Gravel skills development
Bright sunshine made for perfect conditions for the 4F Gravel Skills Development session on 16 July.
AusCycling Development Instructor Tracey Chapman led a group of 6 riders through a series of skills sessions over 3 hours.
Before starting out, Tracey ran through a checklist to make sure bikes & riders were gravel ready:
Air - check your tyre pressure - this will vary according to the tyre, road conditions and rider weight
Brakes - check they are working correctly
Chain - should be clean & lubed
Drop - pick your bike up about 10cm and drop it (on its tyres!) - nothing should sound loose.
Extras - how was everyone feeling? Any other issues to be aware of?
E could also be Extras for spares (check out the 4F Gravel Guide for more on those). One rider was very pleased that the group collective was able to provide pliers and a spare bolt to retrieve and reattach a cleat stuck in a pedal!
We set off from Darlington up the Heritage trail to warm-up, and then detoured to a less-travelled road to start the skills sessions.
On a flat stretch of gravel we worked on body position and basic braking skills.
BODY POSITION
Let your joints be your suspension. Let your knees bend and your hips hinge like a dead lift, keep your elbows soft.
Centre your weight over the bottom bracket - move up and down like a "scissor lift", not a squat
Grip - index finger on the brakes, & three fingers on the handlebars, feather don't grab
Look ahead to where you are going - the faster you go, the further ahead you need to look
BRAKING
A line was drawn in the gravel, and riders worked on their braking technique to shorten the distance needed for braking.
Riders experimented with different amounts of front & back brake, shifting body position to press weight down into the pedals as we braked to increase traction.
“I have always used the rear brake more heavily and often slide… Now, I am correctly applying the front brake properly (more) - huge difference on the gravel”
Next stop was O'Connor Road (everyone's favourite - eek) for some up and down skills.
DESCENDING
Choosing a line - look ahead, try & pick a smooth line that avoids uneven road surfaces; watch out for piles of fresh leaves as they often hide honky nuts;
Body position - the faster you go, the lower you go - use the dropper post if you have one, hands in the drops, level pedals & drop your heels
If things start getting sketchy, there are a few options to get things under control, depending on the gradient and road conditions
feather the brakes to shed speed
look ahead for braking opportunities where the surface will give more traction
relax your death grip and let the bike roll, the bike will be less twitchy
pedal out of trouble (lose the fishtailing)
look for bailout options.
CLIMBING
- Body position - sitting more upright to open the lungs & the hip angle, hands on the tops or the hoods, weight on the saddle to keep the weight on the back wheel for traction.
However, if you find your front wheel coming up, you may need to shift your weight forward on the saddle.
Safe to say we probably enjoyed the downs more than the ups :-)
Once we were done with O'Connor Road, it was time to work on our cornering skills.
This in itself could be a 3 hour session, but we had time to cover the basics, with homework to practice.
FLAT CORNERING
Finish braking before the corner, only use the back brake if you still need to shed speed
Enter wide (stay away from piles of loose dirt) and exit narrow. Turn your eyes to sight the exit and accelerate out of the corner
Heavy foot on outside pedal at 6 o'clock position, outside elbow bent, lean the bike in
And just like that, it was time to head for lunch at The Hive! We all came away with improvements, and eager to get back out on the gravel to practice new skills.
Thanks again to Tracey for an excellent session. The small group worked really well with plenty of opportunities for discussion and Q&A and one-to-one feedback. 4F Members can find photos and video instruction from the session on the 4F Members Only area on the website.
Keep an eye on the 4F socials for more gravel events!
