Category Archives: Road Survival

Tips for cycling in Melbourne’s wet weather

20150425-WetBikeBanner

 

Well Roulers,

April has been a really crap time for riding and blogging. The combination of bad weather and an early Autumn cold has me off the bike and off my game. I wasn’t able to do the MS Melbourne Cycle weekend either.  Bother…

This morning was the first longish ride I’ve done since returning from holidays and it was a sodden and cold 34 km, with the last 7 km into a driving headwind. I don’t know how the Dutch and Belgians ride in these conditions in the lowland classics.  Breakfast at Balderdash has never tasted so good.

Notwithstanding a pretty slow and miserable ride it made me thing about my personal safety and what I should be doing while riding in the wet.  I figured that would be a good topic for an Autumn blog entry.  It is also revisiting a topic I wrote about back in August last year after seeing Chris Froome bow out of the Tour de France.

So here’s some on tips on wet weather riding:

  1. Your tyres only provide traction for one activity at a time: braking, steering or accelerating. Don’t risk losing traction by braking or sprinting around bends. Brake on the approach, flow round, ride away.
  2. Avoid riding through puddles, particularly if you can’t see the bottom of them. They could conceal shards of glass, potholes and slippery surfaces like painted lines or ironworks.
  3. Your brakes will be a lot less efficient in the wet, especially if you have rim brakes and are on very wet roads. This means your stopping distance in the wet is greatly increased so you’ll need to leave plenty of room to slow down and stop.  You may need to “pump” the brakes a little to dry the rims. In addition, don’t forget to give your brakes a really wipe to remove all the grit that’s splashed up during your ride.   An old toothbrush is perfect for this.
  4. A back wheel slide under braking can be controlled with practice.  However, a front wheel slide isn’t quite as easy to recover from.  So take it easy on that front brake and use more emphasis on the rear brake.  If you’re on very slippery surfaces keep pedalling while you use the back brake to prevent the wheel from locking.
  5. Drivers may have problems seeing through wet or steamy windscreens when it’s raining. This means you need to take extra care to be visible with front and rear lights on your bike and helmet.  Bright clothing high visibility clothing and pannier covers will also help.
  6. Pedestrians are doing their best to get where they’re going in without getting wet.  They may have rain hoods up or have visibility shielded by umbrellas.  This will means they may not see you coming so you have to be extra vigilant (and visible) and be prepared to avoid them.
  7. In low light, clear or yellow lenses for eye protection are critical. When riding in the rain, normal sunglasses cut out too much light and can make road obstacles hard to see.
  8. Warm and waterproof clothing will make you much more comfortable so you can concentrate on riding safely. Wear good gloves and overshoes as well as a waterproof jacket.  If you wear glasses consider wearing a hat with a peak to help keep the rain off of them.
  9. Newly laid tarmac may be greasy and slippery so you need to be extra cautious on new roads.
  10. If you’re a regular commuter consider fitting mudguards for the winter season. They will stop the spray into your face off the front wheel and the wet strip up your back from the rear wheel.
  11. Avoid these slippery things where possible: Painted markings, metal drain covers and manholes, metal studs and cats eyes, rainbow coloured oil splotches, wet leaves, wooden surfaces, mud.
  12. Even when running good tires, traction on wet roads is hard to come by. An easy way to increase traction on wet roads is to lower your tire pressure. A drop of just 5-10 psi could improve traction noticeably.
  13. When riding with others, it is best not to ride directly behind the rider in front as this throws up spray and grit. Also, stopping distances will be affected in the wet so it is best to keep a safe distance apart to avoid collisions.

See you on the roads.

Marv

Pedestrian crossings and the cyclist…what Marv has learned.

I have to say that I’ve been absolutely gobsmacked in the last 24 hours. Let me explain.

Yesterday I had a series of near misses, all within about 5 minutes of each other, on Williamstown Road. Its a fairly busy road on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD. The first near miss I consider to be a mutual “faux pas” between myself and a black Audi driver emerging from a laneway. We were both:

a) surprised by each other’s co-incidental use of the laneway entrance/exit, and
b) fortunate enough to the travelling slowly to avoid an embarrassing bingle. No harm done.

The next incident had me fuming. I slowly ride onto a pedestrian crossing that bridges Williamstown Road. I’ve seen drivers with tunnel vision routinely speed through the crossing ignoring pedestrians. It’s a wide crossing which may explain why some drivers may not see a pedestrian on the curbs, on either side of the road. I’m about a third of the way across, when a white van zips right through. I’m annoyed and wave my hands at the offender.

