20. Underrated But Essential Bike Handling Skills

On our 20th episode of Cycling Together, Kristin and Steve, with help from members of the STBG Cycling Team, share some of the "underrated but essential" bike handling skills.

Inspired by two recent bicycle events, we discuss skills to benefit road and gravel riders, whether riding alone, with a friend or in a big group. On our list... taking your hands off your handlebars; walking your bike; starting (and stopping) with intention; drafting and pace lines; turns and pedal position as well as riding on dirt and other “light” mountain bike skills.

During our conversation we go on a bit of a tangent about ride etiquette (can we buy an “on your left.”) as well as discuss the new UCI rules for handlebar widths and why women riders are not happy with the new ruling.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is Kristen.

SPEAKER_03 0:06

And this is Steve, and you're listening to Cycling Together, a show about all things bikes, riding, and riding together.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Nicely done. Hey, this is show 20.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

It's show 20.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

I know we haven't been saying it, but I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 0:17

Didn't you tell me some sort of stat about podcasts that make it about past 10 shows? I mean, maybe it was just made up and you said it with authority, so I believed it, but no, there is some stat out there.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

I can't remember it off the top of my head about like a certain, a large number of shows pod fade after the first like five. And then so the more you do, the more apt you are to continue to do.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

I guess we're like doing it. We like doing it.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

We do like doing it, and I think people enjoy listening. At least the crew that we had lunch with on Thursday seems to be enjoying it. It was weird.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Thank you all for listening. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

I know. I always say, like, you want people to listen, but in a weird way, you don't want to know they're listening. Or you say I remember when I had Manic Mommies, you'd meet with a group of moms and they'd be telling everybody their kids' names, and they'd come to me and I'd be like, Well, my son is named Anders, and they'd say, No kidding. And I was like, Oh, that's right. You all listen to the show and know who I am. It's a very weird, it's a weird space. Anywho, we are at the very end. The last two weeks have been incredibly busy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Riding busy.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yeah, good. Happy, free, riding together busy. Yes. So what did we do? Let's see. Right after we recorded the last show, I helped, I took the day off and helped the Pan Mask Challenge with a safety video. So that was riding, but I rode eight miles in a half mile, in half mile increments, back and forth, back and forth.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Yeah, back and forth in a neighborhood and uh in a private house. And yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Which was really interesting because you would you would debate things like how do you signal a left turn now or a right turn? Not a not a left turn. How do you signal a right turn? Is it this way or is it this way? You would just debate some funny things about what people believe the rules of the road to be.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

And then last Saturday you closed and we went out to Western Mass to help our friends Meg and Johnny at the Bikes Fight Cancer Charity ride. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Yeah. And that was, you know, here we are, we're on the I guess second day of summer. Yes. And it's 90, and it's supposed to be a hundred in a couple days. Yes. And last weekend it was rainy and 58 degrees.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

Just for this one day, for this one event.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Perfectly timed.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Perfectly timed, right? But I think everybody had a great time. I dressed perfectly. And it the it so when you when you have just the right, like it was 58 is not cold enough to be cold. As long but it's easy to also dress fairly well, right? So and I was, and so I just had a great day on the bike. Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

And it's a great event. You said a great route.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

And oh, great route, great organization, great venue, uh great signage, great people. I just like everything about that event cannot recommend enough. Yeah, it was a just an amazing, amazing event.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

It was a fun day. Uh I helped MC for the first time. That was my first time on the mic. It's a very strange experience trying to figure out what you should be saying to a bunch of riders based on the audience because there were a couple of different groups that went out, and then just I got to play all my music. Because I got to play it, so I hooked it into my Spotify workout mix, to which their daughter, who is a teenager, came up afterwards and said, Whose playlist is that? I must have it. And I thought, that's fine, thank you. Thank you. I'm still relevant, I'm still cool. Sophie came, she helped. Yep. We thought about doing the 25-mile ride, but I will admit I'm good with cold and dry and wet and warm, but cold and wet, not my favorite thing. And by the time I was done MCing, if I had gotten back to the van, to I didn't plan that right, yes, it would have been almost over. Yep. You did the 50, right?

SPEAKER_03 4:23

But you were also a volunteer, so you had a you had a pack full of I carried a lot of extra stuff, and so if I saw anybody stopped, I would stop and help. And and so this uh this is brings up a an interesting point. And a lot of cyclists will know this. You you pass a group of people on the side of the road with maybe let's say a flat. But they it's not just one person, let's say it's two or three, maybe even four, and you and you do that. You good? You good? Yeah, we're good, and you and you keep on going. Um and so what I learned is they're not good.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Oh, okay. Most are not.

SPEAKER_03 5:02

No, and and I I mean, I automatically stop for these people because I was out there to help.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yes. And and I heard you were like Superman, you would complain.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Yeah, these people would have said we're fine had we I just passed by because they thought they were fine.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Right. And and I And they could have they probably would have gotten it done, but you're just very speedy with changing tires.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

I I Yes, in one case got it done, and in another case they were in trouble. No. Okay. Yeah. And they didn't realize it.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's like the ride. Well, we'll get to it, but we did the ride on Thursday and we rode by a group of people, and one of one of our friends was like, We're fine, Steve, no problem. We're good. And you're like, Good.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Wait, that was Larry, though. Yeah, exactly. There were like six of them, though. And they were experienced people. We were like, You got the stuff.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

He was like, Okay, we're fine, Steve the bike guy. It's all good. Okay, so that was Saturday. Uh, then Sunday we we had the last Dover Demons. Well, it was the last NEYC race of the season, which had a coach's race. Yeah. Which was really hilarious in part because it was a Le Monde, Le Mans start. Not Le Mond. That's another thing, another guy. So Le Mans start, but they started us by doing rock, paper, scissors.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Yeah, so you just basically turned to the person next to you, did rock, paper, scissors. If you won, you ran to your bike, and then the loser that had to turn to the next person and do rock, paper, scissors until they won to go get their bike. There were at least a hundred, at least a hundred people. And we were, it was from the start line immediately into single track.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

