How to ride faster

Develop Bike Handling Skills

Speed is only fun if you’re in control. Riding fast requires precise maneuvers, handling, and bike control. To develop these skills, start slow and focus on technique, gradually increasing your speed as you progress. The fastest, most confident, and safest riders have honed their bike-handling skills over time. Here’s what you need to work on:

Riding in a Straight Line

We all know the fastest path is a straight line—point A to point B. However, riding in a straight line is about more than just speed. Weaving back and forth in the bike lane will not only slow you down but also increase the risk of collisions with passing vehicles. Imagine you and a friend are enjoying a casual weekend ride. Riding side-by-side is ideal for chatting, but only if you can ride in a straight line. Two riders riding tightly and straight can fit comfortably in a bike lane. If you keep bumping into each other, you’ll end up riding single-file and shouting over your shoulder, which could strain your friendship.

Riding in a straight line sounds simple, but it requires practice. Maintaining balance and forward momentum on a bike involves a complex interplay of forces that intensify the harder you pedal. To minimize these fluctuations, relax your upper body, shoulders, and arms, and focus on making smooth circular motions with your feet rather than stomping on the pedals. Being in the right gear is also key: if you’re bouncing on the saddle while trying to keep pace, you’re in too low of a gear and should upshift; conversely, if your upper body is moving around, you’re likely pushing too hard and should downshift. Finding the perfect gear that’s both sustainable and allows you to balance the bike while exerting power takes practice but eventually becomes second nature.

Focus on a distant point ahead and keep your gaze steady without wobbling. It’s tempting to stare at your front wheel or what’s directly in front of you, but doing so will disrupt your line. Over time, you’ll develop a kind of "split-vision," where your main focus is ahead, while your peripheral vision helps you avoid immediate obstacles like rocks, cracks, and potholes.

Start slow, keeping a steady rhythm, and gradually increase your speed as you practice looking ahead and building confidence. Maintain a firm yet relaxed grip on the handlebars, and be mindful of your arms, shoulders, upper body, and neck. Tension leads to jerky movements rather than smooth adjustments.

Riding in Tight Spaces

Navigating your bike confidently through tight spaces, whether on the road or trail, can be challenging. Doing it at high speeds is even scarier. Think about squeezing between two cars or threading your handlebars between two trees on a trail. Mastering these maneuvers will help you maintain speed and flow on the bike. Before heading out to tackle real-life scenarios, it’s wise to practice riding in tight spaces to build your confidence.

Using cones at home is a great way to simulate tight spaces, but they don’t provide much resistance when you hit them. Instead, try using your garbage and recycling bins—they’re often tall enough to require careful consideration of handlebar clearance. Start with the bins far enough apart that you can easily ride through at a relatively fast pace. Gradually move them closer together until you’re forced to slow down—this will be the distance you’ll work on. Choose a direct line through the middle and focus your gaze ahead. It’s tempting to focus on the bins, but that will likely cause you to crash into them. Build your speed as you confidently pass through each time. This exercise translates beautifully to the road or trail.

Braking

It may sound counterintuitive, but having a strong set of brakes and mastering braking technique will make you a faster rider. It’s hard to confidently ride fast if you can’t stop quickly and effectively. Knowing how to predict braking distances and execute the braking maneuver smoothly allows you to maintain high speeds for longer periods, boosting your average speed.

First, let go of the childhood fear of grabbing the front brake and flipping over the handlebars. With your body positioned properly over the bike’s center, using the front brake won’t send you flying. A proper braking technique lets you use both brakes effectively and in the way they were designed. The front brake primarily slows you down, while the rear brake helps you maintain control under braking forces. Balancing both brakes evenly will teach you to stop smoothly and quickly at higher speeds.

The fastest way to get comfortable with hard braking is to familiarize yourself with the biting point of your brakes—the amount of pressure needed to engage them. Understanding how long it takes to stop at different speeds builds confidence when riding on the road or in a group. Mastering emergency braking—bringing the bike to a full stop from high speeds without losing traction—is a life-saving skill that also boosts your confidence to go fast. The more you ride and practice braking, the easier it becomes to anticipate when to start braking and how much pressure to apply based on your speed. To practice, simply go on a quiet road ride. Start slowly and apply gentle brake pressure. Once you’re comfortable with the feel and response of your brakes, increase your speed and apply harder braking.

Cornering

Correct braking is crucial for efficient cornering. While you must slow down for almost every turn, a well-executed corner will help you maintain speed and set you up for gaining more speed upon exiting the corner.

