Bike Skills Clinics 10-23-09 (two of them)
The morning started at 8am with the Sacramento Wheelmen’s braking and cornering clinic. First on the menu was a 1.5-hour discussion/white board mapping of different issues to consider when braking…ie which brake stops a bike fastest and cornering…ie what it the most important thing to do when cornering a bicycle?
We then got our gear together and rode over to Negro Bar to do some on-the-bike practic. We started with rear brakes, then front brakes and finally using both brake practicing coming to a full stop (one foot down) while gradually building speed into the coned braking area. Everyone did a great job…not even one tip over!! The cornering drill started next doing a 180-degree turn dialing in the compenents of a “counter steer” turn. Again everyone did a wonderful job sequencing their turns and gradually building their confidence with faster and faster turns with more and more bike lean. One of the most challenging things everyone learned was to keep their eyes up and looking through the turn to keep their bike traveling in a steady arc. Great job!
We have two more Skills Clinics coming up for the Wheelmen… one in January and one in February on Climbing/Descending and the second one on Group Ride Skills.
Body Concepts Race Team skills clinic was next starting at 1pm with introductions of new members and discussion of 2010 goals. We did some mapping of various race finish scenarios on the white board and then headed out to do some real practice.
The first drills we did were for the mayhem that are race finishes…ie bumping drills, wheel touches. A bit nervous for many of us but fun and informative. We then progressessed to easy leadouts working on the mechanics of sequencing different leadouts to get the feel…nothing fast just fitting the parts and pieces together. We finished with a nice rotating line around Lake Natoma. A very good start to what we hope is going to be a productive season.
We are doing monthly skills clinics for our team through the rest of the year and will keep you updated as we go…
Rob