Tight Turns a Problem on Strada

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

Quoted message said:

Saturday I found myself approaching a stop light in a small town. The approach was uphill. The
light was red. I had to stop behind one car. I intended to make a right at the light. There were
parked cars on both streets. I had to dismount. I can't pedal through a tight in-town 90 degree
turn like the one I described without heel strike. I have tried the rachet style pedal approach.
It works but I am certainly at the point where it becomes automatic behavior. I guess I better
keep practicing.

FWIW, I would not consider a 90° turn to be tight. Assuming a 12' lane width, you should have plenty
of space to maneuver. I do note that you were at a light on a hill. I will remind you that there is
nothing to prevent you from taking as much of the lane as necessary to make a safe right turn. Next
time consider moving further to the left before attempting turns such as these. The will lessen or
eliminate the possibility for heel strike.

Safe cycling practices recommend 'taking the lane' whenever necessary. Vehicle laws pertaining to
cycling in most states (I am pretty sure this includes Pensylvania) require cyclists to ride as near
to the right edge of te lane as is _practicable_. IMO, this is not one of those situations where
hugging the curb makes sense.

You could like tractor trailers, post a sign on your fender: "This vehicle makse wide Right turns."

--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

Quoted message said:

You could like tractor trailers, post a sign on your fender: "This vehicle

makse wide Right

Quoted message said:

turns."

Ouch! The dork-o-meter just went off the scale ... :-)

In such situations I attempt to gracefully hop off the bike and walk it around the corner with a
jaunty "I meant to do that" attitude.

Cletus, you are probably correct. I probably had more room than I perceived at the time.
Interestingly, I was in the middle of the lane as I also take the lane I need. I think the real
issue for right now is that I don't feel secure and confident on the bike. The BB is high! Coming
from a low BB Stratus it's a real adjustment.

Jim

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Stratrider
I am certainly at the point where it becomes automatic behavior. I guess I better keep practicing.

Like Cletus, I do not think the 90 degrees is a tight turn.

I am getting used to SWB. My bike is a convertible wheelbase. I have had some issue getting used to the SWB. I suppose with a bike that at the beginning seemed twitchy, my confidence was twitchy as well.

In Tulsa, we have a river trail system coupled with a rail to trail system in a neighboring suburb. These two paths are connected by a pedestrian bridge in which you ride up a ramp so far and turn 180 degrees in and continue up to another 180 turn. When I first got my Burley, I was not able to make this in LWB or SWB. The turn was just way to tight being as the walkway and turns were sidewalk width. I tried ratcheting through the turn and everything the seasoned SWBers in Tulsa said to to but I could not get it. Well, to my delight, I made it for the first time last Wednesday. It took quite a while, but I did it.

In my mind, it was a mental barrier. I knew about heel strike and knew the BB was a bit higher than my old bike and knew this and that. My point is, I knew too much to be confident. It was not until I just let go and let it fly that I got past it.

Does that make sense?

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

Quoted message said:

Stratrider said:

I am certainly at the point where it becomes automatic behavior. I guess I better keep
practicing.

Like Cletus, I do not think the 90 degrees is a tight turn...

Quoted message said:

In Tulsa, we have a river trail system coupled with a rail to trail system in a neighboring
suburb. These two paths are connected by a pedestrian bridge in which you ride up a ramp so far
and turn 180 degrees in and continue up to another 180 turn...

Quoted message said:

In my mind, it was a mental barrier.

You reminded me of my daily bike commute. This is a tight turn. I can usually make it going down. I
made it once on the Stratus. Often on the Voyager and I am still working on the Giro.

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

I have never thought about heel strike, Maybe I should ;-)

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

Jim I know your dilemma. I tried my luck on a Vision R-40 and 45 and a P-38, coming away from the
low BB of a TE and GRR Polished Alum bike. It can be VERY stressing! And my Aero (With I believe
even a slightly higher front BB, should be arriving in about a week!) However this time, I'm going
to give myself plenty of time and miles to get use to the Aero. I've ridden a few Stradas and
Corsa's and I seem to do fine on them. EZ Biker :-) Pompano Beach, Fl. (GRR Ti and SOON, Bacchetta
Aero Pilot)

"stratrider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]... The BB is high! Coming from a low BB Stratus
it's a real adjustment.

Quoted message said:

Jim

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

Quoted message said:

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

says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Stratrider said:

I am certainly at the point where it becomes automatic behavior. I

guess

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I better keep practicing.

Like Cletus, I do not think the 90 degrees is a tight turn...

Quoted message said:

In Tulsa, we have a river trail system coupled with a rail to trail system in a neighboring
suburb. These two paths are connected by a pedestrian bridge in which you ride up a ramp so far
and turn 180 degrees in and continue up to another 180 turn...

Quoted message said:

In my mind, it was a mental barrier.

You reminded me of my daily bike commute. This is a tight turn. I can

usually make it going

Quoted message said:

down. I made it once on the Stratus. Often on the Voyager and I am still

working on the Giro.

Quoted message said:

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

I have never thought about heel strike, Maybe I should ;-)

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

No offense Cletus but that doesn't look like a very sharp turn

"Mark Leuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:sL%Za.125766$YN5.86842@sccrnsc01:

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

No offense Cletus but that doesn't look like a very sharp turn

A 135 degree turn with about a 6 foot outside radius? Looks fairly sharp to me. I'd have had trouble
with that back when I rode DFs if I was making any speed whatsoever.