So we did oh, and a single track with a massive log rollover, we're gonna call it.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Well, thank goodness for that, because that's where it finally started to spread the group a little bit. And you had coaches who raced, clearly had raced in the past, and then you had, I know at least a couple of dads who their kids were like, Come on, dad, you gotta do it. And so there they were suddenly standing in the middle and they were champs. Yep. It was a short track, little race. It was just it was just common. Yeah, they shortened the whole course for us. Yeah, it's good for the kids to see. They had fun heckling and cheering, and so that was awesome. That just so much good to say about uh the coaching. And again, I think there's a whole show in that. Then Thursday, this past Thursday, uh, we rode our bikes to Provincetown from Plymouth.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Yep, so that's 84 miles. Yep. Yep, and uh and and but it was a hot day, but when you're riding out on the Cape Cod, it's um the breeze and everything keeps you much colder.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yes, unfortunately, it started um overcast. Yeah, and it started over.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Yeah, when we left Plymouth, it was it was foggy actually.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

And then yesterday we uh worked with the local library and the police to host a bike safety event for little kids at the library and scene. Today was the first day I've been just at home while you were at the shop, and it was glorious. But all those are events are what are inspiring today's show.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Yes, and so today's show is about underrated bike skills.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Right. Underrated but incredibly important bike skills, and we're really focusing, I'm gonna say, on road and gravel cycling. Yeah, yeah. Yes, there are some that translate to all the all of them, but I think we did a lot of group rides in the last week, and we obviously with the PMC safety video and bike fight cancer and then the P2P, like we were in lots of groups, and it really made us realize some of those skills. So let's dive right in. Okay. Skill number one yes the ability to take your hands off the handlebars.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Ah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

I went years ago, I don't know if you remember this, I went into Worcester. There was a bike shop in there that was doing a women's ride. So I went into Worcester to meet some friends, and as we started, oh, before we started, we talked about the importance of signaling and pointing to things in the road, and one of the women said, Oh, I don't do that. And when asked why, she said, because I do not take my hands off the handlebars. Yes. And I said, Well, how do you I don't know if I said it or somebody was like, Well, how do you eat and drink? And she said, I stop. I stop. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

So this is Disguss.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

Yeah, discuss. Huh? This is this is actually a really important one for a lot of reasons. And I guess I hadn't until you just said it realized, oh, you you won't point, you won't do the the normal group ride safety things, pointing out the big hole, um, pointing out the sand at the side of the road by sort of shaking your, you know, shaking your opening animal. Yeah, you're shaking your open fingers on the side. Um, the pat, the pat on the back of your butt when there's something along the side of the road, like a parked car. Um I mean people are calling things out as well. But when when you're in that pack and you really can't see in front of you, you can't see the things very far in front of you, because you have somebody who's four feet in front, right? Right. Um, those hand signals are crucial.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

They are crucial, but even if you're not talking about group rides, you're just riding by yourself. I remember when you and I started road riding more, or I started riding with you more, and I would be behind you and you would you would stand basically sit up on your saddle, no hands. You would change, you would take off your gloves, put them away, you would stretch, you would no. I your comfort on the bike was so obvious, and I did not have that comfort on the bike. I was I was good with one hand, but it took me a while to get to the two hands. But even one hand, group rides aside, it lets you drink your your four.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

Well, yeah, but we're talking about hand signals there. So now moving on to the other skills that it lets you do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Yes, that's what I was doing.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

You were moving on.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

I was moving on to the other skills, which is not always. I guess the point is it's not always about the group ride. There, we're gonna talk about a lot of skills that impact group rides, but the ability to take your hands off the handlebars are good for all riders for all situations. You can eat, you can just use it.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

You can pull stuff out of the back of your pocket. Yes. Um, yeah, you can remove clothing. Now, this we're that's starting to creep up in the advancements, yeah, skill level. Yep. Um, the stretching, uh, it can be super beneficial. And and you're right, I to me riding completely no-handed, sitting straight up in the saddle, even stretching my back by leaning backwards in the saddle, um it is uh it almost feels like I'm like I'm walking. Like you know what I mean? Like, like the almost I'm not gonna fall, just as I'm not gonna fall walking down the sidewalk. Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

But it takes some for me, it took some time to get there, and I always feel like I'm at my most comfortable with a bike when I can take both hands off the handlebars. I know the bike and I are well balanced. I have found my right balance on the bike. So a new bike, I can't always do it right away because I haven't found my balance on the bike. Just not as natural a cyclist as you are.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

The ability to take your hands completely off a bike has a lot to do with what's called the trail. The trail of a bike is a is a geometry uh setup, basically, and it's a little bit of a complex, but it has to do with the axis of the steer through down to the where the axle of the of the uh wheel is, and the difference between where those where those intersect and the difference between them. And so a bike with a longer trail is gonna be more stable. Oh it's gonna, it's gonna tend to want to uh the wheel's gonna want to go straight more easy. All right, and a bike with a shorter trail is gonna be we'll just call it twitchier in a way. So the slightest amount of body movement that will start to to induce a steer will continue to induce a steer. Whereas that longer trail bike will not want to fall into that steering uh axle path, yeah, axis path.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

It just feels fun too. Being able to have your go, I no hands, look by no hands. But I have reached the point where I can take things off, put them on, you know, take my say my arm warmers off, yeah, put them away, keep riding. So it is it's a really good skill from safety, comfort, food.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Yep, and it just takes some work. It takes working on and I suppose that first time you take both hands off your bars, boy, that is a little bit of a leap of faith, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Uh it just takes a little, it takes it's just like when you were a kid, you start with one and you start I would say at minimum you have to be able to take off, yes. You should definitely practice, and you should practice either one.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Because sometimes you just want to be able to, it's yeah, you should practice.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Yeah, well, you can't get things out of the left rear jersey pocket with your right hand. Oh, that's true. Right? So yeah, you need to be able to do both.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Exactly. What's next?