Approach every corner with a plan—choose your line and stick to it. Every corner is unique, but the general rule is to enter and exit wide while keeping your line tight at the apex. Always watch out for obstacles—your line might pass through rocks, gravel, or potholes—so adjust accordingly.

Your body positioning and bike setup are also important. Keep your body centered over the bike, with a flat back and elbows bent on flat corners. Gripping the drops while cornering gives you more control and lowers your center of gravity, stabilizing the bike. Lean the bike into the corner while keeping your body balanced over it, with your outside leg straight and applying pressure on the outside foot. Focus your eyes on the exit of the corner, where you want to go.

These principles apply to gravel and mountain bikes on trails. For mountain biking, the "attack position" is highly recommended. This involves:

• Loose and relaxed—don’t grip too tightly; let the bike move beneath you
• Standing up—getting out of the saddle provides greater control
• Weight distribution—push your weight down through your legs, not onto the handlebars through your arms
• Heels down—pushing your heels down gives you more control and maneuverability
• Head up—focus down the trail
• Elbows up—bend and move your elbows away from your body to help lean and control the bike
• Engage your core—try to keep your back straight and use your core to help maneuver the bike
• Cover brakes—keep your index finger over each brake lever

The attack position is vital for descending and riding technical terrain, helping mountain bikers corner effectively. While the transition from road to trail differs, many road bike cornering fundamentals apply. You still need to lean the bike and balance your body over it, dropping weight onto the outside pedal. Line choice may vary, but you still need to select a line. It usually enters high and exits low to maximize speed through the corner.

Whether you’re on a road, gravel, or mountain bike, the best way to perfect cornering is to find a corner and practice. Start slowly, work on technique, and gradually increase your speed. Try riding the corner both ways—most people favor one side or the other, so practice leaning both directions.

Climbing

Climbs are notorious speed killers, but they don’t have to be. While every climb will slow you down, there are ways to tackle climbs efficiently and effectively, allowing you to ride faster overall.

Finding a solid pace and sticking to it is key. Settle into a cadence you can maintain throughout most of the climb. Keep a steady rhythm and push yourself without overexerting. A max-effort push to the top might make the climb shorter, but it will leave you struggling to recover for the following flat sections.

Smooth shifting is crucial—know when to shift based on your experience. Keep your butt in the saddle as much as possible to maintain traction over the rear wheel. Shifting your weight around on the saddle is fine and sometimes necessary for steeper sections. Don’t be afraid to practice shifting your weight and changing your body position while pedaling to get a feel for it. If needed, you can stand up to finish the climb when things get steep.

Descending

Going downhill is why many riders love the sport. The thrill of accelerating and conquering descents keeps cyclists coming back for more.

On fast descents, rough road surfaces, potholes, debris, roots, and obstacles may appear faster than you can react. Surprisingly, staying relaxed is the best way to handle these challenges. A relaxed body allows the bike to move and absorb vibrations more freely under you. With slightly bent knees and elbows, your body acts as a suspension system, dissipating impacts and vibrations effortlessly. On the other hand, a stiff body absorbs all the shocks through your muscles and skeleton, leading to a tiring descent.

Keep your eyes up, always looking ahead and anticipating obstacles. Apply gentle, even pressure to both brake levers to control your speed rather than abrupt, harsh braking. By shifting your body over the bike—left to right and fore to aft—you can prepare your bike and yourself for upcoming maneuvers, whether it’s a tight corner or a technical section of the trail.

Cornering while descending is its own skill, and mastering it will make you a faster rider on hilly or mountainous terrain. Novice riders often make the mistake of entering corners fast and braking mid-turn, which is the worst time to brake. Applying the brakes while cornering drastically reduces traction, causing the center of mass to shift forward and destabilizing the bike. To navigate corners smoothly, scrub your speed before initiating the turn while the bike is upright. Just before entering the turn, release the brakes and lean into the corner while applying pressure on the outside foot. This technique will allow you to "slingshot" around the corner and, when done correctly, will enable you to exit the corner faster than you entered.

Following an experienced rider is the best way to learn the nuances of descending. However, be mindful not to get caught up descending faster than your capabilities. When the rider ahead pulls away, acknowledge your limits and slow down. When following someone, maintain enough space to see their line and allow time for corrections or emergency maneuvers.

