Bad Habits on the Bike

[Wilkinson4]

Great commute day today. 25 miles each way, easy path and 70 degrees on the way home! Anyway, I have been thinking about this for awhile. What bad habits do you have on the bike? I probably have serveral, but this is bad. I typically ride alone. A few group rides and no racing. When I reach for my water bottle I pull it out of the cage, kinda let it go and then catch it in one motion. Instead of a just pulling it out and drinking in one motion.

Anybody do that? I know it is bad, and in a group could get real bad but that is why they call it a habit I guess. I have no idea when I started to do that, and I am aware that I do it. What other bad habits do people have? Wheel overlap in a group, the ol lunge back when climbing out of saddle, etc... Smoking:no:

mIKE

[palincss]

Great commute day today. 25 miles each way, easy path and 70 on the way home!

You have a 120 mile bicycle commute??? (Even if I'm reading that all wrong, and it's "only" a 50 mile round trip, that's still beyond awesome.)

[Wilkinson4]

You have a 120 mile bicycle commute??? (Even if I'm reading that all wrong, and it's "only" a 50 mile round trip, that's still beyond awesome.)

70 degrees!!! ya, that would have been awesome but that would have ruined me for tomorrow!

mIKE

[gone]

I have the bad habit of clenching my toes really hard inside my shoes whenever I'm pushing hard. Doesn't do a damned bit of good and only adds muscle strain. Not sure why I do it but I do it a lot and am trying to break myself of it.

[slidey]

On a related note, I too constantly keep fidgeting my toes around. It's almost as if my toes are captive and are desperately trying to tap out a morse code message to the outside world. I wish I could stop this turmoil in my toes :help:

I have the bad habit of clenching my toes really hard inside my shoes whenever I'm pushing hard. Doesn't do a damned bit of good and only adds muscle strain. Not sure why I do it but I do it a lot and am trying to break myself of it.

[nighthawk]

My only (ha!) bad habit on a bike is sometimes "challenging" drivers by exerting my right-of-way... In hindsight it'd always better to be defensive and stay safe. Sometimes I can't help it though.

[rustychisel]

I have the bad habit of clenching my toes really hard inside my shoes whenever I'm pushing hard. Doesn't do a damned bit of good and only adds muscle strain. Not sure why I do it but I do it a lot and am trying to break myself of it.

toebox too big, often. I have done it too. Also, I sometimes clench the bars too hard, needlessly.

But as to bad habits; what like wafting one out, blowing a snot rocket...?

My single worst bad habit is drafting HGVs or buses. Been doing it for years and still reckon its the best sprint training.

[cat6]

The album was originally going to be called "The Invisible Men", but three weeks before the release, according to Roger Taylor, they decided to change the name to The Miracle. The striking cover art utilised the Quantel Paintbox, then state of the art image-manipulation technology, to combine photographs of the familiar faces of the four band members into one morphed Gestalt image, in line with their decision to dispense with individual credits and simply present their music as the product of Queen; the back cover went a step further with a seamless regiment of the bands' eyes. Derek Riggs, best known for illustrating Iron Maiden covers, claims that Queen "stole" the idea for this album cover from his cover for the single The Clairvoyant.

[martinrjensen]

My bad habit is not riding when I think I should.
Sometimes, more rare now though, if someone gets aggressive with me I may get aggressive back. That's mostly a thing of the past but not completely.
I do some stupid things once in a while (blowing stop signs when traffic comes up and I'm going too fast to stop) but I think back on it and if I think it was stupid I try not to do it again. I'm pretty successful at this.
Of course what is considered stupid is completely up to me, but then again, I think I'm a pretty good judge of "stupid", comes from practice unfortunately.

[Llewellyn]

My bad habit is not riding when I think I should.


Me too, I come up with p***poor excuses not to ride far too easily and often.

Other people's bad habits....snot rockets. Just disgusting :mad::mad:

[holliscx]

I have this strange habit of climbing with the web of my hand between my index finger and thumb resting on the bar. I have seen this in ride pictures and it looks very odd. I have no idea why I do this but I catch myself doing this routinely on rides and it's always when climbing.

[AgilisMerlin]

Bad Habits on the Bike

- "buying, eating, and pushing on others - junk food'"

as in candy, soda, and anything else completely artificial.

[soulspinner]

I do the exact same thing with the bottle. And other cocky i know how to handle my bike stuff. Trackstanding between buses, no problem. After looking up at a suburban from my back on the pavement I have toned it down considerably. :bike:

[jpw]

spitting into a headwind

[dumbod]

spitting into a headwind

I tug on Superman's cape and pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger
I mess around with Jim.

But that's just me.

[Wilkinson4]

I do the exact same thing with the bottle.

I have only dropped it a few times... But one time, I missed the catch and the bottle hit the ground, and then somehow rolled up behind the front wheel and got wedged between the tire and the rear of the fork crown!

I came to an abrupt stop. I was just leaving a stop sign so I wasn't really going fast but that should have taught me. I still do it. Gonna really make an effort fix that!

mIKE

[d_douglas]

Yes, spitting. My 3yr old daughter has been known to imitate me as I forget who is my audience when hauling her in the Chariot. Funny and gross.

Bad posture is another. On longer rides, once I get tired I feel my shoulders slouching fwd. I need to hit the gym and tighten everything up...

[carpediemracing]

My single worst bad habit is drafting HGVs or buses. Been doing it for years and still reckon its the best sprint training.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kN1L-FOT5_M/Trx6gB8mQiI/AAAAAAAADvg/CSU9oXBFEZg/s1600/20111110_DraftSecondTruck.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/TUtYGKATsVI/AAAAAAAADN8/xETsC9Lj2ss/s1600/20110203_DraftTruck2.jpg

And in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_o8CFeGG_g

I try to be good - I stop at stop signs, even when there's no one around, I stop at no-turn-on-reds, I stay right, etc etc, but if there's a big boxy vehicle going by at 35-40 mph it's just so hard to resist.

