I think I've got the basics down; how can I improve my bicycle skills?

Not to derail, but this is essential: If you will ride with any auto traffic you must http://bicyclesafe.com/ Ride assertively, but not aggressively. Meaning- be visible and predictable. Take your right of way when its your turn, but don't demand it. Signal your turns. Don't hug the curb or the white line on the edge of the road-- take the lane when you need it for your own safety and maneuverability. You are not obstructing traffic- you are traffic, along with the other vehicles.

One last thing - I appreciate you thinking about what the right thing to do is for other people (cyclists, peds, drivers) and you definitely should. But also remember that at the end of the day, a reasonable percentage of them are going to be annoyed with you if you're not doing Their Favorite Thing so don't get too worked up about it. Try to be a nice guy but you can't please everyone.

1) I've been riding, a lot, for years. I never do this, but that's maybe because I use clipless pedals and it's not really very practical. It probably looks cool but I wouldn't rate it highly as a skill. 2) This is mostly a matter of practice, unless you're using your gears horribly wrong. You should have your gearing set so that you can maintain at least 80 rpm if possible. The easiest way to get good at it is to do it a lot. Find a local hilll, go up it, ride a few min, turn around and do the loop again. i.e. "Hill repeats". There are also intervals that will improve your hill climbing ability. There are really 2 physical systems at play on a hill: your respiratory system, and your muscular system. If you can put more power into the bike, you don't quite have to breathe as hard. If you can handle the respiratory load, you don't have to push so hard (you can do high rpms at a low gearing). Improving either system or both helps. 3) I commute a lot but I do it in bike clothes. I live in TX, and unless it's freezy cold outside I arrive soaked in sweat. I got nothing for you there. 4) No, you do not need to stop and let people pass. They will pass you if they need to. If they're nice, they'll pass on the left and before they do it, they'll say "on your left" or "coming up behind you" or something like that. I understand how it feels to be a little unsure on the bike. The best thing is experience. And stay safe. I used to think that cyclists got way more conservative as they got older but now I realize that conservative cyclists are just way more likely to stick with the sport, because they don't crash and die/get injured/quit

I have biked all my life as my main means of transportation. Other people have commented on 1 and 4 with what I would have said, but I can add to 2 and 3. As well as just going up hills more often and making sure your gears are on the right setting, you might find that improving your cardio abilities in general translates to improved hill cycling. I found hills much easier after I started running regularly. And I think hills are the answer to your sweatiness issue too. I don't sweat when cycling on the flat unless I am overdressed (you need far fewer layers in cold weather than you think you do), or am really pushing myself speedwise. I don't cycle super slow - maybe 1 person in 10 passes me, and I pass two or three people in 10 myself. So I think I go an average speed. But I don't sweat and don't need to shower after my work commute (which admittedly is only 7km/4 miles each way). But riding up a hill always makes me sweat. Usually the sweating starts a few minutes after the hill. So if you have a lot of hills on your route, that is probably responsible. One thing that can help if you have the sort of bike that allows it, is to get a basket or carrier, or panniers, so that you don't have to have a bag on your back while riding. That sort of traps the sweat and makes things really nasty.

Yes, I have to agree with asperity that Sheldon Brown has the beginner articles dead right. I'd look at the http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html one, as well as the mounting. One thing that may help with ...... is being able to keep the bike going straight while riding as slowly as possible, because then it's second nature to ride up hills in bottom gear, pootling along at a little over walking pace and not getting especially out of breath. You http://sheldonbrown.com/standing.html.The main bike muscle, however, is the heart. Your legs are nearly always big enough to use as much energy as your heart and lungs can get to them, so feel free to do whatever you want for exercise.There are other muscles involved, though. Not so much for exercise, but you'll be a lot better in control of the bike if your upper body and hip strength is adequate to keep your torso still while you pedal, and keeping the weight off your hands. It is really useful for bike handling to be able to make sure your upper body doesn't move no matter how much power you're putting through your legs.I'm the world's sweatiest person, but generally sweat less when cycling than when walking. Make sure you are riding along in a low enough gear that you're pedaling freely (i.e. it feels like you're hardly putting any pressure on the pedals), and make sure you're not carrying anything on your back. I normally ride to work in shirt and trousers, putting gloves on if it's less than 10°C (50°F), but very rarely wearing a coat.If someone catches up to you on a bike path, carry on as you are, but following the edge of the path a little more closely. They can pass as they want. If you catch up with someone else and can't just go straight past, hold in behind until it's OK to overtake, and then accelerate hard as you start the pass.