SPEAKER_03 14:59

What's next? Um, I put down walking your bike.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Walking your bike bike.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

So we had to walk, all right. So that we had to walk our bikes across the the Sagamore Bridge. Yes. And this is just you maybe you have to walk your bike across the parking lot, you're whatever. You're just walking with your bike.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Across a narrow bridge, maybe that has you can't you and your bike can't fit side by side.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

In general, to walk your bike, you are either holding it, so you're holding you're walking and your bike's on your side, yeah. Uh it doesn't matter which side, and uh you're walking it with by holding the stem. So you're sort of you're sort of grasping the center stem. So you can do two things. You can steer it, and you're also it and it it stays more stable by just by walking it like that. Right. Okay. Then the the a little bit more advanced skill is by walking it by holding the top of the saddle. So this is where on those narrow bridges you can actually you're almost pushing your bike and you're just walking to the side to the rear of that tire, of that back tire. So when you're pushing the bike by the saddle, you can also, again, trail comes into a factor on how easy it is to do this, but you can steer the bike by the certain way you just sort of sway back and forth. And uh there's certain times when this it makes eas it makes it easier to push the bike by the saddle. Okay. Um, I saw a couple people doing sort of the two-hand push by holding the their bars. So they've got the bike along their side, and they're grabbing the handlebars with both their hands, and it's this very awkward walking motion to try to push your walk with your bike that way.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Because you're kind of twisted.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

Yes, you're your torso's now twisted. You actually can't control the bike, funny enough, as easily that way. It's just it's just an awkward situation. Yep. So, yeah. Oh, and then, and I said it doesn't matter which side the bike's on, but it sort of does. You usually want your bike on the right. And the reason is because if you have your bike on the left, now you're on the drivetrain side, and depending on the cleanliness of your chain, this is where you could end up with the you know, the old chain ring tattoo on your calf.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Dirty side.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Yeah, where you where you uh if you touch the touch the the chain ring, um you could end up with that with that mark on your calf.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

And then there's the third way, which is to pop it up onto its rear wheel. That's what I tend to do. Say, well, getting it in and out of the bike shop, that's one of the easiest ways to get it like through a door. Through a door, and that bridge, as you mentioned. A narrow bridge, yes, you could push it ahead of you, that would work, but the easier way is you pop it up, so you're you are holding it with both handlebars and you're pushing it on its back wheel.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

Yeah, the bike is vertical up in the air.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

And again, it just looks cool. You just look like somebody's very capable. If you can, it's the action, it's not so much once once it's going, it's fine. It's that being able to pop, pop it in a way, and sometimes I'll I'll take my knee and I'll push the saddle with my knee as it comes up, especially my mountain bike, which is a little heavier than say my road bike, and that gives you some stability as it pops up.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Yeah, and this is usually easier if you grab it by the hoods, like you'd be riding and and just lift that front wheel up as you're swinging the rear wheel underneath it while it's still on the ground and it rolls underneath, and then boom, it just sort of is just swift motion and it goes up into the air.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

These are one of those things that like our kids would see us do, and you could see them go, Oh, oh, that's that's cooler. Like that's a cool it's kind of like I remember once you were we were mountain biking with the kids, and you were you had stopped, and instead of putting your feet down, you just leaned up against you held onto a tree. And I watched our daughter watch that and attempt to do it because it clearly to her was just cooler.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

So is that a is that an underrated skill?

SPEAKER_01 19:03

I do think that's an underrated skill that sometimes if you're just I mean, that's really more maybe mountain bike specific, that yeah, if you're just waiting for a second, you could do it elsewhere too, but I do it a lot more.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Often on the mountain bike where where we're in a group and the group stops to c recollect everybody, and I just grab onto a tree, still clipped in, just sort of just sit right, and just sort of still sitting on the saddle then. And then you can start off from basically that stands table. But I have done that many times with roadside signs on the side at the stoplight. Yep. Yeah, where there just happens to be the perfect sign sitting there. Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Well, that brings us to the next one. We did actually ask the members of the STBG cycling team for some of their recommendations. And one from Doug was he said, the power the power start. Right. So I So many new riders start like Fred Flintstone with a shuffling start. And then I would add to that the slow rolling start. And when he first said this to us, I don't know that you totally understood.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

No, until I started to pay attention to it this at P2P on the right. Right. Oh, people are doing that.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

So you're at a light and the light changes. Somebody, one person said, I think the bike commuters are really good at the start because they're used to like green is go. I have to go. And so they would just go. And then you'd be behind a rider who wasn't quite ready. And so yeah, it'd be this like shuffling start and a little tippy. So I kept calling it start with intention. You know, get a good, powerful start going, and then worry about clipping it. And yeah, you think that was part of it.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

You know, with with your with your crank up in the ready position, your one foot on it, and you're ready to give a that it's that first strong push so that the bike really good starts accelerating really fast because then you're instantly on the other pedal and then and then just cranking it up.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Well, and you're more inclined to go straight. You are if you start a little slow, the bike can wobble. The bike can wobble, so it it needs that inertia, it needs that power to go. And that can be really hard in a group ride setting because you're kind of shuffle start, shuffle, start. And so that's where I would say the being able to I don't want to call it track stand, but be able to slowly how slow can you pedal on your start with intention, but then also be slow is kind of a weird thing.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

