After our rough winter, the roadways are pock-marked with POTHOLES. Word to the Wise:  Look for NEW potholes even on the roads you are accustomed to riding. Here’s how I learned to safety avoid them while riding alone or in a group.

In a recent bike safety class, we learned several practical tips on how to do “Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers.” I can almost hear you saying, “What are Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers?” In the Smart Cycling Traffic Skills 101 class taught by club member Andy Nelius (League of American Bicyclists Instructor), we learned how to do several maneuvers to help us be better cyclists: the Rock Dodge, the Quick Stop, Avoidance Weave and Instant Turn.

Mastering the Avoidance Weave and the Rock Dodge could keep you from falling into the abyss, that is a pothole. Please watch the following video to see how the “rock dodge” is done. This maneuver will help you avoid any small object in the road.

TDOT seems to be working overtime to repair our “highways and byways” from the harsh winter conditions that tore up our roads. In the meantime, please, please, please, be watchful and prepare for the inevitable; by learning how to do the rock dodge, quick stop, avoidance weave, and instant turn mentioned in the additional material below.

Note from Tim & Julia: The Traffic 101 Class was a practice session for Andy to get his presentation polished before he offers it to the masses. If you are interested in learning more about this class, please let us know or talk to Andy. The class is great for experienced riders and those new to cycling. We highly recommend it.

The Traffic 101 class booklet gives detailed information on how to do the quick stop, the rock dodge, the avoidance weave, and the instant turn. Please read the following copied from the Traffic 101 manual published by L.A.B. and practice these maneuvers.

Quick Stop

When you are riding in traffic and something stops suddenly in front of you, you need to bring your bicycle to a Quick Stop, under control and in a short distance.  There is an art to stopping a bicycle in an emergency. When you apply the front or rear brake, the bicycle begins to slow down and your weight transfers forward. The more weight on a wheel, the more effective the braking and the less likely it is to skid.  If you are like many people, you instinctively grab both brakes in an emergency and apply them equally until the bike begins to skid. You have no control and a wheel that is skidding offers you virtually no stopping power.  So the logic for effective braking is:

• Braking with the rear brake alone will help prevent pitch-over, but it is not very effective.
• In theory, you can stop fastest with the front brake, but an error will pitch you over.
• For a fast, safe stop, use both brakes. This produces the optimum deceleration. If the rear wheel starts to skid, ease up slightly on the front brake. With practice, you will use the front brake harder (up to three times harder) and the rear brake more lightly to decrease your stopping distance.
• When braking hard, slide your body back on the saddle as far as possible. You can transfer even more weight to the rear wheel by moving your rear end straight back and placing your stomach on the seat.
• When carrying a heavy load on the rear of your bike, you will be able to brake harder with less danger.

Rock Dodge

Rock Dodge is a maneuver to avoid any small object in the road. It is an essential skill for any cyclist to master. To execute a Rock Dodge, keep riding straight until you are very close to the object. Just before you reach the object, turn the handlebars suddenly to the left — without leaning — so the front wheel goes around the object. Immediately straighten out and keep riding.  When you steer to the left of the rock, you automatically lean right. When you straighten up, you bring the bike back under you. Your front wheel snakes around the rock, your back wheel passes on the other side, but your body and handlebars have barely moved. The motion is subtle and the entire action happens in a split second.  This technique will feel unnatural at first and will take practice before you can do it smoothly. Once you master the Rock Dodge, practice it regularly.

Avoidance Weave

The Avoidance Weave is used when you suddenly encounter a series of hazards like potholes or rocks that could cause a crash.  The Avoidance Weave is a set of swooping turns. To avoid a series of hazards successfully, look ahead past the hazards and begin a turn before you reach each hazard. Continue to look ahead and turn sharply until you are through the hazards. It’s important to lean your bicycle and get into a rhythm.

Instant Turn

The Instant Turn is used to avoid an unexpected vehicle passing directly in front of you. In these instances, you won’t have the time or space to do a Quick Stop. An Instant Turn allows you to avoid the crash and go in the direction of the vehicle. Even if you do crash, it will be at an angle and the consequences will be less than crashing head on. Many people think that a turn is produced simply by turning the front wheel, but you actually lean first and turn second. Because they happen so fast, the two moves appear simultaneous. To force the lean quickly you have to perform a maneuver that feels unnatural and sounds even more unlikely. Turn your front wheel left — the wrong way, toward the car. By doing this you’re forcing a right lean. The moment you have a lean started, turn your front wheel sharply right and you’ll find yourself in a tight right turn.  This doesn’t ever feel natural, and you must train yourself to do it. The quick twitch in the wrong direction at the start of the instant turn is the most important and least intuitive part of the turn. You are deliberately unbalancing yourself by steering the whole bike out from under you.