What Cycling Taught Me About Driving

I must confess that I drive like a slowpoke.

I guess I’ve grown accustomed to watching the scenery creep by at a cycling speed (for example, it took me 175 hours to pedal 3,000 miles in Tucson). Or maybe it’s because I’ve lost enthusiasm for cars and now revel in frustrating motorists by obeying the speed limit and coming to complete stops. But the real cause of my leisurely pace is that bike racing habits have taken over whenever I use the road, on a bike or in a car.

RELATED: How to Break Into Your First Bike Race

“Hold on a second,” you might say. “Isn’t racing about pushing the pace?” Actually it’s not. A bike race is never a contest of who can pedal the hardest—that’s called a time trial. It is a competition of who can pedal the least, of who can capitalize on the ebb and flow of the peloton, then hit the throttle at the right moment.

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When I’m driving, I’m not in dubious battle against traffic, but involved in a patient give-and-take with other road users. My objectives on the highway and the race course are the same: efficiency, and as smooth and safe a ride as possible. Here are some principles of bike racing that influence my driving: