# Learning to hold a line (rule #59)



## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

I'm wondering if there are any training techniques that can be employed to help make holding a line / complying with Rule #59 more consistent.

I find that holding a line at speed is relatively easy, but when I get slowed down - on a hill for example - holding a line becomes much more difficult.

I'm sure that concentration plays a role here. Perhaps a big role. In that case learning to stay focused would seem to be an appropriate thing to work on.

On the other hand, I suspect that technique and perhaps even strength is also a factor. It seems when I'm pedaling hard but moving slowly, the chance that I'll inadvertantly and abuptly change direction becomes become much greater. I would not want to be the rider following me up a hill right now.

So ....

If there's something I can practice, especially when climbing, to keep my bike on the straight-and-narrow and me off other riders **** List I would appreciate it.

PS: I'm currently limited to a POS MTB. I take delivery on my new road bike in 4-6 weeks.


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## Dave IV (Jan 20, 2009)

Ride rollers.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

Dave IV said:


> Ride rollers.


Hmmm .....

Would not have thought of that. Makes a lot of sense.

The wife will undoubtedly flotz if I tell her I'm going out to buy a set of rollers so I can learn to ride straight. I may have to look for other options, but that's a very good one regardless. Thanx.


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## MTBer4life (Dec 9, 2008)

Dave IV said:


> Ride rollers.


im guessing if all he has is a POS mtb he doesnt have rollers at this point. Some people around here have no concept of an economical solution to a problem. Its always go buy something else. 

Aside from that, practice and get more comfortable on your bike. Try riding the white line. When climbing get in a rhythm. work on smooth pedal strokes in circles. itll take time.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

MTBer4life said:


> im guessing if all he has is a POS mtb he doesnt have rollers at this point.


Nope. No rollers. Unless I find someone I can borrow from a set of my own it isn't likely to happen, either.




> Aside from that, practice and get more comfortable on your bike. Try riding the white line. When climbing get in a rhythm. work on smooth pedal strokes in circles. itll take time.


That's probably going to be the best best for the forseeable future. Finding a painted line to ride won't be too difficult. Developing a rhythm seems like it's something I'll have to do regardless, so there's a training goal!

Thanx.


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## Chris-X (Aug 4, 2011)

Learn to track stand. It'll also teach you to relax on the bike, which will make holding a line much easier.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Don't look down at your front wheel. Look at the road about 20 feet ahead, and just try to be smooth. Try to keep your head steady, even if the bike is rocking under you. If your head and shoulders are moving in a smooth line up the hill, the bike should go basically straight, even if there are small oscillations around the perfect line.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

Chris-X said:


> Learn to track stand.


I'm unfamiliar with the term "track stand". Could you elaborate?


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Samadhi said:


> I'm unfamiliar with the term "track stand". Could you elaborate?


It means balancing the bike while standing still, with both feet on the pedals. The term comes from a type of bicycle track race (the match sprint), in which the competitors sometimes come to a complete standstill before the final sprint (to try to get the other guy to lead out, so you can draft and then pass at the end).

I don't the advice is particularly useful. It's a tricky skill for most riders, and if you could trackstand for any length of time you'd probably be a very smooth rider already, and not be asking this question.

But you can try it if you like.

Trackstand - YouTube


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

Try "stepping on the line" with your feet as you pedal, like walking a tight rope. Use your arms to counter the force your legs make in the stroke. I'll bet the road bike will help, if your knees are in front of you the downstroke will make the wobble more pronounced than if they are under you.


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## Dave IV (Jan 20, 2009)

MTBer4life said:


> im guessing if all he has is a POS mtb he doesnt have rollers at this point. Some people around here have no concept of an economical solution to a problem. Its always go buy something else.
> 
> Aside from that, practice and get more comfortable on your bike. Try riding the white line. When climbing get in a rhythm. work on smooth pedal strokes in circles. itll take time.



