~Get on, start, stop and get off properly. Starting with your body in front of the seat, lift one of the pedals about 2/3 of the way up (around 10 o'clock). Push on that pedal when you start up, and you will raise your body onto the seat while your bike starts moving. Mighk Wilson has an excellent video clip.~Ride in a straight line. Find a quiet street with a white edge line 2-3 feet from the edge of pavement and practice riding on that line. Keep the bike on the line while using hand signals.
~Turn your head without swerving. Scanning for overtaking traffic is critical. A cyclist must be able to look over her shoulder, see and communicate with motorists in order to merge. A common mistake is to turn at the shoulder, pulling the handlebar along with your head. Practice by riding along a line on a quiet street and turning to look behind you, then back. See if you can stay on that line.
~Balance and control the bike at slow speeds. Learning to balance and turn at slow speeds will give you control of your vehicle in a congested environment. This is especially useful when you are in a bike lane and encounter a stopped vehicle (which happens to me all the time on the Chestnut St. Bridge). Being able to slow down and look behind you will make it easier to merge, or at least get around obstacles, safely.
If you're already an expert on this stuff, check out our article on Using Lane Positioning to Stay Safe; or, Be Assertive, Not Aggressive.
If you're working on learning to ride, here's some great instructions for how to ride a bicycle from wikiHow.
Most of this post comes directly from the very informative Commute Orlando Blog.
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