When it comes to triathlon gear and equipment, cycling is the most expensive discipline. Plus, training outdoors has its hazards, especially when you are sharing the road with cars, pedestrians, nature and wildlife. For these reasons, many triathletes don’t train properly or spend a considerable amount of time only cycling indoors. Because triathletes have a reputation for not having great bike-handling skills, preparation for the bike portion of a triathlon is a combination of having the right equipment, doing the right training and having great bike handling skills.
Fundamentals
The cycling culture may look intimidating but as long as you are riding a bike and having fun, you are part of the club. Plus, building bike fitness is fairly easy – go ride your bike. But to truly showcase your cycling fitness, proper bike handling skills and training are critical for your safety (and those around you), confidence and efficiency. Knowing how to corner, brake, descend, stand, climb and change your gears will take your bike fitness to an entirely new level. For most triathletes, due too much indoor riding (or fear of riding a bike), these fundamental skills are lacking. For example, going downhill on a bicycle at 40+ mph is a pure adrenaline rush – so long as you can safely handle your bike at these speeds. If you get yourself going too fast and you don’t have the right skills, you’ll tense up and may try to over-correct by squeezing your brakes – causing you to lose control. Descending
Position yourself a bit back on the saddle. Avoid breaking the whole way down as this puts tension on your arms and hands, prevents the wheel from moving freely and can overheat your brake pads. Brake softly and then let it go. The front brake is on the left side of the handlebars and the rear brake is on the right. The front brake has more stopping power but if used by itself, your rear wheel can slip, causing you to lose control of your bike. Practice on a small hill with a slight decline and as you gain more confidence, work your way up to longer hills, where you’ll carry more speed.
Braking
For your safety, it’s critical to practice your braking abilities before you find yourself in a situation when you really need to brake. Find an empty parking lot and ride fast for 10 seconds. Then come to a controlled stop. Learn how long it takes you to safely come to a quick stop to better understand your bike’s braking power.
Cornering
While you may not be corning at a high speed like a criterium racer or descending on long and sweeping switchbacks in the Alps, making turns (especially u-turns) is a necessary skill to master. Always look ahead to avoid grease, painted lines, sand or rocks – especially in the rain. If you are turning, never brake in the turn/corner – get your braking done before the turn. Keep the inside pedal up, outside pedal down, weight on the outside foot. You can even move your butt slightly off the saddle to put more load on the outside pedal. Lean the bike – not your body – into the turn (this is called counter-steering). Push your hand on the side of the handlebar where you want to turn. Always look in the direction you want to go to maintain your line. Instead of trying to get close to the corner/cone, start at the outside and carve a smooth arc through the apex of the turn. As you come out of the turn, straighten up the bike and begin pedaling. Always shift into a lighter gear before the turn so that you can quickly gain momentum out of the turn (the same rule applies for stopping).
Bike handling
Lastly, although it seems basic, you must learn how to signal a turn, point to something in the road and take in nutrition as you are riding. This all requires you to ride your bike with only one hand. The only way to become efficient at this skill is to practice while riding. In an empty parking lot, practice lifting one hand at a time off the handlebar to learn how to balance yourself on your bike. Then practice grabbing your water bottle from the cage.
Changing gears
Not knowing how or when to shift your gears can cause you to lose momentum, drop your chain or struggle to get to the top of a steep hill. For proper shifting, you need to know how to shift to the right gear before you need it so that you can maintain a smooth and efficient pedal stroke throughout the entire climb.
For a big shift (up or down a hill), you’ll switch between the front chainrings. The left handlebar shifter controls this shift. In simple terms, the small chain rings makes pedaling easier (up a climb) while moving to the big chainring will make pedaling harder (down a hill). Before approaching a major terrain change, anticipate what shifting needs to happen and give yourself time to get into the right gear.
For smaller shifts in the wind, undulating terrain, or for more efficient riding, the shifting mechanism on the right side of your handlebars will move the chain up and down the rear cassette (right side of the back wheel). Moving the chain up will make pedaling easier while moving the chain down will make pedaling harder.
Don’t settle into being a one-gear rider. In an empty parking lot, practice shifting form your big to small chain ring and moving your chain up and down your rear cassette so you can feel how this affects your effort. A simple trick to keep your chain from dropping as you change gears is to keep the chain in the middle of the rear cassette when moving from the big to small chain ring (and vice versa).
5 Pro Tips
- For smoother shifting, braking and turning, anticipation is key. For example, change your gears right before you really need to, especially when climbing.
- Don’t wait until you are on the side of the road to perfect your flat-changing skills.
- Learn the rules of riding on the road. Know how to signal appropriately when making a turn or pointing out a hazard on the road. Try to anticipate the decisions of the cars around, behind or in front of you.
- Check your bike (ex. cables, brakes, tires, spokes, chain, etc.) before every ride. Don’t forget to pump your tires (recommend tire pressure can be found on the sidewall of your tire in psi).
- In wet weather, stay off the painted line, watch out for oil and break earlier than usual when taking a turn. Look out far enough ahead so you can see and react to any obstacles on the road or on the shoulder.
For more triathlon tips, nutrition guidelines and race day advice, check out my new book Athlete to Triathlete.