Riding Tips ACCELERATING: Accelerating away from lights and across lanes should be done in a more dignified manner than when you are on your own, so that other cyclists are not dropped. BRAKING: Avoid braking as much as possible and give warning beforehand. When stopping for lights, do so gently without slamming the brakes on. The same goes for stopping pedalling suddenly, which can cause an accident. CORNERING: Give your partner plenty of room in the corner and keep level with them. Corner at a safe speed so that everyone behind can keep up and hold your wheel. If you find that you are continually ‘losing wheels’ then it is time to do some cornering practice. (See next article on Cornering) DOWNHILL: If you are at the front of the bunch, keep pedaling down gentle gradients. If you don’t everyone else will be putting on their brakes. HALF WHEELING: Half-wheeling is one rider always riding in front of his partner, which then puts the whole bunch out. It is essential that you keep level with your partner if at the front: keep your handlebars level with the handlebars of the rider next to you, rather than your front wheel level with theirs. SITTING ON: Keep reasonably close to the cyclist in front of you and again keep level with your partner. If too much of a gap is left the bunch is always playing ‘catch up’. Keep your head and eyes up. Don’t watch the gap between bikes. Scanning ahead will give you early warning of changes. UPHILL: In some bunches everyone splits up and goes up at their own pace while other bunches try and stay together. If that is the case and you feel like dropping off, pull off quickly so that others don’t get caught behind you. When climbing a hill and deciding to get out of the saddle do it in one continuous flowing movement. Otherwise the wheel slows momentarily and can hit the wheel of the cyclist behind, causing a fall.
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