Track Stands

One of the biggest speed killers is constantly starting and stopping. This process usually involves slowing down, unclipping from your pedals if you’re clipped in, putting a foot down, and restarting the process when you move again. While this might only take a few seconds, the cumulative time adds up over long rides. Instead of repeating this cycle, learn the art of the track stand.

Track stands are perfect for traffic lights, crowded rides, rock gardens, or any situation requiring you to stop. A track stand lets you keep both feet on the pedals while balancing the bike, waiting for your moment to move. Although it may seem counterintuitive, track stands are surprisingly easy to learn.

To practice, start by replacing your clipless pedals with flat ones or wearing flat shoes. Find a slightly sloped surface—driveways often make excellent track stand training grounds. Slowly roll forward, keep your pedals level, and turn your bars to one side. The direction you turn your bars and which foot you place forward is up to you—whatever feels most comfortable. Balance by applying slight pressure back and forth to the pedals and bars. As you feel yourself falling in one direction, shift your weight to the other side by applying pressure, then switch back when you sense you’re tilting the other way. Initially, these movements may feel exaggerated, but they’ll become smoother and more intuitive over time. Eventually, you’ll be able to track stand for as long as your legs allow.

Pro-tip: Track stands are fun to practice in the garage on a rainy or cold day.

Bunny Hops

Most of the time, the fastest way over an obstacle is over, not around. Whether it’s a pothole, a rock, or a dropped water bottle on a trail ride, knowing how to bunny-hop over small obstacles is a valuable skill. When riding clipped-in, getting both wheels off the ground is straightforward—just pull on the bars and jump—but it often feels forced and poorly timed. Mastering the proper bunny-hop technique will make you a faster and safer rider.

Bunny hops are all about timing. To perform a proper bunny hop, pull the handlebars to your chest, followed by “scooping” your rear wheel into the air. This is achieved not by simply lifting your feet but by applying rearward pressure and pushing back as you lift, bringing the rear of the bike up. A well-executed bunny hop will have the rear tire follow the front tire to its apex.

This maneuver is best learned in a parking lot or driveway after watching a few instructional videos. It’s not easy to master, and for most people, it takes a solid week of practice—well worth the effort, as it’s one of the most effective “power moves” in your cycling repertoire.

Pro-tip: Start by bunny-hopping over something small like a rag that won’t cause you to crash! Record yourself with your phone to see if you’re clearing the obstacle. Once you’ve mastered smaller objects, work your way up to bigger jumps.

Riding in a Pack

All of these bike-handling skills will not only help you ride faster but also make you a more efficient and cohesive part of a group ride. However, mastering the dynamics of group riding is a separate challenge that will further refine your bike-handling skills and boost your speed.

Riding safely and smoothly in a group doesn’t mean just riding alongside others—it means working together to reach your destination efficiently. Expect to draft and communicate while on group rides—there’s a lot of communication involved. After several rides with the same group, you’ll learn the group’s dynamics, verbal and nonverbal communication, and proper etiquette.

Getting comfortable with the dynamics of riding closely with other cyclists can feel intimidating, but the only way to learn is by joining. Your first group ride doesn’t have to feel like the Tour de France. Ask your local bike shop or search online for the best group rides for you.

Look Over Your Shoulder

Being able to glance behind you while riding is essential for maintaining speed and staying aware of your surroundings. Whether you need to check traffic or communicate with a rider behind you, you’ll eventually need to look over your shoulder. The problem is that a quick peek can cause you to veer off in that direction.

Maintaining speed and direction while looking behind you is critical for all cyclists, especially those riding on public roads or shared trails. It significantly increases your safety and will be used multiple times on every ride.

You veer off in the direction you’re looking because your center of gravity shifts that way. A trick to counter this is to push—not turn—the handlebars slightly in the opposite direction you’re looking. If you look over your left shoulder, push the bars slightly to the right. Of course, this takes time and practice.

Relax

Riding at high speeds means road chatter, bumps, and obstacles will come at you faster than your body can react. If you’re tense, you’ll likely get bounced around and experience fatigue—or worse, your rigidity combined with a rough, high-speed section could lead to a crash.

Our natural instinct is to tense up—often indicated by a death grip on the handlebars. The intensity of high speed, especially downhill, causes riders to grip the handlebars too tightly, tightening their arms and shoulders and making precise corrections difficult. Practice keeping your grip and upper body relaxed with your index fingers on the brake levers and your body balanced over the bike. Remember that your knees and elbows bend, and using your body as a form of suspension will ensure you don’t get thrown off-balance or bucked from your bike. Let the bike “float” and move beneath you; you’ll notice that continuous adjustments to your position on the bike allow for minute corrections to steer the bike smoothly. Staying relaxed and properly positioned on the bike ensures that the bike does most of the work.

