Coach's Corner — How to Take Wet Corners Safely
Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from longtime cycling coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist.
Shaken Cyclist:
Coach, when I was rounding a wet corner, my bike almost slid to the side. If it had, I would have hit the ground. How can I minimize the chances of this happening and avoid risking damage to myself and my bike in the future?
Coach Darryl:
When you’re pedaling in bad weather, it’s not the rain falling from above that’s worrisome; it’s the slippery roads underneath your wheels.
Wet pavement is especially problematic for bikes. Think about it. Cars have four wheels. That doesn’t make them impervious to slippery roads, but it sure helps. If any wheel slides on wet pavement, the other three can usually keep the vehicle stable. A bicycle has only two wheels. If one wheel slides on the wet pavement, the cyclist will most likely be deposited on the ground.
The point? Always handle wet roads with extra caution on the bike.
To minimize the probability of falling, first slow down. The faster you’re going on any wet road, the more likely you’ll lose control of the bike. Slow down even more on turns, where the wheels are more likely to lose traction and slide out from under you.
The next tip is less obvious to most riders: Never lean the bike into wet turns. Leaning takes your center of gravity to the side of the bike, increasing the likelihood of a fall. Instead, you want to keep your body weight over the tires. Take the turn slowly and stay as upright as possible.
Now, no matter how careful you are, you might still take a tumble on wet turns. That’s why it’s also important to plan how you’ll minimize the damage to your body. And here, you should think about three areas before you get on the bike: head, hands, and back.
Wearing a helmet to protect your head is always a must, of course. But you also need gloves for your hands. Why? When you fall, you’ll naturally use your hands to brace yourself, and that translates to a bad case of road rash on your palms if you don’t have gloves on.
Even more critical, you should never put hard items in your middle jersey pocket, right on top of your spine. That’s a major hazard if you land on your back. Only keep soft items in that center jersey pocket — things like your jacket, cycling wallet or energy bars. I always have two energy bars there, even if I won’t likely eat them on that particular ride. Hard items like your phone and keys should go in the side pockets, where they can do far less damage in the event of a fall.
The hardest and bulkiest objects? Keep them in your cycling bag or on your bike, never on your body. I cringe whenever I see someone with a bicycle tire pump in the middle pocket!
Ultimately, protecting yourself on wet roads is about riding safely and setting yourself up to avoid serious injury if you do fall. Be a thinking cyclist, not a regretful one.
