How To Skitch on a Bicycle (Grab onto a moving Car)

Step 4 Step 4: Catching your Skitch

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Step 4: Catching your Skitch
Ingesting your poison.....

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Skitching from a complete stop:

So you got your road, your car, your grab point and your game face. Your holding on tight and watching the pedestrian ticker like its stop watch. 5...4...3...2...1 AND HE RIPS AWAY FROM THE STOP LIGHT!!!!! Unfortunately so does your arm from its socket. Your front wheel jack knives and your laying flat on your back facing an onslaught of oncoming angry motorists. You thought you had it but ya didn't.

You were not fully prepared for the sudden acceleration of your host. You didn't brace your shoulders, your midsection was as limp as a overcooked spaghetti noodle, your feet were precariously perched on your pedals and your attention was directed towards that hot chick scurrying through the cross walk, not the GIANT POTHOLE that was 4 feet from your front wheel.

Worry not my pre-pubescent pedi-parasite. Soon you will become a full fledged Skitch-ianado. All thats needed is your memorization of a Nursery rhyme-like final check list :

Head:
Keep an eye on the road ahead of you and adjust how far forward your looking to the speed your traveling. If you spot a bump or a pothole than see if you can steer to avoid it while maintaining your grip. If your unable to than dismount, steer away, steer back and attempt to remount. If your unable to do that, than just continue on your manual marry way.

Shoulders:
Tighten up those shoulders, but place more emphasis on your drive side (the arm thats on your handlebars) than your skitch side (your skitching arm). Control over your bike is far more important than control over your skitch grip.

Knees:
Try to keep your knees tight and your midsection solid. The point of this is to transfer as much of your hosts pulling force to your bike as possible. If the force hits your midsection and your midsection is limp it causes you to contort and loose balance. Find your center of balance and Lock it in place by tightening up all the relevant muscle groups.

Toes:
If your feet are placed on your pedals unevenly, the force of your hosts pull can cause them to slip off. If you have been riding a bike for a while (if you havnt than stop reading this instructable NOW!) than surly you understand the chaos that ensues when you slip a pedal.

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Skitching from a roll (Both you and your host are already in motion):

The same check list pretty much applies for when your skitching from a roll. You might have to adjust a few things like locking your knees (you may have to accelerate/decelerate to get a good grip position) but everything else is still necessary for a good clean safe skitch.

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Adjust Your speed to a decelerating host:
Just because a car is slowing down a little bit, doesn't mean the skitch needs to be aborted. Use your judgment to figure out why your host has slowed its pace. Did he spot you or change his mind about wanting this liability? Is it because he's turning? Is he about to pull over? Is he just fiddling with something and there has been a brief lapse of attention? If it looks as though your host is going to continue on than don't be afraid to slow your speed along with him to keep a good grip position. If he is unreadable or it looks as though he is about to change coarse, than its time blow this amusement park ride.