Cycle Training

Wary about posting this in fear of adding fuel to the fire (in Wills loins), but here goes.

On Thursday evening I went for cycle training with WiganWill.

I've been recommending training to a number of new cyclists as a means of building basic skills and confidence. I was advocating something which I'd never done, and really knew little about so I thought I'd take one. I think I'm a reasonably competent rider, but I'm also not so egocentric to think there wasn't much to learn from a long-term London courier. I'd guess Will would spend more time in the saddle on a working day than I would in a week.... and learn I did.

We started with some basic stuff, some stop/starts and little tests to see how well I held my line while looking behind me. We also looked at best technique for emergency stops. Talking this through at the time we identified a tendency to skid the rear out a bit and not really use the brake in dicey situations. In initiating the skid, I come out of the saddle. Tips from Will about keeping the weight as far back as possible and applying the brake had a discernible affect on stopping distance once I had a few shots at it (though I didn't look quite as rad, which was disappointing). This was all done away from traffic in a little carpark.

All went pretty smoothly and we moved on to some quiet intersections to talk about road positioning. This highlighted a tendency of mine to move to a position which would allow a vehicle to move past. For example when stopped at a T-junction to turn right, I'd be close to the centre white line. Will questioned me about this asking if there was enough space to pass on the left. The best I could answer was 'maybe'. Obviously this situation lends itself to vehicles trying to squeeze through the gap which is not ideal. There was a big emphasis here on assessing the conditions when approaching the intersection, checking behind well in advance so there were no surprises, and communicating with the other road users by head checks, eye contact, road position and hand signals if required. I'm sure you've all noticed that a head check will often create space around you.

We then went out for a ride to find some busy intersections. Before we approached, we spent a bit of time off the bike talking about where we wanted to be and what we were doing, and the appropriate place/time to filter. Obviously you need to assess the situation based on a number of factors, most of which I guess you tend to do without really thinking about them, i.e how long the cars have been waiting for lights, the space up the outside/between rows etc. On a couple of occasions when I would have filtered, we were better served by stopping behind the row of cars in order to retain the primary lane position. In retrospect, the delay this caused us was negligible and I felt in a much safer position in what was a pretty shitty intersection for bikes.

The key messages were to obtain/maintain the primary road position, be seen, and communicate with the other road users.

I made a couple of poor decisions on the day, sprinting for a gap in front of a cab to get around a bus, and turning right across traffic in poor conditions through a small gap. Im not sure the manoeuvers were inherently unsafe, but in light of what we'd been doing during the lesson they were clearly a bit shit and could have been better executed not just for me, but for the other road users.

Anyone who knows Will, either in person or through this forum will know that the bloke can communicate. His professionalism was exceptional and as soon as we started, it was all business. I'd have no hesitation recommending this. For me I think the most beneficial part was just chatting though the intersections and strategies for a couple of hours. It really brought the road safety mantra to the front of my mind. Almost immediately I found myself riding a bit differently, more assertively, positioning myself earlier and thinking a bit more. I still like to mash it, but I think I'll be choosing the right times to do it, and doing it from a better road position.

Good fun too! Thanks Will!