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Wet and loose
Brake earlier and corner slower in the wet, and name the surfaces that behave like ice.
1Look
One corner, four surfaces
One corner, four surfaces
A wet street corner: a painted crossing line, a metal drain cover, a patch of wet leaves and a stretch of plain tarmac, all in the line a bike would take.
You have probably slipped on a wet painted line on foot. A tyre does the same thing, faster, and with you on top of it.
2The idea
Grip is a budget
Your tyre has a fixed amount of grip. Braking spends it. Turning spends it. Do both at once on a wet road and you run out, and running out means the tyre slides. Brake in a straight line before the corner, then turn with your hands off the brakes.
In the wet the budget is smaller to start with. So everything happens later and further, and the margin you had in the dry is the margin you no longer have.
3The steps
The wet rules
Brake earlier and gentler, both brakes together. With rim brakes the first squeeze wipes water off the rim before it slows you, so start earlier still.
Slow before the corner, in a straight line. No brakes in the bend.
Paint, metal, leaves: upright, straight, no brakes, no turning. Ride round them if you can.
Loose is the same as wet. Gravel, sand and dry leaves roll under a tyre like ball bearings. Same rules.
4Worked example
The downhill bend
Wet road, a bend at the bottom of a hill, a metal cover in the middle of it. Before the bend, while you are still straight, both brakes, gently, until you are going slower than feels necessary. Hands off the brakes. Lean a little, not a lot. Line the bike up to miss the cover.
If the cover cannot be missed, straighten up, cross it with no brakes and no lean, then finish the turn. Slow into it, roll through it. Two separate things, one after the other.
5Your turn
Rank the surfaces
Rank the surfaces
Four cards: wet tarmac, a painted line, a metal cover, wet leaves. Drag them into order from most grip to least. The right order lights up with a one-line reason on each.
The tarmac is the only one you want to brake on.
6Decide
Wet road, a downhill bend, a metal cover in the middle of it.
Pick one to carry on.
7Say it
Two things you never do together
Say it as you come up to a wet corner
“Slow first. Then turn.”
Braking and turning are the two things you never do at the same time on a wet road.
8The idea
What to look for on the road ahead
The slippery things are all the things that are not tarmac. Paint: crossings, arrows, lane lines, the edge line. Metal: drain covers, utility covers, tram tracks, the plates road crews leave over holes. Wood: bridge decks and boardwalks. Leaves, gravel, mud washed across a corner.
Look further ahead in the wet than you do in the dry. You need the time to change your line before you get to it, not when you are on it.
9Find them
Which of these behave like ice when they are wet?
Tap the ones that count.
Find all 5.
10Do it
Before you leave this page
With a parent, find a flat, empty, wet bit of car park or path. Ride at a jogging pace and brake to a stop with both brakes, gently. Feel how much further it takes. Do it three times. If it is dry tonight, do it the next time it rains.
Tick it when you have done it.
Lesson done.
Wet means brake earlier and corner slower. Painted lines, metal covers and wet leaves are ice. Do not brake or turn on them.
Next lesson: Traffic you can't see