I guess that's a version of the start, because you're absolutely right. In a in a group ride, say uh Raid Rockingham, where we started in the en masse there. And yeah, I would I would actually, you know, push off very slowly, clip in, but I am now barely moving. And in some cases, you're almost track standing. You're right, waiting for that group to start going, going on there, and there you go.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Started with intention, so but then you also had to stay slow, so you didn't have to keep putting your foot down or tip over on people. That is where you see a lot of tipping over on people, I think, is on the start. Or if you're not intentional with your stopping either. You get to a thing, and are we stopping, are we not stopping? Yep, and then maybe they can't unclip and fall on people. So that was one. That also did make me think of one that it took me a long time and I still struggle with it, is the ability to turn turn your head without your bike going in that direction.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Okay, so that's a that is definitely really hard one. And uh yeah, an underrated or little thought of bike skill. Yeah. Yes, you need to be able to look behind you, give that that glance back to see what's whether it's a car or the another rider, whatever you're looking back for, without, while you're looking back, the bike going into the side, you know, swerving into the side.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Well, and that's the thing.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Does it go where your head goes or does sometimes usually I believe it's the opposite of the way your head's turning. So normally you're turning your head to the left because you're on the side of the right side of the road. Yep. So I suppose it's reverse in in England. Um, and so you're looking back over your shoulder to the left, so then you tend to veer right.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Which would be would was perfectly illustrated. I won't say which ride it was illustrated at, but it was perfectly illustrated at the end of one ride where one of the riders came in, they looked left, they swerved right, and they hit, they basically landed on another rider, and then got mad at the rider for for getting in their way.

unknown 23:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

And you're like, no, no, that was that was you, and I get it, because it took me a long time to be able to maintain, and I still don't always do it. Sometimes even turn left, and sometimes you find yourself turning into that direction too. Like it's it's all about staying straight. You want to stay as straight as possible, right?

SPEAKER_03 24:04

Yes, especially in group rides when you're in a group, yeah, predictability. Predictability is what it's all about, meaning maintaining the straightest line you can, no unpredictable swerving and so forth.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

So Rob shared, here's what I have: how to handle someone in front of you, surging sideways and making contact with your front wheel, how to handle someone locking handlebars with you, shoulder-to-shoulder touching. Honestly, over the years, I've used almost every cycle cross racing skill at road events due to inexperienced riders suddenly changing their lines without clearing around themselves. And I have to say, I accidentally did this on Thursday. Really? Um, the shoulder-to-shoulder touching, I was telling you. Oh, yeah. Chris and I were riding side by side, we're just chatting, and then suddenly, I still don't know what happened. My bike almost it's like, it's like I started to fall and I started to correct, but he was right there. Fortunately, he is a very strong person. So we were lean, I was we were leaning on each other, like shoulder to shoulder. I have never ridden that close to you, shoulder to shoulder, and then we managed to get ourselves back up and keep on going, which we were both very impressed that we didn't end up in a tumble of bikes and body parts. But that ability to stay straight and then also to try to be nimble when people around you you are not being is yeah, that's a good that's a skill skill to have. And it can happen. I mean, I would call myself an experienced rider. I was I was mortified. I couldn't believe it. I was like, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

What's this one from Jeff here?

SPEAKER_01 25:53

So Jeff was talking about when, and I think this goes into the straight thing, right? Like the staying straight, staying on target, which is to keep your eyes up and look as far ahead of you as possible. In mountain biking, we talk about this a lot, uh about the idea that you want to look through things, right? You don't necessarily want to look at the tree, otherwise you will hit the tree. But we don't talk about this much in road riding, the idea that you want to keep your eyes up, you want to look as far ahead of you as possible, look to the horizon. That helps with speed management, that helps with directional. So, and it made me think about when I used to take spin class, and you could always tell the difference between someone who did spin exclusively and someone who rode a bike outside, and it because this the spinners always had their head down and the instructor was always yelling, get your head up, everybody, eyes forward. But if you had a cyclist in the class like me when I rode with you, our yeah, our heads were up because that was a very strange unless you were just so in the pain cave and you know where you're going, like I was at the end of P2P on Thursday. There's a great you got a great picture of me just I was just behind you straight away, and my head was just down because I was like Steve will tell me.

SPEAKER_03 27:19

Yeah, I've been on some very long climbs where you're in the pain cave and you and you're going for five miles an hour and you put the head down, and you just sort of like the end will come, and I don't need I don't know when it'll come, but it will come.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Yeah, so that was one of the things that he mentioned. Then there's turns, turning, turning, turning. So Rob was saying that he had a case at a gravel ride where a rider near him went down because they kept their inside pedal down on a turn and caught it on the road. And Jeff had also mentioned the importance of knowing how to keep your pedal up on the inside of a sharp turn. So turns.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

So I see what you're saying about turns, yes. Pedal position and turns pedal position and turns is an yes, a very, very important skill. Not only, not only just because you don't want to clip the pedal, but it also when you're keeping that outside pedal down and weighted, it can help you carve through the turn and be more stable through the turn.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Right. That's meaning carving through turns. That made me think there were a couple of skills I thought of that I think of more as mountain bike skills that translate to road and gravel. Because I do always say that every bike I ride helps with the other riding, right? Like I was doing road, then I got into cyclocross, my cycle cross skills helped me on the road, got helped me with mountain biking. Like they also so for me, number one is there are a lot of road riders that are just scared to death of anything that resembles dirt. Yeah. Right? Yeah, which around here is a problem because our roads have a lot of areas that resemble dirt. Right. And gravel.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

This is where I suppose mount if you mountain biking and gravel riding and cycle cross, those skills translating over to road, we the when you have you have that skill riding off-road, you you understand that sometimes the the little bit loss of traction, the little bit of slide, the little bit, all of that, you can just sort of let the bike do its thing and and sort of how to it doesn't even bother you. And I suppose that slight sketchy feeling of a road bike on dirt, where there's gonna be this little bit of almost like a loose connection between you and this and the surface that I think that's what throws people off.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yeah, and I think as I've become more of a mountain biker, say when I am I mean when we rode on Thursday, so those are all roads or rail trails, all paved, but then you would have say a sketchy service coming up. I would immediately stand up in my pedals and get myself off of my saddle. Yes, and then I might shift my weight back a little bit to unweight my front wheel so that I will get through it smoothly. Right. Those are skills that I bring from mounting.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

From off-road to road.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah, so that ability to just move around on your bicycle, that not to feel like you are attached to the saddle, you're attached to the I think that looseness is a kind of underrated skill set.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Bunny hopping a bad uh pothole, I suppose, too, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Or even level pedals, right? You're going down a a long descent.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

Yes, level pedals. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

In mountain biking, we put our pedals level. And and why do we do that?

