Recently I was in Boulder, Colo. for several days and rode each day. The Boulder area is home to literally thousands of riders ranging from pro road, mountain and triathlon racers to pleasure riders out for 15 or 25 miles. Except for the pros, many of the riders exhibited one or more mistakes:
1. Chin strap too loose was the most common. This one always scares me. I saw a rider crash and his helmet was knocked back but not off. That evening his grieving family took him off life support because of the severity of the head injury. Your helmet strap should be tight enough that when you open your mouth to chew you feel the pressure of the strap.
2. Saddle too high was also common. If your saddle is too high then your hips will rock up and down, which may create a saddle sore. As you rock your weight distribution shifts from one sitz bone to the other, which increases the pressure on each sitz bone. The increased pressures may cause a pressure sore, similar to a bed sore.The rocking also creates friction on each side of the groin as it slides up and down. To tell if your saddle is too high, ride without a jersey with someone observing you from behind. If the top of your shorts line is moving up and down, then your saddle is too high.
3. Shorter leg. If just one hip is dipping, then that leg is shorter and the hip dips as the foot reaches the bottom of the stroke. This may cause a friction sore on the side of the groin with the shorter leg. The fix is to put a shim between the cleat and the shoe equal to one-half the amount your leg is shorter. If it’s 1 cm (10 mm) shorter, then you’d shim it 5 mm.
4. Too stretched out. If your handlebars are too far from the saddle or too low you’ll be stretched out on the bike, which often causes neck and shoulder fatigue / pain. If you’re more comfortable riding with your hands on the top of the handlebar near the stem or on the curve just outside the top, then your bars are too far away and you need a different stem. The most comfortable position should be with your hands on top of the brake hoods.
5. Knees kissing the top tube. These are less common and results from anatomical issues. The knee doesn’t track straight up and down over the foot, which may cause knee issues. If the rider’s knee kisses the top tube then the rider may have a weak gluteusmedius, which is the prime mover of abduction at hip joint. This keeps the thigh at the proper alignment to keep the knee over the pedal. This video demonstrates the clam exercise to strengthen your glutes.
Alternatively, the fix is a wedge shaped shim placed between the cleat and the shoe with the thicker part of the shim toward the crank side of the shoe.
6. Knee bobbing out. If the rider’s knee bobs out and back in with each stroke it may be because his seat is too low. Or anatomically his knee may track outside of rather than over the pedal. The fix is to move the pedal(s) outward, which increases the Q factor (the distance from the outside of one crank to the outside of the other crank). Take off your pedal, put a thin washer around the pedal axle and screw it back into the crank.
The following column addresses #2 – #6. Although written for older riders the bike fit tips apply to everyone:
7. Hunched back was another common mistake. If your back is hunched rather than flat you have to flex your neck more to see down the road, which creates neck fatigue.
8. High shoulders are a similar problem. When your shoulders are up rather than in the normal alignment with your neck, this also increases the stress on your neck.
9. Straight arms help contribute to problems with your hands and potentially your upper body. With straight elbows all of your upper body weight is on your hands unless you have a strong core to support your upper body. In addition to the strong core riding with your elbows flexed will help absorb road shock.
10. Rocking upper body. How does this help you move down the road? It doesn’t; you’re just burning energy that could fuel your legs.
11. High cadence but not smooth. Many of the pros spin at a higher cadence and this is the best way to ride, correct? Maybe. The pros spin with a smooth round stroke. A rider with a choppy cadence is wasting energy. In the following column, scroll down to the section on technique for drills to improve your pedal stroke:
Maximizing the Value of Your Trainer Time
12. Too big a gear is the opposite problem, someone grinding away climbing a short (or even long) climb instead of down shifting. This could be a rookie mistake. Or not progressively down shifting as your speed slows. If your cadence is around 60 or 70 rpms you should shift to the next largest gear(s). This column goes into detail:
13 Ways to Improve Your Climbing
13. Signaling a right turn. Good cyclists know to signal turns and when turning right many use the standard motorcycle and car signal of left arm raised, elbow bent, forearm pointing up. This isn’t as visible as simply pointing your right arm straight out to the right.
