Been reading this as it's the "Bikeability" standard text. OK so I'm a grumpy old pedant but although there is an awful lot of good stuff in there, there are a few bits that make me want to shout at it as though I was watching a channel 5 "documentary"...
p47 "the rear brake should always be applied a fraction of a second before the front so that the rear wheel does not start to lift" erm, nope...disagree, squeeze that right hand lever hard enough and it wont matter what you're doing with the left, as it wont be affecting the c of g one little bit...
P51 (on braking) "reaction time varies between about a second and 2.5 seconds" two and a half seconds?? What? When you're asleep?!?
p53 (still on braking) "a rear wheel skid is easy to control; a skid at the front, almost impossible" rot! A front wheel skid can be harder to control, but it is perfectly possible, it's a skill most off road mc courses teach specifically (and I imagine MTB courses are the same). If it locks up, release brake and re-apply, I ended up having to do it myself on the bikeability course as most were on mtbs (and I was on skinny road tyres) and the braking lesson was done on wet grass, so I had some very large front wheel skids without having to worry about losing control!
p63 "The slowing down or stopping signal, in which the right arm moves between the body and a position 45deg to the horizontal" Hmmm, now I was always taught it's palm down from horizontal to 45deg down and back again...
Stuff it, I'm going to bed before I get grumpy(grumpier!)
S
;-)
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