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Well, to keep them from hitting things.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Yes, yeah, and stability. There it is.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Yes, right. Stability and to keep them from hitting things.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Right. So so that's a r another thing that just happened when I go downhill, I hit into level pedals. Right. Right. And again, I might I I might shift my weight back a little bit in my saddle just to say my front wheel does hit something.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Yeah, there's there's that, and this happens occasionally where you're going quite fast on pavement, and then the pavement ends, and you hit dirt. And that transition zone at high speed, knowing how to you're going from that is where your level pedals, you're uh off the off the saddle, weight back, right? And and you and then you know my front wheel can pretty much hit anything and it's just gonna go over it, right? So you know, you and because as that gravel and that stuff coming up, you don't maybe know how chunky the gravel, the the dirt's gonna be, and so forth. You don't know how there's gonna be holes and so forth. So that kind of skill there.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

I remember was was there a tour de France years ago where Lance Armstrong like went flying off the side of a road that was like curving, yes, and he went straight across, straight across the grass back onto the road, and they all were like, Whoa, but that was crazy, he didn't crash out on the grass because he had some quote unquote mountain bike skills. They thought that was I remember people like those skills.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Yeah, I just remember that being quite the like, did you see that he didn't? But that's the kind of thing that can happen too. You can suddenly end up on grass because of a big group.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

Yeah, or you could fall off the side of the road, we'll call it.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

That's true. Which especially if somebody shoulders you.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

Sorry, and um, depending on your road conditions, right? It can be uh almost a sharp, abrupt cutoff from the from the asphalt to sand or dirt or whatever, and you have to be able to know not to immediately try to get back on the asphalt because your tire is gonna rub along that that edge, right? And you can that that can actually cause you to crash. Yep. So it's negotiating that sketchiness and knowing how to get back on the and and not over steering, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:14

You were saying with the the dirt or say you go into some sand, it could be very it's kind of like when you hit ice. Yeah, not over steering. When you hit ice, you kind of you you know, as a skier, we know if you hit ice, just try to go over it and then turn. It's kind of the same with gravelly bits or grass or sand. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna go straight until I can really get some some.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

Your steering motions are slower and gentler. Right. The looser the surface is.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Let's talk more about riding in groups because that was a lot of what we did. And to the point that we were just talking about, that's where some of the accidents can happen. First of all, can I start paying people to say on your left for the I I don't understand why people on big two group rides have any hesitancy about telling other riders that you're there. So you're riding. I think this is just my it's my pet peeve. I'm gonna, I'm gonna use my platform. Nothing drives me more crazy than you're on a group, you're in a big group, right? You are you are in a line on the right, and then suddenly, like stealthy magic, all these riders come up on your left. Now I know we're all in a group ride, so I think they're thinking, well, you should just expect I'm going to be there. But I don't. But every time I passed somebody, again, that is on our ride, and I said on your left, they always said thank you.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

They always said thank you. And no offense, it's always big fast groups that are going to they're they're coming up fast.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

So you're talking about all of the riders in this particular ride, and obviously in in different groups and so forth, what was happening. Because I because I can also move that over to when we are on the recpath section.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Yes, you got yelled at.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

I did. Yeah, and I was at fault. So, yes, I passed four elderly people on their e-bikes, and I did not. Well, we went down this little this little turn under a tunnel, and then as we were just coming up, so this was a little slower speed.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

And I didn't say on your left.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Yes. And uh She let you have it.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

She let me have it.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

And the only annoying thing about that is I always say on your left, so now it looks like I'm saying on your left because she yelled at you, and it's not, it's because I always say it. Yeah, you do. She did say thank you. She said like that, or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

So yes And and though you've just even the walkers in many cases, many of them said thank you.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Always.

SPEAKER_03 36:05

Because it's helpful for them to know that I was just about to be passing on their left.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Yeah, but it but we do it and it can get repetitive.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

On a wreck path, it can get really repetitive. And I don't care. You just have to do it. Uh I I have now come to appreciate that more. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

But I'm not so yes, absolutely, we need to be saying on your left there. But I'm talking about there were 400 riders going out, right? Say there's 10 of us riding of these 400. We are single file. Or maybe you're not, maybe we're too abreast. And then suddenly up come on my left are 10 or 15 more riders. They're coming fast, they tend to be in a pace line. Yep. They never tell you they're there. Now I could, it is I it's not like I was gonna pop out in front of them. Right. I would look back, but on the other hand, if they're behind me, it's their responsibility for them to know. I remember the first PMC I did.

SPEAKER_03 37:09

Yeah, but before the first person comes up behind you, you could have for some reason decided to pop out. And if if it's a pace line where everybody's tight, to me, the lead riders, the one that says on your left, you don't have not every single person in the line has to say it.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Everyone has to say it. But I was my first PMC, I was on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which is part of it, and I was I must I must have been separated from everybody by myself, and someone was handing out popsicles. So I swerved to the right to get my popsicle, and of course, I then started to move back, and this team started yelling at me as they pacelined past me. Okay, first of all, you're on the rail trail, it shouldn't be pacelining, and second of all, you should tell me you're there. So I don't know if this is skill, I don't know if this is etiquette, I don't know what it is, but I'm gonna if I had a nickel for every time I'm gonna. I really get mad. I really get mad. I've started now saying things like, There's a rider passing you on your left, or gosh, I'd pay for an on your left.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

Well, this just the on your left will prevent collisions. It just will.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

And we even do it, the funny thing is we do it in mountain bike racing. When we were doing the coach's race, people would say, I'm coming up on your left, and that was so that I could make a little room on the right, and they wouldn't, I wouldn't get surprised by them.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

So we Yeah, I thought in a mountain bike race, if I'm caught some behind somebody on single track and I'm just waiting for my moment, and I see that I see that oh, you know, and it could be left or right. Yes, I will then absolutely tell a rider, passing on your left, because I need I want them to know, can you just just hug a little bit more right as I go? Yep.

