How to Throw Your Bike

Michael Frennet (lower rider) wins the 2016 Florida State Criterium Championships. Note the straight arms; extended, low shoulders; and butt behind the saddle.

How to Execute a Bike Throw:

• Let the final pedal stroke lift your butt barely off the saddle if you are not already standing
• Drop the shoulders
• Straighten the arms forcefully
• Push the butt off the back of the saddle and the bike forward as far as possible with the final kick of the pedals as you cross the line

Unless you know you are completely alone, always sprint all the way through the finish and throw your bike across the line. The picture above shows Wenzel Client Michael Frennet winning the gold at the 2016 Florida State Criterium Championships in his age group. If you examine the image carefully, remembering that the center of mass of a human is somewhere in the abdominal region, you’ll see that the second place rider is actually “ahead” of Michael, but because Michael has executed a textbook perfect bike throw, his bike is ahead of the other guy’s. The leading edge of the front wheel determines the finish order, so Michael is winning even though his body is a little more than a half-wheel diameter behind. That’s bike racing!