CanBike Emergency Braking Technique - Part 2.

I sent my previous post about CanBike emergency braking technique to Jan Heine, editor of Bicycle Quarterly magazine. He responded with some good observations and corrections to my original post. Here's a summary of his main points:

1. the rear break can be useful, but only when it's very slippery, eg. in snow and ice,
2. the rear brake contributes very little stopping power even at low speed,
3. the convention of having the left hand control the front brake lever is important because it's consistent - it avoids nasty surprises, and
4. it's very important to brace yourself against the handlebars when braking hard.

I'm pretty sure the last point was not addressed in my CanBike courses - it'll go into my own notes for sure, if I ever teach a course. The winter 2008 issue of Bicycle Quarterly addressed brakes in detail, and is described on Jan's blog. His complete response to me is well worth reading. Here it is:

The reason the rear brake does not contribute even at low speeds is that almost all the weight is transferred to the front wheel. Furthermore, focusing on one brake only is easier. When you brake truly hard, the rear wheel will lock up even under very little braking, and the rear wheel will slide, which makes controlling the bike difficult. It takes a lot of slipperiness to make the rear brake useful - snow and ice, or rain after a long dry spell are common scenarios. There, you cannot brake hard anyhow, and the weight transfer is limited.

We discussed the issue of which hand should control which brake in our "Brake Special" Vol. 7, No. 2. I don't think a general recommendation is needed, but consistency is useful, so riders don't accidentally actuate the wrong brake.

The most important result of the test for us was how hard one can brake with correct technique. We commonly got the smell of burnt brake pads rising from the front brake after we came to a stop. The risk of going over the handlebars only occurs at very low speeds, because at higher speeds, wind resistance pushes the rider backward. The rear wheel rises slowly, and riders easily can open the brake to counter this. Most "over-the-bars" incidents appear from the rider flying forward as the bike slows down, similar to car occupants flying forward into the windshield if they don't wear seatbelts. Bracing yourself against the handlebars is crucial during hard braking. That is perhaps the most important part of the technique to be taught.

CanBike Emergency Braking Technique - Part 1.

I just completed the CanBike Instructors Workshop offered by the city of St. John's. The city now has several people who are nationally certified CanBike instructors, and the intention is to offer these courses to the public - another step forward for cycling here on the Avalon, but in this post I want to talk specifically about how the courses address emergency braking.

The CanBike emergency braking technique has the rider brake hard while shifting body weight toward the rear wheel and keeping the cranks horizontal. No minimum speed is specified for performing the test. In both my CanBike courses (I completed CanBike II as well) the instructors pointed out that the front brake does 75 % or more of the work.

After performing the CanBike exercise numerous times I happened upon a report titled "Testing Brakes" by Jan Heine, with Hahn Rossman and Mark Vande Kamp, in Bicycling Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, Autumn 2011. These riders experimented with various equipment on a paved 12 % descent, braking hard after attaining 50 kmh. Their technique is pretty much the same as the CanBike manuals; note in the photo above (from the BQ report) how the rider's weight is way back behind the seat, and that the cranks are just about horizontal. Heine et al found that "the rear brake is useless during emergency stops". Should the CanBike emergency braking technique be taught then using the front brake only?

This might not be the obvious conclusion because these writers also cede that "The rear brake is useful when it is so slippery that hard braking on either wheel will cause a skid". Something else that would need to be established is whether the rear brake contributes more at lower speed. I doubt that my classmates and I in the Canbike course attained anything like 50 kmh when we performed the road test. One thing that CanBike could implement, and should I think, is a minimum speed for performing the braking test: 50 kmh may be fast for people just learning the technique but surely an emergency stop from 30 kmh is something that should be in every bicyclist's arsenal.

The Bicycle Quarterly report found a wide discrepancy in performance with different brake pads; CanBike instructors would certainly do well to keep this in mind when evaluating students.