He asked for a suggestion, with no qualifier that it needed to be a no cost option. He is taking delivery of a new bike in a few weeks, so it is not inconceivable that he may have a few more dollars to pick up a set of rollers; even a pre-owned set.

By the way using rollers is also a great way to work on a smooth pedal stroke. By watching the belt you can see how smoothly you are pedaling.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

Dave IV said:


> He asked for a suggestion, with no qualifier that it needed to be a no cost option. He is taking delivery of a new bike in a few weeks, so it is not inconceivable that he may have a few more dollars to pick up a set of rollers; even a pre-owned set.


Even though I'll be picking up a new bike in a few weeks, having "a few more dollars" to spend isn't really the case here. Of course, you had no idea about that.

Just the same, your recommendation isn't bad at all. Makes a lot of sense, actually. I just can't afford that sort of thing right now. I did take a quick look at craigslist, though. Used sets are available and not out of line price-wise. Money-wise, what I have to spend on the bike has to go to more pressing needs.



> By the way using rollers is also a great way to work on a smooth pedal stroke. By watching the belt you can see how smoothly you are pedaling


It's easy to see the advantages of using rollers to train with if you want to develop good form while pedaling. I think they would be especially useful for learning to hold a line and developing good pedaling stroke.

It's good advice you've given me and I'm not dismissing it. I just can't afford to go that route right now :cryin:

Actually, I haven't a bad idea from anyone yet. It's all good. Plenty to think about and lots of things to try ot.


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## D&MsDad (Jul 17, 2007)

Are you talking about riding in a straight line, or about holding a line through a corner at speed? These are two different things.

Holding a line through a corner applies to riding with a group (i.e. two or more abreast). In this context holding your line means that you are leaving enough room on your inside so that any riders inside of you have room to make the turn (i.e. you are not pinching riders between yourself and the curb at the apex of the turn), and conversely you are not drifting outward in the turn and making riders outside of you (or behind you) alter their lines to avoid you. Avoiding pinching riders to your inside is basically awareness and choosing the correct line in the first place. If there are two riders inboard of you in a turn, then select a line that allows room for two riders between you and the end of the pavement at the apex of the curve. It takes judgement and some experience. Avoiding drifting outward in a turn adds the requirement that you have the ability to make a turn of the correct radius at the speed of the group. You need to properly position yourself on the bike so that you can turn sharply enough at speed. This takes practice. Countersteering can help you initiate a turn more quickly, and you need to lean your body, push down on the handlebar with your outside hand, position your pedals so that your foot on the outside of the turn is at 6 o'clock, and move your weight over the outside foot. Shifting your weight over the front wheel helps as well.

Riding in a straight line is a different skill. As several above have noted, you must have a relaxed upper body. You need to relax your hands, forearms, elbows, shoulders and neck. You also need to have a balanced pedal stroke. You need to push equally hard with your right and left legs, and you need to pedal circles (i.e. unweight the foot that is in the recovery portion of the pedalling circle). This is described in several ways: some imagine scraping mud off of the bottom of their shoe at the bottom of the circle, and pushing their foot forward or up and over at the top of the circle. Another component of this is having a strong core to counter the pedalling forces and keep you from pulling on the handlebar during pedalling. If you're going all out (i.e. during a sprint or while pushing hard while climbing) then you can use your upper body to counteract the pedalling forces by pulling up with your left hand while pushing down with your right leg, for example.

This is a lot more complicated to explain in words than it is to feel when you're actually on the bike. You should experiment on your rides to get a feel for what I'm talking about. If your LBS has a group ride, then you can ask one of the ride leaders if there is anyone on the ride who can give you some pointers (but do your practicing at the back of the group, please, and don't lose your concentration on the riders in front of you).



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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

The road bike's going to help. One of the things that can make climbing in a straight line difficult is a slack head angle; mountain bikes have slacker head angles than road bikes, and typically put less of the rider's weight on the front wheel, especially on a climb.