What happened next is the bit that really threw me. I pull up at the lights next to the van, I give the driver an evil stare and he completely ignores me. He’s away somewhere in his own head. Little wonder he didn’t see me, he’s in ‘auto-pilot’ mode. A motorcyclist, one lane over, had seen what occurred and shakes his head at me disapproving. I’m pretty sure he said something like – ‘You’re a f$%#king idiot, you were on your bike”. I replied “Doesn’t matter I’m on the crossing and have right of way”. They both speed off, presumably, to important matters.

The van driver is the typically selfish professional road user and I should know better having seen that kind of behaviour, repeatedly, in the vicinity of this crossing. On the other hand, the motorcyclist irritated me. One would have thought that the motorised two wheel variety of commuter would have empathy with the non-motorised kind. After all how that that possibly be right??

So this morning I did a quick search of the web and found this:

Vic Roads A-Z of Road Rules

Which didn’t really answer the question ie Did I have right of way on a pedestrian crossing whilst mounted on a bike? As with ‘public-friendly’ interpretations of the law, its about what’s not explicitly stated that’s important. Which lead me to read:

2009 Road Safety Rules, Part 15 – Additional Rules for Bicycle Riders

And specifically Rule 248 on page 307 of the 2009 Road Safety Rules, and the following:

248 – No riding across a road on a crossing
(1) The rider of a bicycle must not ride across a road, or part of a road, on a children’s crossing or pedestrian crossing.
Penalty: 3 penalty units.

Which means the motorcyclist was right….WTF and I mean WTAF?? Gobsmacked.  I’m sure that the bloody van driver didn’t know this 🙂

Dealing with obstacles on the road

The Breakaway

While Australian roads don’t resemble the cobbles of the European lowlands, there is no shortage of cracks, road side debris, pot holes, grates and worst of all slippery tram lines, to navigate.  Fortunately you can learn a few skills to deal with them.

The Leadout

I was watching a time-shifted copy of the 2014 Paris to Roubaix and kept hearing, care of Phil Ligget, what great bike handling skills Peter Sagan has. No doubt on the cobbles in French roads, you need them to stay out of trouble and in the race. That triggering me to think what bike handling skills should the average commuter or amateur have to deal with the hazards of the road.

The Peloton

Skill What to do
Pay Attention The best obstacle on the road is the one you see and avoid. Steer smoothly, check behind you and indicate which direction you are moving.  Its good etiquette to point out the obstacle you have seen to other behind you.
Float on Just like the lyrics of the Modest Mouse song ‘Float on’, once you’ve identified an obstacle try to hover on your saddle, keeping the pedals level and your body weight towards the rear. You are then in good shape to negotiate what’s coming up ahead of you.e.
Go faster and apply power This is exactly what the pros do on the cobbles, lower your gear, reduce your revs and apply power. This should enable you to ride over cracks and disintegrating road surface.
Be a shock absorber ‘Float on’ the bike but let you knees and elbows bend with the impacts.  This will hopefully stop pinch flats and buckled rims..
Pull a small ‘wheelie’ Just like the lyrics of the Modest Mouse song ‘Float on’, once you’ve identified an obstacle try to hover on your saddle, keeping the pedals level and your body weight towards the rear. You are then in good shape to negotiate what’s coming up ahead of you.e.
Jump, Jump, Jump Respect to one hit wonders Kris-Kross. I have to admit I’ve never tried this, but I’ve seen the pros do it, particularly over branches and street furniture.  The theory goes, bend down at the knees to compress your calves and thigh muscles. Do the ‘small wheelie’ but a fraction of second later uncurl your legs, causing you weigh to move upwards.  This should lift the rear wheel off the ground and over the obstacle.  Sounds hard and probably is.

Braking into corners…not entering or crashing

Technique is the key to fast and safe cornering

The Breakaway

Ignoring the sheer stupidity of riding a bike eg a trendy, beard friendly fixie, without brakes, mastering the skill of braking into corners is an essential cycling road skill. You only have to watch the pros come unstuck on tight fast corners to understand how important this skills is.

The Leadout

The key riding corners well lies in three simple points, B-L-L:
Brake – Brake early
Look – look where you want to go,
Lean – lean in

Here’s detail

The Peloton

Skill What to do
Brake Alway, always, always brake before entering a corner, not whilst you are going round it. In races or your daily commute through traffic intersections its tempting to hit the gas and go round fast.
Look Sounds so obvious, but its axiomatic.  Look where you want the bike to go, not where you are and certainly not down at the road.  Looking down may result in you panicking and slamming the brakes, mid-maneuver.  This is guaranteed way to loose skin, break bones and scratch up your bike.
Lean Body position in the corner is critical. A s you enter the corner raise your peal closest to the corner so that you knee is at a 90 degree angle.  Place the weight of your upper body on same side. This counterbalancing helps with traction.