Seconding the excellent http://bicyclesafe.com for everything to do with traffic. The design's awkward, and it's dense, but read it, learn it, live it. Sheldon Brown addresses http://sheldonbrown.com/starting.html, and there's a video. Have a look at his other http://sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html, too -- I found useful info there that I'd never learned after years of riding a bike.

I returned to biking just a few years ago, so I have some perspective on where you're at. 1. I cannot figure out how to do this. Seriously. I watch other people do it but if I try the bike falls over on top of me. The steps to learning are (apparently): first learn to coast while standing on the pedals, then develop the skill of coasting with your body on one side of the bike (the side that you would board from). I'm still working on the whole "standing" thing. 2. I lived in a very hilly area for several years, and the answer I found was: ride up hills as frequently as possible (daily, if possible). The more often I did it, the more I could do it. I found if I didn't bike up a hill for a week I would lose some conditioning and after a month off I'd lose all of it. There was one short but extremely steep hill that I managed to hurdle only once, and that was after trying every day for a week. (I did not bike every single day again while I lived there, and never managed to get all the way up the hill again.) So frequency and sticktoitiveness is clearly important. 3. If you figure out a way to sweat less, do share. I keep hearing all this, "Oh, if you just bike at a moderate pace you won't sweat!" But that "moderate pace" is awfully slow, for me at least. If I wanted to travel places at only four miles per hour, I'd walk. I do find that I don't start really sweating until about 5 minutes after my ride. I am lucky enough to have a shower at my office. At another job when I didn't, I had baby wipes in my office and used them to wipe down (after the 5-minute wait for the outpouring of sweat). I also carried my professional clothes in a messenger bag and changed at work. I now have panniers to carry my stuff in, which are an absolute joy. 4. On the bike lanes I ride here in LA, etiquette is for the slower cyclist to move to the right side of the lane and the faster cyclist to pass on the left. The bike path I frequent has a lot of people training on it, so I live in the right half of the lane. I keep going, I just leave enough room for them to get by. On the very rare occasions when I'm passing someone, I say "On your left" and sometimes honk my little handlebar horn if they don't seem to be paying attention. (Then I do a little bike-seat dance after I pass them, but that's purely optional.) Most of the racer cyclists that whip by me don't show that courtesy. Grr!

Oops - forgot to finish #3. Basically, I try to remind myself not to go too fast when I'm wearing work clothes. It doesn't always work. I keep a change of socks and underwear in the office. Also, I recommend a rear view mirror for anyone who cycles in traffic. You can get one that mounts on your glasses or your helmet, or one that attaches to the handlebars. I prefer the former. Just like a rear view mirror in a car, they don't eliminate the need to look over your shoulder before changing lanes, but they can tell you when it's definitely not safe to do so.

Congrats on getting into cycling! My favorite subject :) 1) The most efficient way to mount the bike varies per person. The way that I mount my bike is by having the right pedal up, so that the momentum of me pedaling down is enough to get me moving forward so I have time to position my left foot and get seated. Doing this gracefully comes over time. 2) You can improve your stamina by riding more and getting more in shape over time! Shift into a lower gear so it's easier to pedal, but not so low that your legs are spinning like crazy. You want it just easy enough that you can contribute energy, but not hard enough that it's killing you. If it's a really steep hill you may try standing up to pedal so the entire weight of your body is put into it, not just your legs. Also, use your arm muscles to pull upward on the handlebars - climbing uphill can be a full body exercise involving arms, abs, legs, etc. Your bike may be heavy or your chain may not be clean - both of which can slow you down. 3) Yes, sweating while cycling is normal :) It's exercise and it's awesome! Make sure you wear comfortable wicking clothes if it bothers you to show up somewhere sweaty. You could also just not ride as fast or go up hills really really slow but... who wants to do that? 4) Not only should you pass only left and call out "on your left", but LOOK to your left as well for cars and anyone else that may actually be there. The same thing applies whether you are in a car or on a bike - check your blind spots!!!