By the way, BQ tested with the front brake controlled by the right hand brake lever; for most people this would be the stronger hand but it's also the case that bicycles in North America are normally set up opposite to this! The BQ report doesn't go into it but I concluded that this is one aspect of bicycle set-up that should have no default - the stronger hand should control the front brake!

Ride Around the Harbour - Otter at Quidi Vidi

My rides are getting much shorter as the season winds down, so they`ll be more and more centred around St. John`s. But even a leisurely cruise in the "fog and mist" can be rewarding (see the video below). Today was just a short spin around St. John's Harbour and Quidi Vidi Lake - just over 23 km and very flat, but great for someone who has only a day in the city and would like to ride a bit. With some adaptations it would also be suitable for novice or very young riders.

Domestic Architecture of the South Side

Along the South Side Road you see things like this beautiful domestic architecture juxtaposed with the encrusted hulks of ferries and trawlers hauled up on the drydock for repairs. It`s not everyone`s aesthetic I suppose but personally I find these incongruities fascinating!

Marinoni with The Battery in the Background

This photo of the Marinoni was taken from the Small Boat Basin near Fort Amherst on the South Side Road. The background shows the old neighbourhood known as "The Battery". It's just below Signal Hill on the north side of the harbour. I didn`t go out there today but if you have only one ride in St. John`s you should really include it.

Otter at Quidi Vidi

And this cute little bugger was hanging around the slip in Quidi Vidi gut. Moose, caribou, hawks, eagles - you`ll see them all from your bicycle seat around here, and I have, but this was my very first otter! I'd heard reports before of these fellows along the lower sections of Rennie's River; they must swim up from the Gut, then traverse Quidi Vidi Lake and pass under the bridge at Kings Bridge Road. This one was having a great time hanging out around the stages and boats until a couple of dogs scared him. Here`s some video I took with my Sony Cybershot DSC-S650:

Torbay and Flatrock

Marinoni at Flatrock

Today was overcast and cool (about 7 C) but by noon the winds were down to 15 kmh from WSW, so Lewellyn and I decided to hit the road. Lew took a quick glance at the Environment Canada website and, as usual, summed everything up with superb accuracy, predicting we'd have three hours riding before the rain came on. We kept the pace easy but still managed to take in Portugal Cove, Torbay and Flatrock. The distance was 63 kilometers and the average speed 23.2 kmh (see the detailed map at the end of this post). We stopped in Flatrock to take these photos:

Looking southeast from The Grotto

Lewellyn

This is the man who keeps me honest on the bike. He's got over ten years on me, and used to have just as many kilometers per hour! But I think I`ve managed to bridge the gap over the past few years.

A View of Flatrock Harbour

Marinoni by the Sea

The Pope and Marinoni

My Marinoni felt an irresistible pull as we passed Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Flatrock. I attribute this to her partly Italian heritage; no way she was going to just breeze by the memorial to Pope John Paul II and his blessing of the fishing fleet here on September 12th, 1984. Certainly I had nothing to do with it - I irreverently spent that day on my bike too! Back then it was a cheap Canadian made Peugeot though. It came from Bill`s Cycle Shop at the top of Long`s Hill, a St. John`s institution which now is no more. Incidentally, does anyone remember anything about Pike`s bicycle shop? I recall going in there and drooling over the bikes when my family first moved into town in the early seventies. Was it on Springdale street?

Here`s the map of today`s route. It`s not exactly flat, but the climbs are short. We took the Back Road out of  Flatrock, which is a little easier than continuing straight up to the highway. There`s a short steep pitch between Windsor Lake and Bauline Line too. The only real difficulty here is planning your exit from the city. I don't recommend it but today I rode through the intersection of Portugal Cove Road and Newfoundland Drive. The hill on the north side of Torbay has little paved shoulder and the vehicles always seem to take it at very high speed. Click on the little blue bicycle dot in the map to see a big version of this.