(I'm assuming the trail is entirely on the blacktop, and doesn't go onto the concrete section in the
foreground of the picture.)

-Bill Hamilton

In article <sL%Za.125766$YN5.86842@sccrnsc01>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You reminded me of my daily bike commute. This is a tight turn. I can

usually make it going

Quoted message said:

down. I made it once on the Stratus. Often on the Voyager and I am still

working on the Giro.

Quoted message said:

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

I have never thought about heel strike, Maybe I should ;-)

No offense Cletus but that doesn't look like a very sharp turn

Well, it is near 180° and the turning radius is about 6' or 12' from dirt embankment to concrete
bayou retainer. Throw in the crumbled asphalt edges and the immediate 'up hill' climb, it gets
pretty tight.

Recently the upper trail was repaved with 8' of new asphalt but no sooner than they finished the
paving, both the upper and lower trails were closed for construction of a new storm drain across
both trails.
--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

[email hidden] (stratrider) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Saturday I found myself approaching a stop light in a small town. The approach was uphill. The
light was red. I had to stop behind one car. I intended to make a right at the light. There were
parked cars on both streets. I had to dismount. I can't pedal through a tight in-town 90 degree
turn like the one I described without heel strike. I have tried the rachet style pedal approach.
It works but I am certainly at the point where it becomes automatic behavior. I guess I better
keep practicing.

Jim Reilly Reading, PA

This is another reason it's an advantage if you have master smooth, with power, one legged pedaling.
I ride an Aero with bars that are narrowed and lowered to the max. Makes it very difficult to make
slow hard 90 degree, or tighter, turns. I have solved this delima by unclipping my foot in direction
of the turn and pedaling through with one leg. Naturaly you should be in the granny gear while doing
this. After you have mastered pedaling smoothly with either leg, go out and practice riding around
in tighter and tighter circles. Remember, your inside foot is already unclipped so you can catch
yourself or stop quickly. If your Strada has a stock handle bar setup, you can make the slow tight
turns by pulling the inside knee in very tightly while rotating your heel outboard on the pedal. Of
course if something goes wrong you better be quick(understatement) at uncliping! Another good use
for mastering one legged pedaling is making smooth straight line starts. This comes in handy if you
are in the middle of a pack of riders, and want to hold a good straight line while starting. I know
it sounds counter intutive, but pedaling with one foot for the first few revolutions will actually
allow you to stabilize your launch and make for a smoother second clip in. The more exhausted I am,
the more this helps. Anyway, this stuff works for me. Good Luck!

Emmett Hood

Cletus Lee <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

You reminded me of my daily bike commute. This is a tight turn. I can usually make it going down.
I made it once on the Stratus. Often on the Voyager and I am still working on the Giro.

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

I have never thought about heel strike, Maybe I should ;-)

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

Cletus, I can see from your picture that the pavement quality hasn't improved on the Braes Bayou
trail. Back in my DF days it was good "bunny hop" practice, hopping over those speed-bump-sized
expansion joints near the Shriners Hospital. On a 'bent, however, it's just a pain in the rims (and
kidneys and teeth). As for that curve.... I think they designed that one for cyclists going the
other way. Sorry, Cletus, you'll just have to move to the East side ;-) On a freeway, there'd be a
"no left turn" sign posted. Of course, there's plenty of room under that bridge to make a U-turn,
assuming the homeless people haven't hung out their laundry between the bridge supports.

As for the Dork-O-Meter, there's nothing worse than falling over, all by yourself, while waiting
for a red light. I did this twice when I was first getting used to my Vision. DOH! (Try real
hard to avoid eye contact...) Nowadays it's like second nature; I seldom have to unclip the
right foot at all, and the only time I run into problems is when I forget to downshift while
approaching the light.

As for heel strike, its avoidance becomes automatic when you get comfortable with the bike's
handling. For U-turns, etc., I do the ratchet pedalling thing without even thinking about it. With
clipless pedals I can do it with one leg (barring uphill starts). Havn't tried it with the "tweener"
bars yet, but I'm sure they make it a little more complicated. Don't think the Strada/Corsa/Aero was
meant to go slow. Do I want one? Is the Pope Catholic? But I don't think one of these high racers
would suffice as my only bike.

Bill Anton 2001 Vision R-40 SWB, OSS Lubbock, TX, USA

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

Quoted message said:

"Mark Leuck" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:sL%Za.125766$YN5.86842@sccrnsc01:

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

clee.orgimage015.htmOpen ↗

No offense Cletus but that doesn't look like a very sharp turn

A 135 degree turn with about a 6 foot outside radius? Looks fairly sharp to me. I'd have had
trouble with that back when I rode DFs if I was

making

Quoted message said:

any speed whatsoever.

(I'm assuming the trail is entirely on the blacktop, and doesn't go onto the concrete section in
the foreground of the picture.)

-Bill Hamilton

Without a bike on it to compare to I see a fairly wide path, much wider than we seem to have here
anyway although I will say if you miss the right turn going downhill you could be in a great deal of
trouble 🙂