Try & tri again
Bicycling can bring worries of its own

Editor's note: Writers Vicki Viotti, a novice runner, and Katherine Nichols, an experienced competitor, are training together for the Niketown Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon in September. In this weekly column, the two share insights from experts, other athletes and their own training regimen, aimed at helping readers push their own boundaries — physically and mentally.

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

My sister first taught me to ride a bike, at age 6, by introducing me as if I were some kind of Evel Knievel, about to perform before millions. "Here she is, the greatest bike rider in the world!" my sister shouted, and I finally took off, wobbly but upright.

Vicki Viotti finds biking the most worrisome part of her triathlon preparation, noting the added risks of cycling amid the automobile traffic on roads. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Of course, confidence without practice erodes like a sandcastle in the wind, and I haven't done much bike-riding at all since I was a kid. And in those intervening years I've read about innumerable cycling fatalities and even mourned the loss of a colleague, Advertiser photographer

Carl Viti, in a accident four years ago. Carl was an experienced cyclist, and if a hit-and-run driver can claim his life, I certainly don't feel safe astride the machine myself.

That's why, when I first contemplated entering a triathlon, the running didn't intimidate me and the swimming challenged but didn't scare me. The biking is the true source of fear. On one of my first attempts to navigate a street in traffic, the whoosh of a passing car was enough to double my heart rate.

Fear can be a healthy starting point, said Raul Boca, a triathlete and event organizer who also conducts cycling clinics at the start of each year.

"Some people, they have problems and they know they are beginners, and that's OK," Boca said. "But there are others who are not afraid, and they don't know what they're doing."

Boca guides people through their fear by teaching them about the handling of their bikes and about anticipating danger zones well enough to avoid injury. Give that driver a chance to pull ahead so that if he turns right at the corner, he won't cut you off, he added; those sudden turns comprise one of the leading causes of serious injury.

"From what I experience, most of the accidents could be avoided by the cyclist," Boca said. "Not that the cyclist is wrong, but they put themselves in situations where they are at high risk."

And so, I'll be looking for a bike class. And I won't be on those busy streets again for a while. The pace of the Lanikai neighborhood bike lane feels just about my speed for now.