Need help with my pedalling

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm new to riding, I learned to ride last year at age 46. Here's my problem - riding on a typical
2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front or behind, my legs
want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to ignore the traffic
and just keep pedalling?

Practice. To start, try slowing down your pedaling, rather than stopping completely.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm new to riding, I learned to ride last year at age 46. Here's my problem - riding on a
typical 2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front or behind,
my legs want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to ignore the
traffic and just keep pedalling?

Practice. To start, try slowing down your pedaling, rather than stopping completely.

Or go for the cycling equivalent of chucking junior in the deep end, and ride a fixed gear bike
for a bit!

Tim.

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (grisoft.comgrisoft.comOpen ↗).
Version: 6.0.489 / Virus Database: 288 - Release Date: 10/06/03

"Nate" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm new to riding, I learned to ride last year at age 46. Here's my problem - riding on a typical
2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front or behind, my legs
want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to ignore the traffic
and just keep pedalling?

Nate

Practice on lightly travelled roads with a decent shoulder, where you don't feel quite so threatened
by traffic, or find a road with a bike path next to it where you can pedal without feeling
threatened by cars. This seems like a fairly reasonable reaction (freezing up and staying still) to
a perceived threat, and as you get more comfortable on a bike in general it should go away.
--
mark

"Nate" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm new to riding, I learned to ride last year at age 46. Here's my problem - riding on a typical
2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front or behind, my legs
want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to ignore the traffic
and just keep pedalling?

Close your eyes.

Nate said:

I'm new to riding, I learned to ride last year at age 46. Here's my problem - riding on a typical
2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front or behind, my legs
want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to ignore the traffic
and just keep pedalling?

Nate

Consider doing this: Ride pedalling at a steady cadence til you are nicely warmed up. Maintain the
steady beat. When you notice a car approaching, ignore it by channelling your attention elsehwere.
Look just forward of your front wheel, and get your mind on the beat you have been maintaining.
Remember to breathe. It's sort of like learning to walk on a footpath in the dark. You feel tense at
first, but apprehensions pass away and you finally walk along without thinking about it. Enjoy the
ride, and keep on crankin'. Best regards, Bernie

Nate said:

riding on a typical 2 lane road, pedalling along, when a car approaches me, either from the front
or behind, my legs want to stop turning the pedals until the vehicle passes. How can I learn to
ignore the traffic and just keep pedalling?

You could try riding further out from the kerb. If you have a decent safety margin you feel less
constricted by overtaking cars. Well, I do anyway. And experience helps: maybe it'll go away
with time?

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ Advance
notice: ADSL service in process of transfer to a new ISP. Obviously there will be a week of downtime
between the engineer removing the BT service and the same engineer connecting the same equipment on
the same line in the same exchange and billing it to the new ISP.

I would suggest that you get and read "Effective Cycling" by Forester. Cyclists are very seldom hit
by overtaking vehicles. Of course, knowing this fact and not being intimidated by cars whizzing you
yer elbow are 2 different things.

You may be aiding and abetting your own discomfort. If the road you are riding on is rather narrow,
if you ride really far to the right, you are giving cars the signal to pass you while "squeezing"
you in the same lane.

I did this same thing when I started. I rode a busy narrow road near my home when I was learning and
I ended up off the road three times (this was because I shied away from cars that approached closely
at that time). The next year I rode this same stretch and I rode far enough out from the side of the
road to force cars to go into the other lane to pass me and I had no problems at all.

mark said:

Practice on lightly travelled roads with a decent shoulder, where you don't feel quite so
threatened by traffic, or find a road with a bike path next to it where you can pedal without
feeling threatened by cars. This seems like a fairly reasonable reaction (freezing up and
staying still) to a perceived threat, and as you get more comfortable on a bike in general it
should go away.

If it's a really tight squeeze for the car, it's not an unreasonable reaction, either. If you're a
relatively inexperienced cyclist, having all your attention on steering rather than on pedalling
could help, plus if your pedalling skills are less than smooth it can make it harder to hold a
strict line.

Jasper

Glad to hear that. I'm in a similar situation to the original poster in that I learned to ride only
a few months ago, age 46 too. However, I'm really bad at steering, a wide rider who rides wide.
About a week ago I took my first chances on the road over short distances. I wait until there are no
cars coming (takes about 3 times as long to get to work by bike than on foot for this reason), then
start up on the asphalt. Immediately I swerve about 40° to the left since this always happens when I
start pedalling and searching for the left pedal. Once righted, I try to keep to the right side of
the road but my aim is so bad that overtaking cars have to cross the lane line.