SPEAKER_01 38:54

There was a really funny moment during the coach's race where I I was behind somebody and I was like, Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna try to come high on your left, and they said, There's really no point. It was too tight, and I was like, There's always a point, and I flew by this person and hit the hit the bridge. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

Skills. I don't know if this is an underrated bike skill. This is just us, we're getting we're we're going over to etiquette now.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Um, but I think it's important because we're talking about group rides, and I think it's important, and I need to get it off your chest.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

You need to get it off your chest. Okay, this is more etiquette, but I go go for it.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

When you are in a big group and someone behind you yells, uh car back, what are you supposed to do?

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Work your way as far to the right as you can. So that you are you're facilitating the cars passing faster and easier so that you can get back to riding a couple abreast if you want to, and chit chatting again.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

At one point, I said car back so many times, and the person behind me said, I don't think they know what that's. Means.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

There are certain riders who just you're absolutely right. You know they hear you, they know you they just don't seem to care. And it's weird. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

It's it's well it's almost like also all drivers.

SPEAKER_03 40:18

So if you're the dri if if you're in that position and you come up across you you you know, and and and they you're like you see the cyclist moving over and you're like, ah, great, okay, I can safely actually and here's a person plays, I can safely pass them now, and boom, you're gone. You want that in both sides. Yes. If you're the driver, if you're the cyclist, you would just be it just makes everything smoother. Instead of hanging out, basically hugging the center yellow line. Right. Right? I mean, which is what these some of these lot of these guys are are doing is just or guys and gals, hugging the center line and car back, car back, and they're just sitting there chit-chatting.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Right. Yeah, they're just profoundly not moving over.

SPEAKER_03 40:58

And this gets worse and worse the bigger the group ride, because there is a mob mentality, maybe that is sort of like, yeah, we're a big group of riders, too bad for that car.

SPEAKER_01 41:09

I say it's uh more brains, less intelligence. And then if it's a charity ride, forget about it. Because it's more brains, less intelligence, and the the exuberance of we're doing something great this weekend and we are doing something great, like we're here for a purpose, but that's when we get cars getting swarmed at lights, which also drives me a little banana.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

Yeah, as you're coming up to a light or whatever, don't don't and and everybody's slowing.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

Don't go on the left side of the car, stay along the right side.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Yeah, and keep and you're right, because you're right.

SPEAKER_03 41:45

They swarm the cars on both sides.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

Yes, they swarm it on both sides, makes them scared and sad, and I don't like that. And the whole idea to go back to one of Jeff's tips, which was to keep your eyes up, is so that you can see what the car is attempting to do. We were going over a highway or under a highway. We were going across a highway, and so there were on ramps and off-ramps. And this poor car is trying to get two lanes over to the on-ramp so that they can get, and it was pretty good. There was a gap in front of me, and so I'm just trying to get everyone to slow down. And we had one rider come fly up to the right, and he nearly got it. Took him a little too long to realize I was saying, stop, wait, let the car go. But the car had to go, otherwise, the car was gonna have to stop in the middle of the road to get on to the like they were gonna pass the off-ramp. So it is uh in our best interest to be as polite as possible.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

And car back is because you all you do not we have no need to create more pissed-off motorists at cyclists.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

One rule I always like that you that you taught me, and I'm definitely in the minority here, is if you say a bunch of cars have passed you on the road. I don't road ride that much anymore. Pass you on the road, you approach a stoplight, stay in your if you're only like one or two cars back, stay in your position.

SPEAKER_03 43:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

So that the cars don't have to keep passing you, right? Yep. I will say you are in the minority with that. I am I absolutely do a group ride. I will stop like two cars back, and everybody's just continuing up directly to the road.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

To the lead car to the to the front of the light. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

And we're only two back. I'm not saying stay 10 back, 15 back. I'm just saying if you approached it and you were right there.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

If I had three or four cars past me on the road, yes, and then they all started oh, and the light turns red, and then they all start slowing down. I am going to, as I get to those cars and the light's still red, I'm just going to stay on the side of the sh on the side of the road, but basically not squeak myself between all four of those cars and the edge of the road up to the front. I'm just gonna hang out behind that fourth car. Right. Because, you know, in in 10 seconds at most, the light turns green, they're off, I'm off, they don't have to pass me again. You know.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

And I am in the minority with that. You are. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 44:31

It's a great rule. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break because I think our camera just stopped. Okay. Okay, we're back. I think I've gotten it all off my chest. This brings up one skill we didn't talk about yet, which is the paceline. Ah, the pace line. The pace line or drafting. Yes. Right. So what do we mean when we when we say what do we mean when we say drafting?

SPEAKER_03 45:01

Well, drafting? So drafting is riding behind another cyclist close enough that you're getting a benefit from being out of the wind. Yes. So you're getting an aerodynamic advantage by being behind them. Yes. And how close is that when you get good at it and comfortable at it, inches away from their wheel. Now, the the two wheels are not always gonna be exactly in line. You're gonna be they they are will, they will often they're gonna be exactly in line, but there's gonna be some fluttering left and right of each other. But yeah, and I and I can mean inches. When single-digit inches.

SPEAKER_01 45:42

I think several years ago I wrote a blog post about how drafting was the ultimate test of love and trust between the two of us. Because let's be real, I generally draft off you. It's a great way for you to help me when I'm like on Thursday when I'm f feeling fatigued, and it really makes a difference. I mean, there can be times when I am in your slip stream where you're pedaling, and I'm not, I'm not even pedaling because if I pedaled, I'd hit you. Like it's that it's that efficient. It's that but I cannot see anything but your tushy. Like I can't see, I I can't see if there's something in the road, I can't see what direction we're going. I am that close to you. So it really is this like ultimate, but but even there's benefit, you don't have to be that close for there's still to be some benefit. You don't.

