Look Where You Want To Go

By Matt Rinella; Owner, Ride On Bicycles

After 10 years of selling bikes and helping lead group rides, I get a commonly recurring question, "What’s the best advice for me starting out?” This question is right up there with, “What’s the best bike or energy drink?” There are enough answers to each of those questions to write a book.

That said, there is a favorite tip I like to give. I usually discuss it more often with mountain bikers, but it applies to road riding just as much. The concept is very simple: Look where you want to go.
When riding down a trail, look at the portions of the trail you want to ride. If you stare at a tree or a rock, you are likely to hit them. At the very least, you will find yourself in a worse position from over-correcting to avoid hitting what you focused on.

Your brain is an incredible thing. If you look exactly where you want to end up on the trail, amazingly you will find yourself there. One important note – the faster you are going, the further ahead you need to focus. Try to keep the obstacles in your peripheral vision.

On a road ride, you generally aren’t dealing with roots or tight corners around a tree, but  that doesn’t mean you can’t use this tip. The most common areas are drafting and cornering.
When in a group and drafting, cyclists commonly focus on the rider in front of them – especially their rear wheel. This can have very negative consequences. First, you can simply ride right into their wheel. Worse, you will often over-react to any change in line or pace of the rider which will send a ripple effect off behind you. Try to keep the ride in front in your peripheral vision and look thru the rider to see what is happening ahead. You will be much better prepared for an obstacle or better yet, a sudden surge in pace.

When cornering on the road, look all the way through the turn. If you focus on the apex – the tightest point in the turn, usually midway – that’s where you will end up, looking for an exit strategy and braking too hard. If you had looked out of the turn all along, it would’ve been easier to ride through it.

It’s that simple. Remember to let go and let your brain do its job. You’ll end up riding where you want to ride, not hitting what you hope to miss!