Here’s a situation any beginner rider could bump into some day. You ride along the highway or some country roads when you discover yourself you have to merge from a lane to another that has been recently paved and sits about 2-inches higher. What would you do?
The rider in this video went through this for the first time and had no idea how to deal with the situation. Instead of cutting right through and merge into the lane, he preferred to continue riding on a divider until an area where the new asphalt was leveled with the old layer.
This is not a big deal for a seasoned rider, but, as a new one, you might find it’s quite a challenge. I remember when I first encountered such a scenario, and it was pretty scary. I was riding last in a group, and we all had to overtake a slow car on a two-lane backroad.
As I was parallel with the car, I saw all riders steer right quickly as the asphalt on the oncoming lane was scrapped up, following to be re-layered. Instinctively I got up to absorb the initial bump and then realized I’ll have to go over a 3-inch lip to get back into my lane.
I couldn’t just ride on the opposite lane up to a point where they leveled out because some cars were approaching quite fast. So all I had left was to climb the lip. Which I totally did by sitting up a bit and steer as hard as I could into the lip. It was easier than I thought.
For such cases, here’s a short but useful guide on how to do it:
Don’t panic! It will get you tense and you’ll not only make bad decisions, but your riding abilities will also diminish and you could spill when making the pass
Put your signal and check your mirrors/shoulders and see if you can pass into the lane
Move as much as you can to the opposite way of the lane you will merge into
Maintain a steady speed, countersteer and try to turn as sharp as you can over the lip. Don’t try to ride the lip to ease in the process because that will send you down
If your bike allows, raise your butt off the saddle about two inches to absorb the bump and also relax your arms for the same purpose
Try to straighten up before hitting the lip
As soon as both of your wheels are at the same level, start countersteering in the opposite direction to stay in the lane
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