Cycling UK Forum

slowster wrote: ↑3 Sep 2023, 4:45pm Usually road features like railway crossings and cattle grids, which are a specific hazard to people on a bike, are oriented so that they are at 90 degrees to the cyclist's direction of travel. The first video below shows what can happen when that is not the case. If you find yourself approaching a railway crossing with the tracks, or a catttle grid, at a significantly smaller angle than 90 degrees, you need to correct your line before the rails/grid, or stop.

A dropped kerb is much less of a hazard, but if you attempt to ride up one at an extremely acute angle, there will be a risk. The risk is far greater with very narrow tyres. I once rode downhill on a road which had a patched road repair. The difference in height between the road and the patch edge was minimal, but on 23mm tyres the edge of the patch acted like a tramline and I felt I could no longer steer the bike. You have very wide tyres, so the effect would be less, but that might be offset somewhat if you have very high (front) tyre pressure giving a small tyre/road contact patch. It might be worth getting a tyre pressure gauge, e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265736770971 to help you ensure that you get the correct pressure for your tyres and weight.

I often have to ride up a dropped kerb in a similar situation on 50mm tyres. I will sometimes try to increase the angle by riding a bit further out into the road, and I use a mirror or shoulder check to make sure I have road space to drift out anything up to metre into the road, before initiating the turn towards the dropped kerb. However, at slow speeds I do not need to do that.

From your comments I wonder if you have forgotten how instinctively to steer a bike, or maybe rather you are concentrating too much on turning the handlebars to physically steer the bike. In other words, you may not be letting yourself do what you did instinctively as a teen when cycling, because you are now thinking too much about the process of turning the bars and steering, and your extra bodyweight may be a factor in that because it probably makes riding a bike feel so different from when you were a teen and steering the bike was just instinctive.

To be more specific, I wonder if you are trying to steer solely by turning the handlebars while staying upright, and not counter steering and lean steering sufficiently. I think that normally most of us do not even think about counter steering and lean steering or fully appreciate that is what we do, because it is so instinctive. I suspect the long period since you used to ride, your anxiety, and maybe the unfamiliar experience of having to get used to cycling with such a heavier bodyweight may be masking your old instinctive ability to ride a bike.

When you turn on a bike, you do so initially by counter steering. You may not even realise you are doing it, especially since the amount of counter steer is quite small. The counter steer will result in the front of the bike lowering slightly (stand next to your bike and move the bars from left to right and you will see this - it happens because the head tube and forks are not at 90 degrees to the ground). Your centre of gravity will no longer be over a line drawn between the front and rear tyre contact patches. You will in fact be leaning slightly. If you counter steered right, you will be leaning slightly to the left and you will instinctively turn the bars back to the left to correct the lean. That is what makes you turn and then come back upright. The second video below shows this on a motorbike.

On a camber, you will need to lean steer very slightly up the camber, to stop the bike going down the camber. Many cyclists find riding a tricycle difficult to begin with, because trikes are not lean steered. On a typical UK road with a slight camber from the centre to the edge of the road, a trike has to be constantly steered away from the edge of the road.

From your comments I wonder if you have forgotten how instinctively to steer a bike, or maybe rather you are concentrating too much on turning the handlebars to physically steer the bike. In other words, you may not be letting yourself do what you did instinctively as a teen when cycling

Nearholmer wrote: ↑4 Sep 2023, 8:29am Maybe find a flat car park or field, and simply do loops, figures of eight, weaving in and out of cones etc until you feel truly comfortable, and crucially instinctive, on the bike. While there is a bit of technique in crossing some obstacles, the greatest technique of all is being relaxed on the bike and feeling that it’s simply a wheeled extension of your body.

Yep, I think you've nailed it. I'm not intentionally NOT leaning, but I do think you're right that it's just not happening. I'm aware that leaning is the correct way to turn, but my nerves and lack of doing it for so long is stopping me naturally doing it. Partly maybe I'm scared of losing balance

brianleach wrote: ↑4 Sep 2023, 9:33am

Yep, I think you've nailed it. I'm not intentionally NOT leaning, but I do think you're right that it's just not happening. I'm aware that leaning is the correct way to turn, but my nerves and lack of doing it for so long is stopping me naturally doing it. Partly maybe I'm scared of losing balance

I can only sympathise with the OP as this is not something I have experienced. I have been cycling on and off for over 60 years with motorcycling in between so I suppose it is just ingrained. That doesn't mean I haven't fallen off of course!

Returning to this quote I think it is a natural reaction initially to keep upright. When my much younger brother wanted to ride a motorbike I took him on the pillion of mine first and as soon as we started every time I leaned into a corner he leaned back to the upright position causing some issues at roundabouts. I stopped and said that we really aught both to be leaning in the same direction and after that it went much better!

al_yrpal wrote: ↑4 Sep 2023, 9:54am I had a similar accident when I was very inexperienced. It was caused by me trying to mount a very shallow kerb, just an inch or two at a very narrow angle. I went over sideways, my shoulder hitting the ground and the side of my helmet smashing into the tarmac like a whiplash. It damaged the helmet not my head and its why to this day 17 years later I always wear a helmet. Such kerbs should be tackled at 90 degrees. Hope you get better quickly.

Al

Jdsk wrote: ↑4 Sep 2023, 9:38am We sometimes use velodrome rides as social occasions. It's very common for people to ask how much they should steer on the banking. The best advice that I've found so far is to watch some other people riding without problems and to "let it happen". Not a set of instructions to follow.

TrevA wrote: ↑7 Sep 2023, 6:16pm I’ve had a wheel slip sideways on a damp rail, whilst crossing a level crossing. The bike squirrelled sideways, but I just managed to avoid falling off. I think it occurred due to pedalling whilst riding over the crossing, the pedalling force seemed to cause the tyre to lose grip. I now freewheel over level crossings to avoid a reoccurrence.

Mike Sales wrote: ↑7 Sep 2023, 6:20pm BILD0078.JPG

TrevA wrote: ↑7 Sep 2023, 6:16pm I’ve had a wheel slip sideways on a damp rail, whilst crossing a level crossing. The bike squirrelled sideways, but I just managed to avoid falling off. I think it occurred due to pedalling whilst riding over the crossing, the pedalling force seemed to cause the tyre to lose grip. I now freewheel over level crossings to avoid a reoccurrence.

Me too. When the rails are at an angle I divert from my course so that I can take them closer to a right angle. This may feel a bit perilous in traffic, but it does beat coming off in front of a motor ...

Nearholmer wrote: ↑4 Sep 2023, 8:29am Maybe find a flat car park or field, and simply do loops, figures of eight, weaving in and out of cones etc until you feel truly comfortable, and crucially instinctive, on the bike. While there is a bit of technique in crossing some obstacles, the greatest technique of all is being relaxed on the bike and feeling that it’s simply a wheeled extension of your body.