SPEAKER_03 46:33

No, no. That uh the benefit can go quite far back.

SPEAKER_00 46:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:38

So, and there's a lot of nuance to this, to the skill of this. If you're the if you're the person out front and you have the people drafting behind you, this is where, of course, the heads up needs to be in play because you need to be seeing what's coming in front of you. You can't make sudden moves, you can't swerve around things. You need to see, so if you see that pothole, you see that drain grate up ahead, you are now making a subtle line change out to out, say to the left. People are then you're expecting your the draft people behind you to follow your wheel, and then as you come up to that, you're gonna point, you're gonna put your finger down and point and yell out the the whole of the drain.

SPEAKER_00 47:19

Right.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

But it's again that that smoothness and predictability is what leads to a good pace line. Same thing with your speed, not sudden no sudden braking, no sudden accelerations, a predictable speed.

SPEAKER_02 47:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

So these are all these are all skills that actually do take quite some time.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

Yeah, I mean, starting first with people you know, again, like you and I can I can pace line behind you very, very close, I can drop very closely to you. I remember one PMC I was riding with a teammate I didn't know that well, uh, but I was just right behind him, not as close as I would be to you, but clearly closer than he was used to having somebody ride with him. I think he was a triathlete, which is a no. A lot of them are no drafting, you're not allowed to. So he kept looking back, and I was like, I think he feels like there's something illicit about what we're doing right here. Like about like a little dirty, but it's such a good way to help each other to be more efficient, to oh, you can still go so much faster with such less effort, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:33

And when you're when you're in the pace line and you're not you're not out front, so you're one of just the people in the line, you also again you can't make those sudden left-right changes. You have somebody on your wheel and you can't do those sudden breaking. So you have to learn to use your body airway dynamically to slow yourself down. So again, as you were saying, you because the it's of the efficiency is so much greater behind somebody, you're gonna find that yes, there can be a tendency to uh over overdo it, and and you're gonna you're like you're riding into their wheel now.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

Right.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

So, but you can't do those, like you can't make those sudden little braking changes. You can subtlety, but you have to learn how to do it without any jerkiness, yeah. And then you use your body a lot. You put your you put your torso up into the wind to slow yourself down gently without having to use the brakes.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

Then there's the other thing you have to learn. So, in a in a true paceline situation, you're gonna have someone pulling, they'll pull for a short-ish time, then they will fall off.

SPEAKER_03 49:40

Well, yep.

SPEAKER_01 49:41

And the trick is that they have to grab the end. Yes. And I have definitely been dropped. Because if you don't grab the end, they're gone. They're gone. Like it's it's you're definitely working harder when you are riding by yourself. You're just naturally working, you're gonna you're just not gonna be as efficient. That's why if you watch like a road race, you'll be like going, here comes the Peloton, right? Here comes the group, because there's just they're just a big swarm of speed.

SPEAKER_03 50:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

But also it's important that you take your turn. I do remember one, apparently, this is this show will be called Kristen's Memories of the PMC. I was going up Route 6 into Provincetown, it's notorious for a headwind. Yeah. And we had one year, it was a very, very bad headwind, and I had done a very dumb thing, which I had dropped the rest of my team. So now I am by myself, I think. I think I'm by myself on Route Six going into the headwind until we pass the Provincetown sign, and I hear, thanks, Kristen. There were two people who had drafted me the whole time. And then I was like, We're not, oh, well, we're not done. And she was like, I can't do anymore. And he was like, Okay, so they pulled off. I was like, son of a that happens that is just rude.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Yeah, that happens in windy conditions because the wind noise in your ears is so high you cannot hear the tire noise of the people behind you.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

And no one's posting, so you're not getting the absolutely can happen.

SPEAKER_00 51:18

Yes, that is that is that was rude.

SPEAKER_03 51:25

On the Friday morning fast road rides that I used to do, there would always be a group of people who I sort of knew everybody. Yes, and we would really get into a sharp pace line on those rides. And then I remember towards the tail end of that, and this is right before the pandemic, uh there were a lot of new people. And they were skilled, right, but you could sense the difference in the group and the pace line that they were not uh they were just there, there was not all of a sudden that that trust was gone and it was super subtle, and you're trying to figure out what it was, but it was just slight, they weren't quite as consistent, they weren't quite as straight. Yeah, they they definitely had lacked the years of being in that particular pace line on that particular course.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Yep, right. It takes practice, and I think that's an important thing with group rides, especially when you have a ride, say like the PMC, which is what two days, two hundred miles. People are training a lot over the summer, but but they're not necessarily practicing with groups. And it's really important that you practice starting with a group, you you see what a group start feels like, right? Because you do end up with five, six abreast and you're going really slowly, and you may have the temptation to try to cross that yellow line to get some forward progress, but you really shouldn't be doing that because it's not closer's roads. And I think that's where you can see a lot of people kind of falling on each other because they haven't they've been doing the work, they've been riding the miles, but they haven't ridden in a big group.

SPEAKER_03 53:06

Yeah, they haven't done the groups.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Again, these are skills we don't think of so much when we think about riding. So but it's a good one. That one's a really good one to have.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

Alright, well, well, we're certainly open to hear all those other those underrated little known bike skills that people don't think about.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

Right, underrated but super important. All right, what do we have next?

SPEAKER_03 53:30

Scene mall scrolling.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

Yes, there is brewing. There is there is controversy brewing.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

With all the UCI rules. So the UCI decided to Who is the UCI?

SPEAKER_01 53:44

Can we just who are they? Why do they get it?

SPEAKER_03 53:47

Union Clisma International or something of that nature. Okay. So they are the organizing body of let's just say all cycling for the purposes of this. They have they they set down the rules, they uh they have regulations on what what you can ride, how you can ride, what you can wear. Um they're the ones who uh set up you know um uh testing protocols and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 54:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 54:18

So the big one, one of the many rules that they came down with this past week is about handlebars. Yes. And this is the one that really drew up a lot of controversy.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

This is the one everyone is quite irritated.

