SAFETY & TRAINING

Always Start with Safety

• Make sure your bike is in good operating condition, including tires, brakes and gearing.
• Wear a helmet and carry a patch kit, tire levers, a spare tube and a pump at all times.
• Know and obey all traffic signals, signs, markings, laws and regulations.
• Always ride predictably and in control. Ride in a straight line and consciously try to avoid excessive weaving back and forth. In most vehicle-bicycle accidents, motorists say they never saw the bicyclists or didn’t see them in time to avoid the collision.
• Always use hand signals to indicate that you are going to make a right or left turn or are about to stop; motorists and cyclists need to know what you intend to do. If your hands aren’t free as you slow or stop, call out “SLOWING” or “STOPPING.”
• Move completely off the road to rest or make repairs.
• Cycle with traffic, never against it. When moving from one lane to another, always give way to traffic.
• Keep to the right of the road except to pass other cyclists. The exception to this rule occurs when preparing for a left turn or avoiding unsafe road conditions (potholes, construction, etc.).
• Always stop at stop signs and look both ways before entering the road.
• Always make left turns from the appropriate left turn lane.
• Always be on the lookout for a person in the driver’s seat of any parked car you may pass. Parked drivers are notorious for swinging their doors open suddenly or pulling out into traffic without checking for cyclists.
• Drafting behind other cyclists can be dangerous and leaves very little room for error. These techniques should never be used in high traffic areas or on roads with frequent intersections.

Training Plan

Prepare to tackle The Tour in August! We have crafted a sample training plan to help you get ready. Use it to guide gradual progression up to your big ride at the end of August.