That's not to say that nobody can climb straight on a mountain bike. Look where you're going. (Sure that's been mentioned already.) If you're "out of gears," get out of the saddle. I find it quite difficult to do anything well when I'm forced below "my" cadence. But I'm comfortable at slower cadences out of the saddle than in it, and getting out of the saddle also gives me the freedom to move more weight forward. That's really a secondary effect, but still...

Since buying things has already been mentioned, do you have slick or knobby tires? You'll see a big improvement in on-road performance with slicks. I don't know if that's something that matters to you with what you're doing right now, but between being more efficient with slicks and having a few less gear inches due to wheel circumference if you get narrower slicks than the current tires, you may be able to go a little faster and not run out of gears, if either of those are contributing to your problem.


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## BostonG (Apr 13, 2010)

Another member posted this a few weeks ago. Thought it might help you:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/general-cycling-discussion/road-bike-skill-drills-268115.html


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

Look farther up the road. Many people tend to look down on climbs. That makes you ride a wobbly line.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

MTBer4life said:


> im guessing if all he has is a POS mtb he doesnt have rollers at this point. Some people around here have no concept of an economical solution to a problem. Its always go buy something else.
> 
> Aside from that, practice and get more comfortable on your bike. Try riding the white line. When climbing get in a rhythm. work on smooth pedal strokes in circles. itll take time.


 This. ^^ And also see if you can force yourself to relax your grip a lot. Sometimes when climbing it is easy to tense up and get a death grip on the bars, which means that any twitch at all is going to result in a zig-zag.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

ericm979 is right. You'll go where ever you're looking. Your natural hand-eye coordination takes over. I teach bike handling for my club and one of the things I tell people who take my classes is, "Never look where you're going. Ever. Always look where you WANT to go. A good way to practice is to ride on the white line at the edge of a road. If you look down a lot you'll ride off it. If you look quite far ahead you'll do pretty well. That exercise will also help you to relax & be comfortable on the bike. A death grip with your shoulders tight will work against you.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

AndrwSwitch said:


> The road bike's going to help. One of the things that can make climbing in a straight line difficult is a slack head angle; mountain bikes have slacker head angles than road bikes, and typically put less of the rider's weight on the front wheel, especially on a climb.


Another pathetic noob question: what do you mean by "slack"?



> Since buying things has already been mentioned, do you have slick or knobby tires?


the POSMTB has knobbies (26x2.10). I've considered slicks or a skinnier, less aggressive knobby. I'm not sure the bike's worth the investment, especially considering that the new road bike is only weeks away. 



> You'll see a big improvement in on-road performance with slicks. I don't know if that's something that matters to you with what you're doing right now, but between being more efficient with slicks and having a few less gear inches due to wheel circumference if you get narrower slicks than the current tires, you may be able to go a little faster and not run out of gears, if either of those are contributing to your problem.


I'm sure it will. When I test-rode the road bike the difference in performance was noticeable right away. I didn't get a climb in, but expect that climbing and straight line performance will be worlds better. I don't want to downplay my own strength and technique, but this new bike is going to be a big help. 

I also think that a lot of the advice here is definitely with following up with. A lot of it I can work with as soon as the snow melts off. Don't have to wait for the new bike.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

For head angle - slack means it's less vertical. Steep means it's more vertical.

Having a slack head angle puts your front wheel further from your center of mass and increases "wheel flop," the tendency for the wheel to want to flop over sideways rather than staying pointing straight forward.

Whether or not tires are worthwhile is a little tricky - you can find skinny slicks for $15 each, but they'll be garbage. You can spend $60 each on them, but that's probably overkill. Something good for your purpose is probably a $30-$40 item. Whether or not it's worth it is up to you. I think something to ask yourself is what you'll be doing with the MTB when you get the road bike. If you're going to keep it and use it for grocery shopping and commuting and whatnot, getting a little more appropriate tire would (to me) be a no-brainer. If it's just going to be garage art... for myself, I'd be disinclined to buy new tires. And if it's going to go back to off-road duty, you may want new tires but you'll want them to be nicer knobbies, and not until after you finish using it on pavement.


