Over the course of my biking (4+ years) I have had more than one person ask me why I do not use my brakes often when I am riding. It is something I naturally do not tend to do much whether it is in the car or the bike I don't even know why as it has never been a conscious thought of mine, I just tend to scrub speed before I need to apply the brakes or have generally geared down correctly with out stressing the engine. I am not saying I am an angel.. If I have got things wrong or not paid 100% attention my brake lights do come on, but I try my best to read the road as best I can and match my speed and approach accordingly.
The people who have made reference to my lack of braking have hinted towards the fact that riders behind may use my brake light as a tool to help them reduce there speed. This seems wrong to me as I was taught everyone should read the road for themselves and not watch the people in front to carefully. I am now curious as this is not the first person to say this to me.
Is there something I am missing? am I being a bad buddy when out for a run?
haiax0 wrote:Over the course of my biking (4+ years) I have had more than one person ask me why I do not use my brakes often when I am riding.
Is there something I am missing? am I being a bad buddy when out for a run?
Reading the road is a skill that takes practise and often a bit of a close call or scare to appreciate and learn
It often also depends on the type of bike you are riding and how "spirited" you are being.
having not been out on my bikes much over the last 4 years when I do get out I try to take additional time to read the road properly. It is going to take a bit of time to brush off the dust from my riding skills.
the exception to this might be if I can see an potential issue ( car looking like it might pull out - or a slow moving vehicle that those behind cant yet see I may give the brake lights a flash so they know something is up. As on occasion when I have had to "throw the anchors out" people behind have come sailing past only just under control and it was not a pleasant experience.
There have been those in the past that have unfortunately knocked others off their bike due to insufficient distance / appreciation of how fast a bike can be made to stop -
Zax wrote:
There have been those in the past that have unfortunately knocked others off their bike due to insufficient distance / appreciation of how fast a bike can be made to stop -
Lets just say that I would not have liked to be in their shoes after the incident ..
my take on it is momentum, by reading the road and using the appropriate speed, engine braking you're taking speed off smoothly and setting yourself up and the engine for the next bit of acceleration, which will be smooth and require less effort than braking and changing down. a journey/ride, should be smooth as possible, not a series of speed up/brake/speed up brake.
When I'm out in the car with my wife she tends to doze if its a long run,... so I adjust my driving accordingly so that she's not being chucked about while she's napping,... a variation on the hot coffee scenario... only with worse consequences
Yea we have all seen the 'must follow, must keep up' numpties.
By the same token, no one is perfect and mistakes do happen. The important thing is to give yourself the best chance to recover from a mistake without it all going wrong.
I have a lasting memory of Gazza floating past me during the famous 'cow in road' incident. Duc slipper clutch working overtime.
That was a mistake from all of us. A cow in the road appeared rather quickly (incorrect speed for the forward visibility). As we were riding in a group poor Gazza was unsighted until the other bikes parted and slowed. Fortunately the standard of riding was such that we all stopped safely and provided enough space to ensure others could also stop.