SPEAKER_03 54:32

So handlebars, road handlebars have gotten super, super, super narrow. And the reason is is because the narrower you get, the the the more closed your shoulders get, the more uh tighter your arms are, and the more aerodynamic you are.

SPEAKER_01 54:46

So kind of the opposite of mountain biking where they're getting wider, or they've gotten wider since we were kids. Right. Right. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

Yeah, and that's for control.

SPEAKER_01 54:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 54:54

So this is all about aerodynamics. So the UCI was like, these bikes are starting to look a little ridiculous, uh, and they're and they're uh being different. And a lot a lot of their rules have to do with bikes looking and being like bikes. Okay. They want I was gonna say they want a correlation between the bikes that that people buy and the companies buy, and that the company and that riders ride. Yes. They don't want to uh they don't want to have too big of a divergence there. They don't want it to be like Formula One. Nobody's gonna be driving anything remotely related to a Formula One car.

SPEAKER_01 55:32

Okay, yep, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 55:34

So so this is what and and they came out with a rule that's about, I think what this was 400 millimeters. It says the handle at the drops.

SPEAKER_01 55:44

It says the new rule states handlebars cannot be narrower than 400 millimeters measured outside to outside at the drops, with an additional minimum measurement of 320 minimum between the inside of the brake hoods.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

Right. Now, bars, when you see the width of a handle of a road handlebar, drop handle bar, it is measured uh from the basically the bend. So the inside of the of the bend of the bar where the hoods go. That's where so if a bar you're buying a 400 millimeter bar or 420 millimeter bar, that's where they measure it, not at the bottoms of the drops. Okay. 320 is extremely narrow already. So, but then there's I think some ambiguity here, and and I've seen many um other other YouTube channels talk about this because they're gonna come out and they're gonna measure this in the pits at the beginning of races. Is that with is that actually measured at your hoods, the rubber to the rubber of your hoods? They actually and the bar tape and all that stuff, because that's not where the bars are measured from when you buy them.

SPEAKER_01 56:48

Right. They actually did put some clarification out there with illustrations. They did. Yeah. But I guess the issue is according to Reddit, I did do a lot of reading, and it tends to be the ones they're really worried about are the women. The women. Right? That in many cases women are best suited to 360 millimeters, which typically measure around 380 from edge to edge. Okay. So the concern is that women have narrower frames, and so narrower handlebars, they are now going to be at a disadvantage. And it I guess it kind of feels like UCI might have a tradition of forgetting that women ride bikes and race them. So they're a little, I think people are a little irritated about that. What I don't understand is you and I talked about it offline. Like, make it a percentage, right? If you measure this much, then your handlebars.

SPEAKER_03 57:46

They want to be able to basically have a a stick that they can take into the pits and just stick it in between the bars and it's a go or no go. They don't now you if you make it like that, it's too complicated. They can't shut, they can't you, but you could with each rider, each rider has a biological passport for their testing protocols. Oh uh, you could basically have put their measurement into their biological passport, so to speak, so that the rider, each rider would then have a set minimum between.

SPEAKER_01 58:21

So one of the things I was gonna say, how many how much do these rules impact, say, what consumers can buy or will buy in the future?

SPEAKER_03 58:32

Is that and and you were saying they do think about that, that they think about huge that they yeah, that's a that's a major consideration of theirs.

SPEAKER_01 58:41

Did they also address one of the things we talked about was tubeless setups? Did they address that in these rules or tubeless road tires? I don't I don't think they did.

SPEAKER_03 58:52

The the handlebar thing has been such a handlebars, the helmet.

SPEAKER_01 58:57

Okay, it was handlebars, helmets, helmets, I am all for the helmet rule.

SPEAKER_03 59:00

Okay, so they are banning basically these time trial helmets and road races. Oh, they looked goofy. And I don't care if that's the only reason why, because they look goofy. That is fine with me. They look goofy. We do not need uh we do not need to encourage your your weekend warrior guy to be wearing a time trial helmet because that's what the pros are doing.

SPEAKER_01 59:25

I will say, and they do. Sometimes you're out for a ride and you'll see somebody in like out on a ride in a time trial helmet, and you're like, that's what are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 59:36

You look they're also hotter. They know they're not they don't have as good of airflow. You typically does that they're heavier as well.

SPEAKER_01 59:42

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 59:44

All right.

SPEAKER_01 59:44

Well, it it will be interesting to watch. Someone doesn't bother me. The women are just gonna bother some people. Yeah, no, no. The but the but the women the women are not happy, according to Lee Prescott, president of the International Bike Feeding Institute.

SPEAKER_03 59:57

Yep. I don't think that we've heard the last. Last of the handlebar sizing situation. I think this is going to be an evolving change.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:05

Yeah, well, he said, well, the IBFI understands and supports the intention behind the ruling to discourage the unsafe use of excessively narrow handlebars. And that's the reason they're doing it. We believe the current implementation lacks adequate consideration of human biomechanics and rider safety. So, yeah, there's a petition that you can actually sign that a lot of professional riders have signed. Okay. So let's get out there. Sign that. Well, there we go. Yeah, let's wrap this up. Yeah, wrap it up. Episode 20 in the can. Good job, honey. Cycling together with Kristen and Steve is a production of Steve the Bike Guy, an independent bicycle shop in eastern Massachusetts and Sunday Marketing.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:51

If you like the show, please leave a review or share with a friend. And for show notes, links, or to leave a comment, question, or topic suggestion, visit cycling together.bike. And you can follow the shop, Steve the Bike Guy, on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at Steve theBike Guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:06

And please leave a comment. I would say Thursday was really fun just for the number of people who said they listened to the show. One of them, I do have to share this, he said, Can I say the show is adorable? You guys are adorable. And I was like, I think so too. Anyway, thanks for joining the ride.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:25

Thanks for listening. Yes, we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:28

So I would say that's one skill. Thoughts.