Level 2: Wind, Rollers, & Corners 

If you have not seen it, here is the link for Developing Riding Awareness: Level 1. All of the level two topics present opportunities to gain time and save energy, relative to the competition. Unfortunately, they are typically low on the points of focus. Use this quick set of bullets in each area to draw your focus to 'doing it right'. 

Lesson # 1: Riding In The Wind

Save energy, gain confidence, and maximize speed. Know that in a headwind, you will need to be able to push a bigger gear, with a muscle-tension type feeling to the effort. Luckily, we do plenty of muscle tension training. With a tailwind, you will need to be able to produce high power, while combined with high RPM. If you haven't practiced this in training, it can ruin your run performance. Luckily, we train with this element, so you should be prepared. But what about the fear-inducing crosswind? 

1. Give Yourself Room: The bike may move around in the wind, be ready for that.
2. Add A Gear Or Two: This will create more linear force, and a platform to hold tension on the chain.
3. Remain Supple In The Upper Body: It prevents you from being a sail!
4. Lean Your Bike Away From The Wind: Seriously. It is counterintuitive but critical. If the wind is from the left, lean the bike right. 
5. Add A Counter-Steer: This is pressure on the bar furthest from the wind, turning the wheel slightly into the wind. It causes the bike to remain straight.
6. Slide Your Butt: Slightly toward the seat, to the side of the saddle, so maintaining weight on the centerline (Remember, your bike is leaning away from the wind).
7. Maintain Tension On The Chain & Keep Pedaling: Steady rpms. 

If you maintain this focus, you will get more and more comfortable, and while the bike will move, it will never have those big jumps and swerves that induce fear and danger. Empowering, energy saving and faster. What's not to love? 

Lesson #2: Rolling Terrain

Not all roads are flat, and any piece of road with positive and negative terrain can be managed to maximize wheel speed and resource management. Let's break it down:

1. At the base of a roller: Use slight energy, maintaining momentum.
2. At the crest of a roller: Again, use a slight energy increase as you approach the downhill side.
3. In the middle & descent of a roller: Manage effort in the middle of the climbing and descending piece of the rollers.

Read the three above, and notice that output should not be even through rolling terrain. 

1. Roll the biggest gear: As high as is comfortable headed into the bottom piece of the roller.
2. Plan your gear changes: Drop as the grade increases, or if your speed drops in the roller
3. Soft Crests: Pick up gears and speed as you go over the top, hitting race cadence as you head back down
4. Utilize standing pedaling: Just be patient and aim to time it to hit the acceleration 'over the top' with a maximum off 10 to 12 pedal strokes. 

Lesson #3: Cornering 

Remember, positive experiences in cornering will provide learning. Negative scares (crashes) will rarely provide helpful lessons. With this, remain in your comfort zone and stay in control as you practice your corning skills. While I cannot go into the dirty details here (please read the cornering section of the Well-Built Triathlete), there are some universal points that are critical to effective cornering:

1. Maintain flow: Remain supple and relaxed throughout.
2. Don't look down: Keep your eyes and vision at where you want to go.
3. Break early: Aim to have the majority of your braking complete by the time you hit the turn.
4. Be aware of turns: Your outside foot, on a curve, is always at the bottom of the pedal stroke. This is where your weight distribution is. Of course, this means your inside foot is up and void of downward force.
5. Your weight and pressure are on the inside handlebar: This is your counter-steer, which can be used to feather and refine your line during a corner.
6. Plan your line: Think entrance, corner, exit. Have this vision before you begin to corner. 

Spend a moment reflecting on each of the above, then get outside and play on your bike. Remember, kids that play on their bikes are naturals at this, so use this as a license to revisit or recreate your childhood. It will make you a better athlete and rider.