At 5:15, before the Slow and Easy Ride – East in June 2019, OCC is offering skills clinics. Please visit this page for updates:

#1: Basic Bicycle Maintenance – June 6th

  1.  What to carry on every ride
    a. Essentials in your seat bag: spare tube(s), CO2 cartridge and head and/or
    mini-pump, tire levers, food, $, phone
    b. Additional: patch kit
    c. Advanced; multi-tool, quick link
    d. If you have deep-dish rims: value extender
    e. Favorite video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3sPhf6EA_0
  2.  Inflating your tires
    a. Hands-on practice using a floor pump
    b. Favorite videos #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AM0Zf49aVU
    c. Favorite videos #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhNM_lJ1hlE
  3.  Changing a flat
    a. Hands-on practice
    b. Favorite videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewPeojRSa0k
  4.  Cleaning: washing and lubing
    a. Tools versus household items
    b. Products: degreaser, car wash or similar, chain lubes
    c. Favorite videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvzVRxlIUL0 (although I
    don’t agree with using WD-40)

You can search for these favorite videos on youtube instead of typing out the links by filtering for
GCN (global cycling network)

 

#2: Saftey – June 13th (rained out)

Safety equipment:

● Helmets (a requirement for OCC rides but always wear one anyway)
● Mirrors
● Lights, front and back
● High-viz clothing, especially on moving body parts (shoes, socks)
● Optional: bell (for riding on multiple-use pathways), video camera

Choose roads that are safe for cyclists:
● Roads with good shoulders
● Roads with low traffic volume
● Avoid roads with high-speed traffic

Ride defensively:
● Be aware of your surroundings and everything in it. (Use mirrors, no excuses!)
● Make certain you are seen by motorists
● Ride with purpose, project your intentions
● Expect the unexpected

Follow all traffic rules always! :
1. Ride as far to the right as practicable. Double file is ok only when there is no traffic.
2. When being passed (or passing), always ride single file.
3. No earbuds, headphones or speakers
4. No talking on the phone or texting while riding
5. Do not ride three abreast, as the middle rider has no evasive path

Safety in group rides (in a future skills clinic)

Adapted from the safety video produced for riders who ride the Pan-Mass Challenge
(http://www.pmc.org/ride/safety) and based on Massachusetts General Laws, Section 85, Chapter 11B

 

#3: Group Riding Etiquette – June 20th

  1. Communication and predictability
    Ride as far to the right as practicable. Double file is ok only when there is no traffic.
  2. When being passed (or passing), always ride single file.
  3. Call out “on your left” when passing a rider
    • No passing on the right (if you must, announce it first!)
  4. Signal turns, slowing and stopping with hand signals and reinforce these verbally such
    as “slowing”, “stopping”

  5. Before standing, say “standing” one second before doing so because standing often
    throws a bike backward and you will take down a rider who is close to your back wheel
  6. Call out and point out all road hazards such as railroad tracks, gravel, sand, glass. Do
    NOT be descriptive, simply announce hazard
  7. Call out cars approaching from behind with “car back”
  8. Call out “car up” for cars approaching from the front when awaiting a “car back” to pass,
    and on narrow roads or driveways.
  9. Call out runners, pedestrians and other obstacles ahead with “runner up”, “walker up”,
    etc. and pull out to the left to give them room but look behind first to make sure there is
    no approaching traffic
  10. Do not overlap wheels (your front wheel is next to the rear wheel of the rider in front of
    you)
  11. Do not ride three abreast, as the middle rider has no evasive path
  12. Do not use aero bars
  13. Enjoy riding in a group. It is a pleasant, social experience and it will help you become a
    better rider.

Some favorite videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK5MPtMrMqU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmB9LyYzKM

 

#4: Stopping and Going – June 27

  1. Shifting
    1. Chainring selection
    2. Cogs on your cassette
    3. Cross-chaining – try not to do it!
    4. Chain skipping?
      • Clean your drivetrain! (see hand-out from skills clinic #1)
      • Minor adjustments (barrel adjusters)
      • Replace the chain
    5. -Maintaining your cadence
      • 80-90 rpm
    6. -Shift before you need to, especially before climbing
      • Don’t shift when you are pushing hard on the pedals like in the middle of a
        climb
  2. Braking
    1. -Brake before you need to
      1. Brake before you enter the turn
      2. Look to where you want to go, not where you are afraid you are going
      3. Inside leg up, outside leg down
        • Push down on the outside pedal (we’ll practice this in the parking lot)
    2. Front versus rear brake
    3. Feathering