Bike route 1878044 - powered by Bikemap 

My Super Randonneur Medals

I`m going to rest on my laurels a bit and rehash the 2011 randonneuring season. This was the first year that I succeeded in completing a full Super Randonneur series. If you're not familiar with the sport of randonneuring (in a nutshell it's long distance bicycling), you can find out all you need to know from the Audax Club Parisien and les Randonneurs Mondiaux. I also have a link to the Nova Scotia Randonneurs club under my favourites (to the right here). So here are my medals.

First is the Super Randonneur medal itself: along the bottom edge you can see the little yellow (200 km), green (300 km), purple (400 km) and orange (600 km) ovals denoting the four brevets that must be completed in a single season in order to qualify.
Next is the medal for the 600 kilometer brevet. I rode this in Nova Scotia with the club from Halifax. It was a loop encompassing Sheet Harbour, Pictou, Oxford, Parsboro, Truro and Dartmouth.

The 400 kilometer brevet was also in Nova Scotia. We went north from Halifax to Brookfield, then Chezzetcook, Brooklyn, Windsor, Kentville, Chester and back to Dartmouth.

I rode the 200 and 300 kilometer brevets on the Avalon and, to my knowledge, it's the first time brevets of any distance have been recorded and "homologated" from Newfoundland. You can see detailed maps of these routes under "My Favourite Bike Routes" just to the right here. The 300 wasn't entirely a solo effort: my uncle accompanied me on the first 100 kilometers, and my brother and sister in law joined in for the final 75.

Marine Drive in October - The Star of Logy Bay

Wow! It's just about the middle of October and I'm still riding in my shorts! Yesterday's outing encompassed St. John's Harbour (as a warm-up) then headed out over the White Hills to Middle Cove. I blogged about it earlier this year, but now I have some snaps! And the climb up Signal Hill is omitted this time.

You'll be riding through the landscape described in The Star of Logy Bay (this recording is from a site maintained by Memorial University - MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada). Just remember the tribulations of that lovelorn troubadour as you climb up from Outer Cove, and it won't seem nearly as painful! Thanks for the photos Deb, aka photoist1.

Total distance is about 42 kilometers, which includes two climbs of about 1 kilometer each, and a couple of short steep pitches. You may sweat doing this, but it's certainly not going to kill you!












Here's the route map:

Bike route 1868878 - powered by Bikemap 

Avalon Biker in Ontario - Part Three

Okay, one more ride from Ontario, then I`m done with it. The route went from the mighty cataract of Niagara down to Niagara on the Lake and back. You can ride the entire thing on a paved bicycle trail, but I did it in the middle of the week, and traffic was so low that I couldn`t resist the open road.

Bike route 1852046 - powered by Bikemap 

Here`s some snaps from the ride. The first one, taken by an Italian family who seemed to be impressed that I was spending the day on the bike, shows your`s truly at the Brock Monument. The second is my old Specialized Allez taking a break overlooking the Niagara River. Last one's a view looking east over the gorge toward Lake Ontario, again taken from the Brock Monument:

Witless Bay Line, Early Autumn

The weather here is still holding good. I got an unanticipated 100 km ride in yesterday - Bay Bulls, Witless Bay Line, Holyrood, Conception Bay Highway, Topsail Road, home. It was sunny throughout, with ideal temperatures. There was a bit of a headwind on the last third of the Witless Bay Line, but by then I needed the challenge. The views over the barrens were taking my mind off the effort (and everything else) anyway - the little deep blue ponds receeding into the distance, each one poised upon and punctuating it's own discrete terrace - a study in horizontals. I never cross this section without feeling absolutely euphoric at some point! It's a great section to ride alone. But it's 28 kilometers of emptiness before you hit Holyrood, so fill up your bottle in Bay Bulls.

Here's the route map:

Bike route 1854126 - powered by Bikemap 

Avalon Biker goes to Ontario - Part Two

Here's another ride I did while on vacation. Until I did this I had no idea what the Trent-Severn Waterway was (and they say mainlanders are ignorant of Newfoundland!). The Trent River near Glen Ross was beautiful. Downtown Sterling had a good coffee shop. The loop is about 30 kilometers of flat riding on pavement.

