Sep 28, 2022

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ ON BIKE HANDLING

THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ ON BIKE HANDLING, was a book on archery, written 74 years go, by a German, in Japan...

... just after WWII.

How can that be?

What, a German doing business in Japan a couple of years after the big one?

Or, a book on archery teaching bike handling?

Well, I'll tell you as briefly as I dare.

The German, was young and fit, and very proficient at using a compound bow...

... you know, the kind that have all the leverage to make pulling back easy.

He went to shoot with old monks, seemingly too old and feeble to shoot at all...

... let alone a massive long bow.

How could these small, ancient men pull back a bow so easily and shoot with such accuracy...

... when he could barely pull a long bow back at all.

The answer lay in the muscles used...

... and being relaxed.

For example, the triceps of the arm pulling back was loose and flaccid. Not tense. Not being used.

The monks engaged only the muscles necessary to pull back the bow...

... every other muscle was at rest.

What does that have to do with bike handling?

Everything.

What does it take to slow your bike?
Two fingers.

To hold your handle bars?
Two hands.

To pedal seated?
Legs, butt, core.

It took me a long time to learn to stay relaxed in all conditions...

to hold onto the bars with my hands while my arms are loose and relaxed,
to brake with 1 finger on each lever, without clinching every other muscle,
to pedal seated, uphill, while my upper body is calm,
to breathe easy vs holding my breath if it got scary,

... you feel me?

Can't say enough about the book. I've read it may times over the years. It is short, concise, beautiful...

... and taught me ton about holding onto things.

https://pedalindustries.com/collections/dynaplug

Ripping the local trails today, while holding on loosely to the bars...

... I realized my cleat needed adjusting.

Thankfully, I had a minitool stored in my Mini RaceDay Bag™.