When going fast, safety is paramount. Keeping your fingers on the brakes instead of the handlebars or hoods will give you that fraction of a second that could make the difference between a non-event and a serious crash.

Body Position

“Relaxed” seems to be a recurring theme when discussing body position and riding fast. While your body should generally be centered over the bike, ensuring you’re relaxed allows it to move as needed. Smoothly shifting your body weight on the bike is key to a stable and fast ride. Cornering and descending are prime examples of when you’ll need to shift your body weight to different areas on or over the bike. Stay loose and relaxed, ready to shift and move as required.

Look Ahead

You’ve probably heard the saying: “Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” This holds true when cycling at high speeds, as they can make you focus on immediate obstacles (the trees) and overlook the bigger picture (the forest).

Focus your primary gaze down the road or trail, letting your peripheral vision handle immediate obstacles. Knowing what’s coming gives you enough time to adjust your body position or maneuver the bike accordingly. It also helps ensure you provide a fellow rider in front of you with plenty of space.

Manage Cadence

Massive improvements in power and speed can be made by refining your cadence. You need to produce power at both low and high cadences to maintain blistering speeds. The fastest way to master this skill is through cadence drills. These drills improve your pedal stroke and pedaling efficiency, increasing your maximum cadence and effectively upgrading your cardio engine.

Build Endurance

Along with bike-handling skills, riding fast requires power and endurance. While it was emphasized earlier that bike handling can’t be learned on an indoor trainer, power and endurance absolutely can.

A great way to intentionally build power and endurance is by focusing on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and Zone 2 training. HIIT involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief rest periods, significantly boosting your cardio and helping you gain strength quickly. HIIT workouts, performed at or above your threshold, are the fastest way to improve your Functional Threshold Power.

Zone 2 workouts focus on maintaining a moderate output level for an extended period, translating to improved endurance. Because they aim to sustain output for a long time, Zone 2 workouts are typically low-intensity, where you work at 60-70% of your max heart rate. Combining Zone 2 and HIIT will help you build the endurance needed to ride faster.

Join a Group Ride

Once you’ve dialed in all your bike-handling skills and built decent power, joining a local group ride is the next logical step. Simply put, the group will ride at a certain speed, and you’ll see if you can keep up comfortably. Group rides quickly highlight gaps in a rider’s skill or fitness levels.

If you don’t feel challenged by a particular group ride, it might be time to step up to a faster one. If you’re on a novice ride, consider checking out the intermediate ride, where you’ll be pushed to improve.

Get Bike Insurance

There’s no denying that riding a bike carries inherent risks. Being on two wheels is inherently unstable, so if you ride long enough, you’ll eventually crash. Adding speed to the mix increases the likelihood of something going wrong.

Specialized bike insurance is designed to address the risks cyclists take on with their hobby. Crashes can happen for many reasons—going too fast, misjudging a turn, or hitting an unexpected obstacle. While crashes can be frustrating, painful, and potentially costly, they also offer valuable lessons about a rider’s limits, technique, and equipment. Sometimes, you’re lucky and only deal with minor cosmetic damage or none at all. In worse cases, though, the entire bike could be ruined, and you may suffer injuries as well.

Crashes aren’t the only way to damage your bike. Accidents can happen even when you’re not riding it—like when the bike falls off your car rack or you accidentally drive into a garage with it still on the roof rack. One particularly unfortunate way to ruin a bike is by backing over it with your car.

Crash and accidental damage coverage is only available through a specialized bicycle insurance policy. Velosurance offers this type of coverage, including up to $500 for riding apparel like your kit, helmet, shoes, gloves, and sunglasses. Spare parts, such as a race wheelset, are covered up to $500 per loss and a $1,000 limit for the policy term.

A bike insurance quote can be obtained in as little as 5 minutes, and policies are issued within a business hour.

Overcome Fear

The truth is that riding fast can be scary. It’s okay to acknowledge the fear, but it’s equally important to overcome it.

How, you ask? Practice. Put everything discussed in this article into practice. Focus on bike handling but don’t neglect the fitness aspect needed to be a confident rider. Remember to relax your body while on your bike and keep your eyes up. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t start with the biggest hill in town. Start small and work your way up, progressively building speed as you gain confidence.

The biggest hill isn’t going anywhere.