I do check my six a lot (i.e. I check what's behind me). I did so, at a chaotic point in a group ride, and the guy in front of me, sprinting 100% just a couple seconds before, slammed on his brakes when I was checking behind me. I hit him pretty hard.

[pitonpat]

I tug on Superman's cape and pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger
I mess around with Jim.

But that's just me.

Jim Croce lived just down the road from me, back in the early 70's. Brings back some good memories. On the cover of the 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim' album, the image of Jim looking out of a Gothic window frame was taken of him looking out of the ornate, stone outhouse at the old historic house he rented in Lyndell, PA near my home.

[AgilisMerlin]

like when we were kids, eh :banana:




And in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_o8CFeGG_g

I try to be good - I stop at stop signs, even when there's no one around, I stop at no-turn-on-reds, I stay right, etc etc, but if there's a big boxy vehicle going by at 35-40 mph it's just so hard to resist.

I do check my six a lot (i.e. I check what's behind me). I did so, at a chaotic point in a group ride, and the guy in front of me, sprinting 100% just a couple seconds before, slammed on his brakes when I was checking behind me. I hit him pretty hard.

[bennie222]

When my rear wheel shoot back when I stand. This pisses people off in the group. I try to stay conscious of this, but it still happens sometimes.

I have a friend who always complains about his elbows hurting, and he rides with his elbows locked and turned all the time. He just can't stop riding like that.

[martinrjensen]

that's funny, I never thought about that when I first read this, but yesterday on my ride I found myself doing the exact same thing. As soon as I did it I thought of this message and laughed. To be honest with you I don't think this is really all that unsafe. I mean you would never take a drink when things on the bike were dicy, you always wait till things are smooth and stable so it really shouldn't be a problem. Great commute day today. 25 miles each way, easy path and 70 degrees on the way home! Anyway, I have been thinking about this for awhile. What bad habits do you have on the bike? I probably have serveral, but this is bad. I typically ride alone. A few group rides and no racing. When I reach for my water bottle I pull it out of the cage, kinda let it go and then catch it in one motion. Instead of a just pulling it out and drinking in one motion.

Anybody do that? I know it is bad, and in a group could get real bad but that is why they call it a habit I guess. I have no idea when I started to do that, and I am aware that I do it. What other bad habits do people have? Wheel overlap in a group, the ol lunge back when climbing out of saddle, etc... Smoking:no:

mIKE

[bironi]

My bad habit is sucking my buddies wheels at very close range. I've never gone down, but I have been known to clean off their rear tires with my front tire.

[martinrjensen]

You're lucky. I've touched tires 3 times and always felt really lucky that I didn't go down. As you did, I just barely skinned the tire but it's a good wake up call. You're "supposed " to go down as a learning lesson I think.My bad habit is sucking my buddies wheels at very close range. I've never gone down, but I have been known to clean off their rear tires with my front tire.

[DerekB]

My bad habit bit me in the a$$ big time a few weeks ago. Descending with my hands on the hoods instead of on the drops. Where you can get to and be ready to use the brakes quickly. So if the riders in front of you slow suddenly while going down a hill and even start to fishtail, you have a chance to at least try to brake. As opposed to not even being able to brake and running into the guy in front and destroying my front wheel and then sliding along the road at 35 mph for a while.

[carpediemracing]

like when we were kids, eh :banana:

Ha. Yes.

[doode]

Actually I've wondered about this.
Trackstanding with a carbon fork puts stress in areas not designed to deal with. Could this lead to premature fork failure?
As a result I try not to get too fancy with the rocking and extreme front wheel angles, but bunnyhopping and stairs are still okay!





And in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_o8CFeGG_g

I try to be good - I stop at stop signs, even when there's no one around, I stop at no-turn-on-reds, I stay right, etc etc, but if there's a big boxy vehicle going by at 35-40 mph it's just so hard to resist.

I do check my six a lot (i.e. I check what's behind me). I did so, at a chaotic point in a group ride, and the guy in front of me, sprinting 100% just a couple seconds before, slammed on his brakes when I was checking behind me. I hit him pretty hard.

[soulspinner]

Actually I've wondered about this.
Trackstanding with a carbon fork puts stress in areas not designed to deal with. Could this lead to premature fork failure?


As a result I try not to get too fancy with the rocking and extreme front wheel angles, but bunnyhopping and stairs are still okay!

Thanksgiving morn got back from a 25 miler and was trackstandiing in the driveway, got it sideways, yanked it back up and heard a ping. Broken spoke on a front handbuilt. Seems wheel problems occur before my fork would even be stressed.......

[spydirt]

I find that I tense my shoulders up towards my ears.

I have been consciously trying to relax my shoulders.

I feel by having them clenched up, Im exerting more energy clenching muscles as well as presenting more more surface area to the wind.

[jgspin]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kN1L-FOT5_M/Trx6gB8mQiI/AAAAAAAADvg/CSU9oXBFEZg/s1600/20111110_DraftSecondTruck.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/TUtYGKATsVI/AAAAAAAADN8/xETsC9Lj2ss/s1600/20110203_DraftTruck2.jpg

And in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_o8CFeGG_g


Thanks for the cool video! That Lake Wohlford descent has some nasty potholes. I've pinch flatted there once and have since really made sure to avoid them. Sometimes a bit hard to do when you are descending at speed.

[tiretrax]

NOT RIDING ENOUGH!

clenching shoulders, daydreaming, looking around

[jemoryl]

What is so bad about a snot rocket? Especially if you aren't blowing it on your mates? It beats having the snot all over your gloves or running down one's face.