Watch: This vintage learn-to-race instructional video is still relevant for cyclists today

In 1988 Cycling Canada, know at the time as the Canadian Cycling Association, put out an instructional video titled ‘Lean to Race’. The film, published on Youtube by the Ontario Cycling Association, goes over the basics of racing.

Following a snazzy cycling montage, soundtracked by wonderfully 80s music, the video introduces Amy Copeland a ‘club coach at the local level’.  Copeland goes over skills and techniques such as drafting, single echelon, double echelon, cornering, sprinting and hill climbing. “These are skills essential to your success and safety in a bike race,” she says.

The instructions, introduced with what can only be described as a radical font, are almost all still relevant to this day. It’s nice to know that, while cycling technology is continuously evolving, the basics of bike racing are still pretty much the same as they were 32 years ago (yes, 1988 was 32 years ago).

There are a few exceptions to the video’s current-day applicability. When sprinting, Copeland recommends making sure toe straps are secure and the gear you have selected is in the proper place. She also suggests not shifting while climbing, although she says that, “new technology such as indexed shifting makes gear changing more simple and climbing easier.”

The film concludes with instructions on jumping your bike, a skill that many road cyclists still lack in 2020.

The camera work is fun and surprisingly good. There are a number of shots from the handle bar point of view—it must have taken some creative strapping techniques to get a camera of that era onto the bars.

One of the best aspects of the ‘learn to race’ film is the fashion and bikes. Look sponsored the products, and the fashion is a true time capsule of the era. Try and spot the frame pumps and uncomfortable looking handlebars.