Developing Basic Cycling Skills: Parking Lot Drills

It is necessary to develop a basic set of cycling skills before you head out on the road. Quiet parking lots and running tracks are good places to get started with learning how to drink and signal while moving on your bicycle. Skill wise, cycling slow is harder than cycling fast so it is important to get off your trainer and slow down and practice slow speed cycling drills so you develop balance and coordination and your bike feels like an extension of you vs a hunk of metal beneath you. If you are new to cycling do each drill faster (7-10 mph) and as you get better do each drill more and more slowly.
Start out by doing laps in each direction. Practice turning (outside pedal down/inside pedal up)
Straight line drill: eyes looks 200+m ahead (by raising pupils vs lifting chin). Change hand positions- hoods, drops and tops
Drink: if you've been riding the trainer you'll have a good idea where the water bottle is so you shouldn't have to look at it in order to grab it (however a quick glance is okay). Before taking a drink do these 2 things: 1. the hand that is not grabbing the water bottle needs to be on the hoods so you can use the brakes if needed. 2. engage your core so you don't put pressure on one side of the handlebar when you release your hand
Signaling: just like when taking a drink, engage your core before taking a hand off the handlebar to signal
Slalom/weaving: start with "poles" "cones" farther apart then, as you get better, move them closer together. Skiers steer with pressure, not by turning the skis. Likewise, when you have enough speed you can steer using pressure. By pressing down hard on the outside pedal just like a skier does to carve a turn, you can do that on a bicycle.
Box drill: Bikes can also be steered with hand pressure. With enough speed putting pressure on the left handlebar will move the bike left, and pressure on the right will move the bike left. The box drill uses you to use a combination of steering by turning the handlebars & steering using hand & pedal pressure.