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## Chris-X (Aug 4, 2011)

Chris-X said:


> *Learn* to track stand. It'll also teach you to relax on the bike, which will make holding a line much easier.





JCavilia said:


> It means balancing the bike while standing still, with both feet on the pedals. The term comes from a type of bicycle track race (the match sprint), in which the competitors sometimes come to a complete standstill before the final sprint (to try to get the other guy to lead out, so you can draft and then pass at the end).
> 
> I don't the advice is particularly useful. It's a tricky skill for most riders, and if you could trackstand for any length of time you'd probably be a very smooth rider already, and not be asking this question.
> 
> ...


Hiya!

Notice the key word, "learn."

It's very easy if one spends a couple of minutes at the end of each ride. In under a month if the person rides 4-5 times a week, the rider should be able to control a track stand for the length of a traffic light.

It helps tremendously in relaxing all of the muscles that keep the bike on line. Being solid on the bike is mostly a matter of relaxation.


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

BUT . . .You'll scare drivers if you stand there for the duration of the light.
They'll lock their doors if you start bouncing.


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## velocanman (Jul 15, 2011)

Glad to see someone suggested the short article I wrote on the subject of improving road bike skills. I consider road bike handling a systemic issue which is why I try to break it down into bike fit, pedaling, control, and practice. 

You can get some good practice on the MTB if you focus on looking ahead, looking where you want to go, and only using light hand pressure on the bars.

For drills riding the white line and one-handed are useful. Please be careful if you practice no-hands on the MTB--their front ends are heavier, and tractive force is higher, so they can get away from you more quickly.

Some of this comes with time, and you will somewhat be starting over on the road bike. It will probably feel less stable due to the stiffness and narrow tires. But I think you've got 50% of it licked by simply wanting to improve.

Of course, you could take your MTB out to the trails and practice on the trials course, if they have one.  Riding a 4x4 one foot in the air will help your line holding on the MTB.

Please let me know if you have any questions about what is covered in the article.


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## smoothie7 (Apr 11, 2011)

I will have to admit that after using rollers for a few months, it has really straightened out my riding. A valuable investment. You can find them for under $150 if you look hard enough


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

I went for my first ride since the OP this afternoon.

I paid attention to my riding a little more and deliberately rode some distances maintaining my gaze at a point 20 or so feet in fron of me. It was impossible to not look at the front wheel - I had a new fender and was watching to see if the mount was right, etc. The difference in handling was very clear. When looking ahead the bike tracked straight. As soon as I looked down at the front wheel, handling problems arose.

So, that's a key bit of wisdom.

I would have tried some white line tracking but there was a bit to much traffic on the street to make that practical. I'll be trying it soon.

I've been watching Craig's List for used rollers. I'm not going to get one right away, unless some smokin deal comes my way. I also need to make some room to set it up when i do get one. That's not an easy task.

So thanks to all who contributed. It's be a big help.


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

Most of this has been said, but....

If you can get some rollers, they will force you to ride straight. The learning curve is steep but once you get it your riding style will be much smoother not only in riding straight but in evening out your pedal stroke.

I'm not sure how slow you are going when the problems start - usually balance isn't much of an issue over about 5mph but here are some balance drills.

Before and/or after every ride, take a few minutes to practice low speed skills. Slow race a friend (last one to the finish line wins, no touching a foot to the ground). Ride a few feet and stop with your front tire on a parking space strip, then start again without touching a foot to the ground, then repeat on the next stripe. In all of these, focus on the medium distance not your front wheel! Don't over think it. Just stay calm and relaxed. Try to do a 180* turn inside a parking space. Once you've mastered that, do a 360* turn. When you turn you have to look where you are turning, and in a tight turn this means looking all the way over your shoulder.

Once you start getting tired you will have problems holding a really straight line. Pay attention to how you are feeling and don't put yourself in any tight situations (dense traffic; large group of riders; tricky obstacles) at the end of a long ride.


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## elijahornothing (Jan 25, 2012)

awesome tips, thanks!


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