Bike route 1846663 - powered by Bikemap 

Avalon Biker goes to Ontario - Part One

We've just been on vacation in Niagara Falls for three weeks. Took our bikes with us. Yes, fine weather to ride in!! Here's a particularly nice ride I did on September 21st:

Bike route 1846639 - powered by Bikemap 

This was a beautiful morning on the Niagara Escarpment, with several red-tailed hawks flying over the vinyards, deer peeking from the woods along shaded country lanes - very nice. My destination was Café Domestique in Dundas, where the owner has one of Steve Bauer's 1988 yellow jerseys on display (not to mention excellent coffee and food). Getting through Hamilton caused a few navigation problems but I arrived at the prearranged time, and Deborah drove me back to The Falls. A wonderful day! About 90 km and pretty flat. Here's me, as close to Le Maillot Jaune as I'm ever going to get! Where's the podium girls??!

Hardest Climbs on the Avalon

Avalon Climbs Ranked by Category and Length

During a recent club outing a couple of the younger lads were discussing a ride they`d just completed on the southwest Avalon. They started at Colinet, went down the North Harbour road, up the Cape Shore to Placentia, then across the dirt section through The Cataracts to Colinet. Now, Saint Bride`s - Placentia is only 30 kilometers but nortoriously hilly, with perhaps the steepest pitches anywhere on the Avalon. I took three hours to do it north to south one afternoon, on a hybrid with 26 inch wheels and two full rear panniers. It's incredibly beautiful down there when you can see through the fog (doesn`t Rex Murphy write somewhere that Gooseberry Cove is the closest thing to heaven he's ever seen?).

The boys were getting gradients of 14% from their onboard GPS units, and their discussion got me wondering about what might be the most difficult climb on the Avalon. I started plotting all the long hills I could think of using the Map My Ride interface. The data are tabulated above. Categories were assigned by the MMR software itself. My criteria were not rigourous; I simply eyeballed the longest possible section with the highest average gradient for each climb; I did ignore anything less than a kilometer however, because finding the steepest pitch shorter than that would be too exhausting to do by hand.

Is there any application where the raw numbers are quite as misleading as they are for bicycle climbs? From South Side Road up Shea Heights is a lot of work, but I've never found it as hard as coming up the other side from Maddox Cove, though the latter ascent is given the easier Cat 4 rating here. Despite these shortcomings, I believe the table does give a good overview of climbing on the Avalon.

Witless Bay

Rode out to Witless Bay today. Here's the map. I've done this as an overnight tour from St. John's, but today it was out and back with a short stop for photos and to breathe in the sea air. At the end of Gallows Cove Road on the south side of the bay there's a beautiful cobble beach with flat, grassy fields at the far end, which are ideal for camping (see photo at left). You can set up your tent so that you have a view of the islands just offshore. On one occasion Deborah and I woke in the morning to find seals swimming nearby. Today I saw only a couple of whale spouts but they weren't breaching.

And here's some pictures of the bicycle I've been using for most of the rides described here. This is the third year I've had this steel Marinoni. It has a carbon fork, and the Shimano 105 triple groupo. Last year we completed a Super Randonneur series together (a first for both of us)! The compact gearing on the front along with the granny gear makes this a real wimp's bike, but hey, it gets me back up the Witless Bay Hill with ease, and the ride really is as smooth as silk!

Circle the City

What happened to the annual Canada Day Ride? Till now it was a regular feature on the Bicycle Newfoundland and Labrador calendar, and it usually had a big turnout. We'd do a loop of the Northeast Avalon - to Pouch Cove via St. Thomas' Line and return via Marine Drive. It was the closest thing to Halifax's Joseph Howe Century Ride that St. John's ever had, and I'm not alone in thinking it a disgrace that it wasn't held this year! Oh well - on to other things.

