Quote Originally Posted by lph View Post
I'm a bit spooked by the idea I might get pushed or bumped and crash...
I replied in the race results section, but am just now seeing this post.

If you get pushed or bumped when you are in a race (and in most cases, it's a matter of when, not if), keep your body relaxed/loose. It takes a pretty good shove/bump to cause you to actually go down from this. Oh - and push back .

Touching wheels is a little tougher. Typically if wheels touch, it is the rider behind who will go down. But this, too, is avoidable! In our club, we actully go out in a clinic to practice these drills. Find a nice grassy area (so it won't hurt if you DO go down), and with a teammate or riding partner, practice riding along and bumping into one another. I can ride next to another person completely leaning on them, and steering them in the direction I want to go, all without crashing. Also practice touching wheels - direct hit from behind, and from the side in an overlapping fashion. You will find that you can, if you keep your body relaxed and loose, recover from this even if you are behind (typically the person in front won't even feel this happening).

Sorry for the long-winded response! The key, really, is to be relaxed, and to make sure you don't have a death-grip on your bars.

Congrats on the first race!

SheFly