By John Allen

What do bicyclists learn from their bicycles?

Yes, the bicycle teaches the rider. And muscle memory does not fade!

A child may develop habits that work less well on a grownup bike and these habits may last a lifetime unless consciously reversed. One very typical example is with children who start out on a BMX bicycle with a low saddle and coaster brake.

Because the pedals can’t turn backwards with a coaster brake, the forward foot (the one which has to initiate pedaling) steps down to keep the bicycle upright at a stop. Both feet must be down to switch feet and restart. Whole nations – Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark -- have traditionally ridden coaster-brake bicycles – though that is changing -- and the resulting awkwardness of stopping and restarting has shaped their style of riding and their infrastructure choices.

Coaster brakes are common on children’s bikes in the USA. These brakes are relatively trouble-free and intuitive to use, but it can take some work to accustom a growing child, or an adult with decades of ingrained habit, to a bicycle with handbrakes.  These cyclists often prefer the saddle low, reducing pedaling efficiency. For the sake of safety – the ability to restart briskly – and to ride longer distances and come back for more CRW rides – it is prudent to learn efficient stopping and restarting. I therefore encourage the club to hold clinics where newcomers can be introduced to the power pedal start.

Here is video of several cyclists being awkward!

When stopping, most CRW members slide forward off the saddle and put one foot down, then bring up the other pedal for a power-pedal start. With clipless pedals, there is no need even to hook a foot under a pedal to pull it up. But a little experiment will show the power of habit: practice restarting with the opposite foot. (This practice can actually be useful if a pedal won’t release, or when tandeming with someone who learned to start with the other foot.)

Habits which the bicycle teaches aren’t only from childhood. The bicycle teaches the rider how to keep the system stable – staying upright and riding straight. But different bicycles provide different forces through the handlebars and react differently to steering.

Switching between bicycles with different frame geometry loading and handlebar shapes is like switching between musical instruments of the same family – soprano, alto, tenor saxophones, or violin and viola. I’m recalling my first time riding my longtail cargo bike, when my reflexes from riding other bicycles led me to overcorrect steering and weave at low speeds. After a few rides, I adapted to the cargo bike’s handling. The lesson here is to be cautious when setting out on a new (to you) bicycle, especially at the extremes of performance – high speeds, very low speeds, hard braking, cornering. You may need to adapt – to “tune in.”

A bicycle can teach the rider efficient pedaling, or not. A bicycle without low gears will teach the rider to stand when accelerating and climbing. Insufficiently low gears for climbing will teach a new rider that bicycling is difficult. I have been happy to spin up Mt. Wachusett on the Climb to the Clouds ride at hardly more than walking speed and to have my legs still feel good for the many miles ahead. OK, I know a CRW member who did the entire Climb to the Clouds on a fixed-gear bicycle. He is extraordinary, most of us are less so! One of the modern pie-plate size sprocket clusters along with double chainrings and a front derailleur should not be out of the question if climbing is an issue!

Brakes again: The hollow steel rims usual on all but high-end bicycles up through the 1960s were slippery against the brake shoes when wet. Pothole damage would push out the sidewalls of these rims, so a bicycle lurched when braking. I switched to aluminum rims in the early 1970s, but their wedge-like cross section taught me not to trust the brakes until I learned some very precise wheelbuilding.  Today’s rims have parallel sidewalls, or your bicycle has disk brakes. Consider yourself fortunate because they do not teach you to avoid braking hard when you might need to!

Overcoming lingering habits may require changing some equipment on the bike, or only a conscious effort to relearn. Efficient stopping and restarting, steering, braking, and use of the gears make for a more pleasant and safer ride.