Skip to main content

Track stand tactics take top honours

Cyclists and vehicle drivers may have their differences on the road but they can, nonetheless, admire each other’s skills. The ability of an articulated truck driver to back up while threading his lengthy vehicle through a narrow passage is often admired by cyclists. Drivers, too, can admire the ability of a cyclist at a stop light to balance his bicycle while stationary, without taking his or her feet off the pedals, a feat called the track stand.
January 5, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Cyclists and vehicle drivers may have their differences on the road but they can, nonetheless, admire each other’s skills.

The ability of an articulated truck driver to back up while threading his lengthy vehicle through a narrow passage is often admired by cyclists.

Drivers, too, can admire the ability of a cyclist at a stop light to balance his bicycle while stationary, without taking his or her feet off the pedals, a feat called the track stand.

But one Brazilian rider has taken the track stand to a higher level, as the video link below shows. The middle-aged man is no athlete and the bike is not a racing machine. Far from it, as it appears to be an inexpensive commuter machine. And the gas canister on his head is not lightweight.

To perform a track stand, a cyclist holds the pedal cranks in a nearly horizontal position with the front wheel being steered to the left or right as balance dictates. There is, in fact, often a slight forward and rear rocking motion to maintain balance.

For anyone interested in learning how to perform a track stand, the video below, presented by a seemingly professional rider somewhere ‘down under’, is a quick lesson in the art.

However, viewers of the video will notice the demonstration is taking place on a public road and that the cyclist is taking up one entire lane. In a nod in the direction of safety, he first of all says you want to find a quiet road so you don’t get run over. But then a vehicle then whooshes by him in the opposite lane, narrowly missing him. He is not apparently bothered by the incident.

Please %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal click here Visit Youtube Video page false https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbeaB3G79vI false false%> to view a video

Related Content

  • Video: Chinese cars levitate at crossroads
    December 23, 2015
    Watch as the vehicles appear to be grabbed by some invisible power, tossed around and chucked backwards up in the air. Startled onlookers stare at the van drivers struggle to get out of their cabs.
  • VIDEO: Concrete paving - you’ve come a long way, baby!
    July 14, 2016
    It’s 1948. The grand scheme of creating an Interstate Highway system in the US is still barely a twinkle in President Dwight Eisenhower’s military eye. Highway construction improved greatly in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the American contractors became more mechanized and therefore efficient at laying roads faster and of better quality. But how did they build a road back then in 1948? Thanks to Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, we have a movie of just how a concrete highway was created. The constr
  • VIDEO: Cycle parking at the office is getting easier
    September 7, 2015
    Highway designers are increasingly asked to integrate cycle lanes and paths into their projects in major urban areas. And many commuting cyclists are grateful for it, too. But what happens when the cycle path ends, even if it is right outside the rider’s destination, such as his or her work place, be it an office building or factory? That last few metres are essential for completing the perfect commute. This means being able to park the bicycle in a secure environment.
  • VIDEO: Brazilian cyclists caught on camera drafting a truck
    January 18, 2016
    Just how dangerous is it for a cyclist to draft a fast moving vehicle? Probably very dangerous but that means only some cyclists will attempt it, as these videos shows. At the start of this video from Brazil, the cyclist on the right appears to attach his Go Pro camera to the rear of the truck that they are drafting. It is not until about 3:55 seconds into the video that the speed picks up and reaches reportedly 124kph. Near the end of the video, the one cyclist left appears to take back the camera off t