess I"m solidly in that awkward stage of learning how much I have to learn.

But those moments of feeling free and strong make it worth hanging in there.