Recommended Ride: I call this the Circle the City ride, because it`s just one big loop that skirts our fair metropolis. Tuesday evening conditions were beautiful for this. Wind was practically zero and it was warm even by the water. I managed 51 kilometres at an average speed of 25.3 kmh which for me is fast, especially when travelling alone. It`s best to leave this one till later in the evening, because it involves negotiating one of the off-ramps at the old overpass, and you don`t want to deal with it when traffic is at peak. Click here for the map. If you do it without taking a break I give you permission to finish up with a piece of fresh cake and a coffee at Gracie Joe's. Clomp your pedal cleats and keep your helmet on till the server clues in that you rode up on your bike - sometimes they give you a 10 % discount - imagine!!

Marine Drive Hills

Recommended ride: Finally - a ride that didn't require extra clothes! I even got a bit of a sunburn on my upper arms. I went out to Fort Amherst then back along Harbour Drive to warm up. I got delayed a bit by the Canada Day parade, but soon got up to speed and headed out to Middle Cove via The Gut and White Hills Road. Several small groups in full kit passed me going the other way. The climb out of Outer Cove was hot, but it went well. I crawled up Signal Hill in my granny gear at the end. There was a small pod of five humpbacks cavorting off Cuckold's Cove Head and tons of people up on the Hill watching them. Click here for the map.

Trinity Bight

I spent the long weekend in Trinity East on the Bonavista Peninsula, but  didn't take my bike along this time around. 

  

I've been having trouble cinching down the strap-on rack I bought. No matter how hard I try, one of the two lower clips continues to pop out of place and threatens to send the entire mechanism flying off onto the pavement!  If anyone out there can think of a better solution, I'd love to hear it!

Looking out from Trinity East towards Trinity.

Recommendation: If you're heading off the Avalon towards Trinity area, and have a trail bike,  I highly recommend taking it with you and giving the old rail bed a try.  A few years ago you could ride from Trinity all the way to Port Rexton without ever having to get off your bike. Today however, damage from Hurricane Igor has rendered the route from Trinity to Trinity East impassable by bicycle alone.  You can still ride the trail from the Trinity East waterfall to Port Rexton though, and once you get there - it's an easy transfer to pavement for a short run to Fox Island Head, Champneys or even English Harbour.  If you're at all moved by deep blue seascapes framed in gorgeous wildflowers, I'm sure you'll find this run just as enjoyable as I do.  

Why not finish your day with a late lunch at the  Two Whales Coffee Shop in Port Rexton.  

Petty Harbour Loop

Today's recommendation: it's the famous Petty Harbour Loop. Most cyclists in the St. John's area cut their teeth on this one, or a variation of it. The version I rode last Tuesday evening goes out the Waterford Valley to Heavy Tree Road, then takes the Robert E. Howlett to Bay Bulls Big Pond. From there its back in through Goulds, a right turn onto Petty Harbour Road, and over "The Brow" via Petty Harbour and Maddox Cove. I tacked on Fort Amherst as a bit of a cool down after the climb; a good decision because the humpbacks were breaching just off Freshwater Bay and I caught two or three spectacular leaps! For some extra climbing (and some lovely views) this is sometimes extended to include Cape Spear.

St. John's - Recovery Ride

Yesterday was another recovery day so I chose an easy route here in St. John's that totalled 40 kilometres.  I began on the South Side road and followed the relatively flat terrain past the Waterford Valley  and on to Commonwealth Avenue. It was a good way to loosen up the tight muscles in my legs.

Recommendation:  Most of my rides have been confined to the St. John's area lately. Today's recommendation gets you out of town for awhile.  It's a ride I did earlier this spring that took me from  St.  John's to Harbour Grace.  It follows the old Conception Bay Highway all the way out, and contains a few steep hills (but nothing too long). The views along the way are excellent, especially this time of the year!

St. John's - Torbay - Portugal Cove - St. John's

Winds were light easterlies this morning.  It was a bit cool by the water but sunny and very pleasant going.

I rode up Signal Hill, then to The Gut, Logy Bay, Middle and Outer Coves, and Torbay. Followed Bauline Line to the extension, then across to Portugal Cove Road, Old Broad Cove and Bennet Roads, then home via Thorbourne, Larkhall, etcetera.

