Get back on the pavement after dropping your wheels off the edge.
You may not want to put yourself in this risky predicament for the sake of practice. But if you remember this tip, you can do the right thing when the time comes.
Uh oh! You’re suddenly bumping along beside the right edge of the road. We guarantee — your first instinct will be to immediately steer back on. Resist it!
Hold your line. Slide back on the saddle. Pedal steadily, or level your crankarms and crouch like a jockey if it’s rough.
Check the pavement lip. If it’s prominent, steering across it could easily catch a wheel and cause a spill.
Look for a safe “on ramp.” Maybe the road and shoulder return to the same level just ahead. You need only a short section. Or maybe there’s an intersecting road or driveway coming.
At the same time, listen and glance back for overtaking traffic. Don’t do anything until the coast is clear.
When you can, steer back onto the road. If the edge is still a bit higher than the shoulder, pull up on the handlebar to lift the front wheel across. The rear wheel will bump, but that’s OK. It’s not the one that threatens control.
If you’re adept at jumping your bike over potholes and other small problems, you could use the same technique here. Hop a few inches to the side so both wheels land on the road. You’d better practice this in an empty parking lot, jumping across painted lines rather than real road edges.
The main thing is not to automatically steer back to the road as suddenly as you slipped off. Stay cool. Size things up. If you don’t like what you see and there’s any hesitation or doubt about getting your wheel back up, brake to a stop and live to fight another day.
I have been riding for 40 years or more. I have had this happen numerous times. I have always just rode off the road onto to the grass or whatever the off road surface is. Always seems safest to simply stop off road and not try to steer back onto the road.
Another good tip is to “snap” the front wheel back onto the road by sharply turning the wheel back onto the road and sharply turning it back. It’s a similar process to riding over railroad tracks which aren’t perpendicular to the road. You need to get your wheel as perpendicular as possible to the edge of the road (or track) so that the wheel doesn’t wash out and then straighten it out. Practice this over a painted line first to get comfortable with the maneuver.
Good tip to keep your wits, slow down and stop safely. Or ease back onto the pavement if there is a smooth, even spot to do so.
Bunny hopping a road bike takes practice!!!
And with either bunny hopping or “snapping” the front wheel back on to the pavement you are betting 100% that the bump back onto the road is not too high. If you miscalculate, you WILL go down hard. (Don’t ask me how I know that).
Thank you for this write-up. I was the rider behind the rider who did panic and tried to steer immediately back onto the pavement. She went down and I endo’ed over her. And then a trip to the emergency room. Will share this advice widely.
In a lifetime of riding and racing, I’ve had numerous crashes with most resulting in nothing more than bad road rash. Similar to Kate’s story, in a group ride last fall, the rider in front of me attempted to immediately remount the pavement. She and I both ended up needing surgery and after 6 months, neither of us are yet out of the woods . As the author says “brake to a stop and live to fight another day.”
Like Dale said, I get as far away from the pavement as possible, stop on the shoulder of the road, look back to make sure no car is coming and then push my bike back on the pavement. And remain calm while stopping. I’ve seen too many cyclists panic and end up lying on the ground or edge of the road.
Good advice. Many years ago I was riding with panniers on the first day of a 400+ mile ride from Oakland to LA. On the first day, the road through the suburbs was straight and flat, with stores and people around. I looked back for a second to make sure my buddy was behind me and when I looked forward again I was drifting over toward the edge. As I tried to turn back toward the road, my wheel got caught in the lip and I crashed to the road. Worst of all, I held out my arm to try to break my fall (another thing not to do, although if I didn’t, my shoulder could have been really messed up!). Finished the ride with tape around my wrist and Tylenol, but when I got home I found it was broken! I could have easily just kept on rolling as the article said and either stopped or rolled back on when I had the chance.
you can also just jump your front wheel onto the road, the back usually follows with no problem. what i am saying, you do not need usually to bunny hop both wheels, it is too hard anyway.
and do let the bike slow naturally if possible.
the best thing is always just stop and start over.
if you are not racing for big money, it isn;t worth it just to stay with the group
you may take some of them down too
don;t
wle
Best tip? DON’T PANIC! It’s best to act NOT react.
This applies to numerous activities in life.
This happened to me. I wanted to get back on the road. I did get back on the road but shot across and sideswiped a car going in the opposite direction. I went down hard bouncing my helmet off the pavement. My front wheel always taco-ed and my shoulder was separated. I’m convinced the helmet saved my life and I learned my lesson about stopping and living to fight another day.