14. Cutting across traffic to turn. I couldn’t believe it. I was riding on a highway with traffic going 60 mph. To make a left turn from the shoulder, I watched a guy wait until he was even with the street he wanted to turn into. Then he cut from the right shoulder across the traffic lane, across the left turn lane and across the oncoming traffic lane. He would have been much safer to signal the left turn well in advance, move the left turn lane when safe and then complete the turn when it was safe.
15. Riding against traffic may seem safer. However, as you approach an intersection the driver in the intersecting street will look left for oncoming traffic and may not see you.
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No, no, your other left!
You wrote, “13. Signaling a left turn. Good cyclists know to signal turns and when turning left many use the standard signal of left arm raised, elbow bent, forearm pointing up. This isn’t as visible as pointing your left arm straight out to the left.”
I think what you meant is:
13. Signaling a right turn. Good cyclists know to signal turns and when turning right many use the standard signal of left arm raised, elbow bent, forearm pointing up. This isn’t as visible as pointing your right arm straight out to the right.
I picked up the same error immediately when reading this.
Cyclists mysteriously trying to signal a R turn with their L hand up in the air as though waving to the crowd look nuts and only those of us old enough to have learned to drive lefthand drive cars before electric turn signals were standard equipment understand these cyclists probably intend to turn R.
Author must be in the UK or Japan, where traffic is on the left… Anyway, how I signal a right turn depends on where those to whom I am signaling are. If someone is close behind me, they will likely not be able to see what I am doing with my right arm, so I do the “classic” left arm bent and pointing up.
Except for the pros, many of the riders exhibited one or more mistakes:…
EXCEPT for the pros? A bit of amateur discrimination here, perhaps. I’ve certainly seen pros make some of these very same mistakes.
Signal turns by pointing the an arm in the direction of the turn. It’s obvious and intuitive to both riders and drivers. Right arm for right turns, left arm for left turns.
The old “left-arm-out, forearm-up” for right turns was invented back in the 20’s and 30’s when more cars started being enclosed. When a driver extended his right arm to the right inside the car it was not visible to other drivers as it was in the days of open cars.
Thanks everyone, I corrected this to reflect that “right turn” was what he intended to write, which I missed. I believe it’s still taught to motorcyclists that the correct turn signal for a right turn is the left arm out, forearm up, which is based on hand signals from a car as Mark explains here. So it’s technically correct for motorcyclists and cyclists to signal a right turn this way, even if it might be confusing to some newer drivers who weren’t taught these signals in driver’s ed. But as Coach Hughes points out, it’s easier and clearer to the average person to just point the direction you are turning with that arm (point left with your left arm, point right with your right arm).
Here’s an example of an online driver’s education course that still teaches it that way.
https://zutobi.com/us/driver-guides/hand-signals-driving
The Uniform Vehicle Code, on which most US state vehicle codes are based, specifies the old “left-arm-out, forearm-up” but allows bicycles to use the right arm. Here’s the full text of the applicable section:
“All hand—and-arm signals shall be given from the left side of the vehicle in the following manner and such signals shall indicate as follows:
1. Left turn — Hand and arm extended horizontally.
2. Right turn — Hand and arm extended upward.
3. Stop or decrease speed—Hand and arm extended downward.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, a person operating a bicycle may give a right turn signal by extending the right hand and arm horizontally and to the right side of the bicycle.”
Regarding mistake #5, my left knee used to kiss” the top tube on every pedal stroke. Professional bike fitter rotated the cleat on my left shoe slightly so my heal was positioned slightly inward, toward the bike (toe pointing slightly away from the bike). This solved the problem immediately.
You missed one: Wearing dark clothes, especially after dark. People think their lights will save them but they are not nearly as visible as bright clothing.
All of these are good points (and I especially liked the comment to wear visible clothing). But one you left off that I truly appreciate is one of good cycling manners – “on your left”. I could not begin to estimate the number of people that chose to make an unannounced turn as I was approaching, leaving me sooo glad I called my presence loudly and if necessary, repeatedly. Stopping, too. And when being passed, its always nice if those passing (polite or not) give as much space as reasonable and not simply slide by lubricated by my arm sweat.