Get a grip on it! Or a good handle, or something.

What I refer to here is bicycle handling skills. Mine, I admit, are very basic, although they seem to be adequate for the type and amount of riding I do.

Suppose, however, that I decide some day that I want to take up large-group riding? Or even take a crack at racing? I\’d have a tremendous amount of catching up to do!

When I started to think about bicycle racing, I soon sensed that speed isn\’t the most important aspect of racing. Skill is! Your casual cruising speed might put any Tour de France maillot vert winner\’s top sprint speed in the shade; but if you haven\’t got the bike-handling skills to use and control such velocity properly, you\’re a disaster waiting to happen.

So, what skills would I need? Yes, I would need to develop much greater speed; but I\’d also need to learn to make sudden, tight turns at high speed. And to ride almost shoulder-to-shoulder with other riders; and while inches away from the rear wheel of the rider in front of me. I\’d need to learn how to \”bump\” without losing control.

I never learned how to ride no-hands; much less how to maneuver the bike while doing so. I lack the confidence to ride — fast! — down mountainsides, and still remain in control. All that is probably just the beginning!

It\’s a tall order. I don\’t think I\’m up to it. Or am I? Truth to tell, I haven\’t tried it yet; so I haven\’t got a grip on it.