Descending and cornering technique

[ChrisEyles]

I tend to avoid apex-ing much, since most of the troublesome corners are by their nature pretty blind. Devon also has a lot of high thick hedges which obscure the view of oncoming traffic pretty effectively, which doesn't help. Of course when there's a clear line of sight, and the opportunity to apex presents itself, it does help enormously, so I probably do need to get better at judging this. I'm definitely going to be spending a lot of time thinking about lines through corners and braking/turning/apex/exit points after the advice people have given here.

 

[marzjennings]

- Keep weight on the outside pedal, and lean the inside knee a little into the turn

- Lean the inside shoulder a little forwards and into the turn, keeping the tilt of the body equal to the tilt of the bike

!

Or not, I find it better to push the top tube against the inside thigh, lean the bike more than the body and not stick my knee out.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

My problem with descents is this - they aren't (in the main) glorious swooping bendy things with heaps of width, amazing visibility and the sure knowledge that bugger all is coming in the opposite direction thus enabling man (me) and machine to gaily lean over at mega-degree angles whilst pondering what I am going to have for tea.

Quite a few of mine tend to be steep, twisty, gritty and often with running water cascading down them (thus liquifying the cow crap quite nicely) and a tractor been driven by a spotty 16 year old (legal apparently) coming in the other direction.

However, on the odd occasion when terrain, man and machine sync' up I find that a positive mental attitude (to whit: dose of reckless stupidity), getting down in the drops and looking as far down the road as you can seems to do the trick.

 

[ChrisEyles]

@marzjennings - if anything, I tend to do the opposite of this (i.e. keep the bike slightly more upright and lean my body a little more), especially if the road is gravelly/slippy. The more the bike leans, the less confident I feel about the rear wheel slipping away, after which I yank it upright, making it even harder to get around the bend.

@SpokeyDokey - yep, when everything "clicks" on a descent it is a pretty good feeling The really bad gritty steep blind narrow ones around me I mostly know and avoid, but that still leaves me with quite a few descents that are *almost* but not quite within my comfort zone.

 

[cyberknight]

Cornering at "high " speed is one of my weaknesses, im ok on my own but in a group i wimp out a bit early.It could be i dont group ride very often these days .

 

[raleighnut]

+1 for looking 'through' the bend/corner, mind you cornering on an upright trike is 'fun' to say the least.

 

[TheJDog]

In the Chilterns a few weeks ago I was doing some very hairy bumpy descending on very gravel strewn single lane roads. I was bleedin' petrified. I don't know how it happened, but on one bump my left hand came clean off the handlebar. I took it very easy from then on. I'm usually a pretty fast descender, but this was horrible.

I'll echo what other people have said - look where you want to be going, not in terror at where you might go! Your bike will almost certainly hang on unless you hit the brakes or do something daft.

 

[50000tears]

+1 for looking 'through' the bend/corner, mind you cornering on an upright trike is 'fun' to say the least.

This is actually very effective. Generally speaking you look where you want to go and as long as the rest of your technique is sound your bike will follow. Conversely if you look at the the thing you are trying to avoid (wall, hedge, curb etc) your bike will aim for the very thing you want to miss.

 

[Cuchilo]

If you take a look at other people cornering youll realise that youre not as far down as you think . In fact most people are quite upright but it does feel like you are flying round a corner with your knee almost touching the ground .
I watched this with a far more experianced rider at Hillingdon race track on a TT day . He was losing 2seconds per lap on the corner compared to his mate and over 11 laps it adds up .
Taking that into account and seeing that although its quite a tight bend no one seemed that far over i now push it on the downhill and throw the bike into the bend while pedaling all the way round it .
I have 165 cranks on the TT bike so can get away with it .

 

[palinurus]

One good thing I learned for twisty descents- although it works for cornering in general- is to not think about pointing the wheel where you want to go so much as to push the handlebar in the direction you want to turn. Push forward with your right hand and the bike will start to turn right. Try it on a gentle hill on a quiet bit of road to get the feel of it, it's counter-intuitive but I find it gives me more control and confidence. Once you get a feel for it try it out a bit faster. It works for any hand position on the bar but to start with try holding the bars behind the brake levers.

 

[DRM]

I'm not sure how to post a link, but go on you tube & do a search for GCN (Global Cycling Network) they have some excellent videos about cycling, one of which was recently about descending techniques.

 

[zizou]

I agree that getting into the drops should give more stability and control, I just don't have the nerve to do it at speed (ditto leaning further into the turn). I'll start trying to do this at lower speed and see how I get on, sounds like a good way to make progress.

It's definitely worth putting the practice in riding on the drops for descending - more weight over the front wheel, lower centre of gravity, also safer too in terms of grip on the bars and braking leverage. If you dont feel comfortable on them then it might be a bike setup issue, perhaps you need to rotate them slightly or something else, because it should feel easier not harder to descend on the drops.

You could practice cornering and leaning your bike over in an empty cark park, get to know how much grip you have. Also different tyre compounds can make a difference in confidence levels - some tyres just feel better and more planted. The downside of the softer, grippier compounds is that you will likely sacrifice a bit of puncture protection for this, plus they cost a bit more too.

 

[Piemaster]

When I started working in Aberdeen the ride home started with a fairly steep descent down a narrow road, just enough for 2 cars to pass cautiously while scratching paint in the high hedgerows. First week brakes constantly being feathered to control speed, second week no braking until getting close to the T junction at the bottom, 3rd week - 'what speed can I hit down here' and pedalling hard at the top. That curtailed a lot after the I remembered at the bottom T-junction that canti brakes are crap and shouting doesn't make it stop any better - the bike got a new fork with a disc brake shortly afterwards.
Lesson being 'risk compensation' the more often you do something the less risky you will feel it is. So keep practising.

I was doing a H&S job at the time as well. The only bit of the job I ever enjoyed was the cycle commute.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Thanks for all the feedback, all!

I went out at the weekend with a friend into the Cotswalds from Bristol - he is not a fan of the main roads so we were on proper twisty, gravelly, steep lanes for most of the ride. I was consciously trying to look ahead and break the corners down, and also to "guide" the bike with my line of sight, which I think helped a little. I didn't experience any scary moments, and the corners felt more controlled - probably because I was cutting back on the speed a little earlier and a little more than usual.

Getting into the drops is something I'm going to save for the descents I know well (I've got a couple in mind to try out next weekend). @zizou I am generally very comfy indeed in the drops on the flats and on open descents - the issue only comes on the sharp bends and a lack of confidence rather than comfort. I will have a look and see if I feel happier by shifting the hoods and brake levers a little so they are easier to grasp from the drops... At the moment the hoods are set perfectly for riding comfort, but reaching the brake levers from the drops requires a slight stretch at first, so I might have to compromise between the two here.

@palinurus - I must say I can't work out in my head quite how to make a right hand turn by pushing forward with the right hand, but I am intrigued and will have a play with this, thanks for the tip.

@Piemaster - yep, repetition is definitely the best way to get comfortable with any descent - and upgrading to disk brakes probably the next best way!

 

[palinurus]

@palinurus - I must say I can't work out in my head quite how to make a right hand turn by pushing forward with the right hand, but I am intrigued and will have a play with this, thanks for the tip.

You have to try it, really. Your head will get used to it!