Met John Outerbridge and another guy on Old Broad Cove, and rode back home with John.

Here's the map of today's route. I highly recommend it! It's scenic with very low traffic mostly. The terrain is rolling so it can be a challenge if you want to push.

About 65 kilometres total, with a couple of side trips.

I love riding in Nova Scotia!

The following is an excerpt from an email I received from my sister, who lives in Halifax.  It describes a recent bike ride she took along the Chain of Lakes  and Beechville Lakeside Timberlea  trails:

... It was another perfect day on the trail. Had my usual lunch at the incomparable Bike and Bean Café.  Winds were light at 20k/hr, sunny skies. The big black and yellow butterflies are still around in full force, and one actully flew right into my face and brushed my cheek. Saw a beautiful, graceful doe right in the middle of the trail. It stood for several seconds and looked at me before dashing into the woods. Wild roses are in bloom and I could smell them on the wind every now and then ... .

It isn't the Avalon, but it sure sounds like fun, eh? 

St. John's - Middle Cove - Outer Cove - Logy Bay - St. John's

I did a 57 kilometre ride yesterday afternoon under ideal conditions! A loop of Middle Cove, Outer Cove and Logy Bay on my own, and another with Shirley, Lloyd and Aiden, who I met on the way home.

Due to the rather hilly course, my speed was not very high. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable ride.  There were lots of other bikers on the route.

All in all, it was a great evening!!   My legs are pretty gone this morning though.

Monday Night Ride

I'm heading up to the Sunshine Camp in an hour or so to join the TriNL (Triathlon Newfoundland & Labrador)  monday evening beginners' road ride. It used to be sponsored by Bicycle Newfoundland and Labrador , but this year TriNL took over for some reason. So far, it's been a good turnout - the three rides I've attended have averaged around 30 riders.  I expect tonight's return trip is going to be cold since we're getting an easterly wind at the moment.

Update: Just got back. At least 30 people showed up, and we all rode the St. John's Triathlon route. It was chilly going east on Portugal Cove Road, but warm otherwise. The shoulders of the Outer Ring road are absolutely littered with debris right now - pay close attention when you're riding it. Including the ride to and from the event, I covered just about 50 km in 2 hours.

St. John's - riding in the fog!

Went for a short jaunt in the fog this afternoon. Once around Quidi Vidi Lake, then to Fort Amherst and up the Waterford Valley to Bowring Park. This amounted to 36.6 kilometers at an average speed of 21.4 kmh. When I got back to the Harbour I couldn't see the Hill or the South Side at all for the fog! That's just the way it is in St. John's in the summer.

Still a pleasant ride though. Oh! Except for nearly getting clipped by the proverbial White Van! I was passing by Corpus Christi on my way back, where the damn thing just waited till I was on top of it, and then decided to pull out onto Waterford Bridge road! I yelled and the driver braked and grumbled something as I went past.

Be careful out there!

Dartmouth - Pictou - Upper Stewiack - Sheet Harbour - Dartmouth

Last Saturday was the 400 kilometer brevet of the Randonneurs Nova Scotia long distance club in Halifax. I've been riding with them on their brevets for three years now, and last year, for the first time, I completed the Super Randonneur series of 200, 300, 400 and 600 kilometer rides. I rode the 200 and 300 alone here on the avalon that year. But I failed to complete the 400 this year, despite better weather and an easier route, dropping out at Sheet Harbour with 288 kilometers under my belt.

From Dartmouth we went north along Route 2 to Truro, then Route 4 to Pictou. After this it was south through Upper Stewiacke and Upper Musquodoboit to Sheet Harbour, then Route 7 west along the coast back to Dartmouth.

Here's a good map of the circuit.

St. John's - Pouch Cove - St. John's

Great ride to Pouch Cove with Lew today. I covered 75 km at an average speed of 25 kmh. Winds were generally light, 15-22 kmh from the Northeast. Temperature 9 C, and cloudy. Saw several other bikers on the roads. First time riding the new Torbay bypass. Click here to see the route.