Riding in a straight line is all about relaxing on your bike. Here are some tips. First, put your hands on the top of your hoods (not in your drops) at first. Bend your elbows, relax your arms, and support your upper body weight with your abdomen not your arms. Of course, you will rest on your arms, but they need to be relaxed, and bent. Above all, keep them bent.

If your arms are stiff and straight, every movement of your body and weight changes will be transferred directly down into the bike and you will go from side to side. If you are relaxed and have bent arms and loose shoulders, let your shoulders drop!, then your bike will not react to every movement that the rest of your body does. I've been riding for years and even I when I get tired start to tighten my shoulder up on one side. All I have to do is drop the shoulder and I am more comfortable and the bike is easy to ride!

I ride on the drops a lot. You can brake from the drops so don't worry, just go out and practice a bit. If you are riding in a pace line you can feather your brakes from the drops, keeping your pedals moving and control the bike better than if you just brake. Feathering the brakes means, just lightly applying the brake. Try it, your bike will instantly be more stable when you need it to be in close quarters. But, practice this before you get in a tight situation!

So, bend elbows, drop shoulders, relax, and look where you are going. That's all there is to it.