Not great, but in fact I only realize they are there when they have almost passed me and it's too
late even to panic.

Elisa Roselli Paris, France

Pbwalther said:

I rode a busy narrow road near my home when I was learning and I ended up off the road three
times (this was because I shied away from cars that approached closely at that time). The next
year I rode this same stretch and I rode far enough out from the side of the road to force cars
to go into the other lane to pass me and I had no problems at all.

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

on the asphalt. Immediately I swerve about 40° to the left since this always happens when I start
pedalling and searching for the left pedal. Once righted, I try to keep to the right side of the
road but my aim is so bad that overtaking cars have to cross the lane line.

That's the nice thing about weaving through traffic on a bike: other traffic can very clearly
see that you're a novice rider and will thus keep clear of you much more than a newly licensed
kid in a car.

Jasper

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

Glad to hear that. I'm in a similar situation to the original poster in that I learned to ride only
a few months ago, age 46 too. However, I'm really bad at steering, a wide rider who rides wide.
About a week ago I took my first chances on the road over short distances. I wait until there are
no cars coming (takes about 3 times as long to get to work by bike than on foot for this reason),
then start up on the asphalt. Immediately I swerve about 40° to the left since this always happens
when I start pedalling and searching for the left pedal. Once righted, I try to keep to the right
side of the road but my aim is so bad that overtaking cars have to cross the lane line.

They're supposed to cross the lane line anyway, don't worry about it.

You may have the most beautiful female name ever, BTW.

--
Scott Johnson "Always with the excuses for small legs. People like you are why they only open the
top half of caskets." -Tommy Bowen

Unfortunately, a middle-aged woman who's a novice rider is an oxymoron in France, the "Nation of
Cyclists". I had much more indulgence when I was hopping up and down on a kick scooter. On the
cycle, no one can figure out what is wrong with me.

Elisa Roselli Paris, France

Jasper Janssen said:

That's the nice thing about weaving through traffic on a bike: other traffic can very clearly
see that you're a novice rider and will thus keep clear of you much more than a newly licensed
kid in a car.

Top Sirloin said:

They're supposed to cross the lane line anyway, don't worry about it.

You may have the most beautiful female name ever, BTW.

Wow, thanks! When I was a kid I wanted to change it to Nancy. %°>

Elisa Roselli Paris, France

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

Unfortunately, a middle-aged woman who's a novice rider is an oxymoron in France, the "Nation of
Cyclists". I had much more indulgence when I was hopping up and down on a kick scooter. On the
cycle, no one can figure out what is wrong with me.

Well, maybe, but staying well away from someone who looks like they're planning to swerve into you
is basic survival instinct.. even here in the Netherlands (even more of a nation of cyclists, after
all) it mostly works.

Jasper

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:

Glad to hear that. I'm in a similar situation to the original poster in that I learned to ride
only a few months ago, age 46 too. However, I'm really bad at steering, a wide rider who rides
wide. About a week ago I took my first chances on the road over short distances. I wait until
there are no cars coming (takes about 3 times as long to get to work by bike than on foot for this
reason), then start up on the asphalt. Immediately I swerve about 40° to the left since this
always happens when I start pedalling and searching for the left pedal. Once righted, I try to
keep to the right side of the road but my aim is so bad that overtaking cars have to cross the
lane line.

Not great, but in fact I only realize they are there when they have almost passed me and it's too
late even to panic.

Elisa Roselli Paris, France

Pbwalther said:

I rode a busy narrow road near my home when I was learning and I ended up off the road three
times (this was because I shied away from cars that approached closely at that time). The next
year I rode this same stretch and I rode far enough out from the side of the road to force cars
to go into the other lane to pass me and I had no problems at all.

You are doing the right thing in learning to be a vehicular rider. One thing to consider is that the
busy streets that the cars commute on are usually paralelled by quiet residential streets with very
little traffic. If that is the case in Paris (never made the trip) then you can ride more safely and
learn the moves on quieter streets. Awareness and use of safe, quiet streets is a survival skill in
my opinion. Be careful out there, and enjoy the ride! Bernie