Hills and Corners

Peddle Up!

Returning to cycling after a long time away, I’m keen to get my techniques right and so I’d appreciate some advice on the following topics. I have a couple of decent bikes (hybrid and road), so all faults are down to “the engine”!

Corners
I’m finding that I corner wide and not as fast as I’d like to. Any tips on the best technique to adopt?


Hills
I’d love to join the 50mph on-the-bars set, but I’m a scardy cat. I run up a half decent speed in the late twenties, and then I just can’t help feathering the brakes. I guess it’s thoughts of the tiny tyre footprint, “what happens if I hit a pothole?” etc., holding me back. Any tips on how I can get to grips with being a downhill racer?

Thanks.

feel

Don't brake on corners, brake before them. Practice on corners you know and slowly build up confidence and speed.

IMO nothing wrong with being a bit of a scaredy cat descending steep hills (unless you actually want to race competitively) again practice on hills that you know and are confident that they are safe. If you have a speedo/computer you can see improvements.
Climbing hills is where most time is gained/lost when cycling.

Nickodemus

Hi mate......welcome!

With regards to cornering i tend to adopt the tecniques that i was taught on my motorbike:
- To actually turn the corner, don't think about 'steering' around it, or thinking that you need to lean really far over to corner well; instead, simply think about putting your weight through the hand on the side of the corner. That wasn't explained well, but for example, if you're wanting to turn right think about leaning gently on the right hand (on the bars obviously) and you'll find yourself turning right. Sounds a bit counter intuitive, but it works.
- Make sure you're not looking at your front tyre or even a couple of feet infront of the front tyre; you want to be looking at where the corner is going. Doing this will help your balance a lot more, give you bit more warning if there's going to be a manhole cover on the corner or something, and make your line through the corner a lot smoother.
- Erm....stop thinking about small tyre footprints! Obviously conditions and tyres vary, but they have more grip than you'd think (in the dry). I'm not telling you to push the boundaries of what you're comfortable with, but if you're line is smooth and you're not constantly adjusting your steering through the corner and hitting the brakes in the corner (NEVER do this!), you should find yourself going faster.

With regards to going downhill fast - I guess you're just going to have to build your confidence. If you're watching the road you shouldn't hit potholes. Build up your top speed with what you're comfortable with; don't go flying down a hill at 50moh just to try to prove you can; as with all driving and riding, smooth/relaxed control of the bike (or whatever) is the best way to KEEP control, so if you're panicing, really tense and twitching on the brakes and the bars it really wont be fun! ENJOY yourself, don't worry about it, and the speed will come!

Hope this isn't too waffly and it makes sense. I'll probably find out that i'm doing it all wrong, but this is what works for me.

fizz

Best thing to do when cornering IMHO, is to look where you want the bike to go. If you look to the outside of the corner or target fixate on a particular point you'll end up there.

If you turn your head and look through the corner to the apex of it and then through the exit of it, you'll take a good line through the corner,.

Just practise on some roads and descents you know and learn to read the road, i.e. look at the tree lines, white lines and hedges so you can work out whats coming towards and it'lll help you with your lines etc etc.

Also dont look at the bit of road 2 inches in front of your front wheel, look up and look further down the road as it'll give you more time to plan your lines etc through the corners, this helps when avoiding potholes to as well !!

As said above, dont brake in the corner brake before it with the bike in a straight line.

Just relax, practice and enjoy !

CrookedCucumber

In my view it's entirely sane to keep your speed under check when descending. When I ride a motorcycle I wear a full-face helmet and a kevlar-reinforced jacket, even if I'm not really expecting to do more than 30mph. I really don't see that doing 30mph on a bicycle is any safer -- quite the opposite, I would have thought. Since I can't practically wear full body armour on my bike, I prefer to keep my speed down to 20 mph or so unless the road is completely clear.

Of course, it you take this argument too far you're never leave the house, and I appreciate that other people find the rewards of speed to outweigh the risks of a crash.

johnnyc71

CrookedCucumber - I agree, it's better to descend at a sensible speed - I usually bottle it at anything over 30mph - not so much a lack of confidence in my bike handling - but a lack of desire to meet an oncoming car. It would be great to have the entire road at your disposal though.

Jez mon

Well descend on a wide road where you won't meet on oncoming car :!:

As for anything above 20mph, alot of roadies will cycle over 20mph on the flat although on some roads it can be dangerous, however, most are fine.

babyshambles

i find that the down hill bit is hard to get speed over here because of th roads and traffic. In france last year i hit 40mph with panniers and rucksach purely on the basis that the traffic was aware of the cyclist.

Peddle Up!

Thanks for all the very useful tips guys. Regarding cornering, I've been told that straightening one leg (which!?) helps. Can you enlighten me? Thanks.

Nickodemus

More to do with bending the leg that's on the side you're turning into. i.e. if you're turning right put your right foot at the 12 o'clock position.

This helps balance and also to get the pedal away from the ground! I was racing recently and pedalling around a sharpish corner at speed....leant over so much that my inside pedal smacked the ground and made the bike jump.....so get it out the way for now!

Something else you could think about, but it's not really crucial is that a lot of people think that cos motorcyclists stick their inside knee out when cornering at speed that you should do it on a road bike too. I've been told the opposite is true...on a road bike keeping your inside knee tucked into the frame will improve stability in the corner. Not sure if this is entirely true, but i've experimented and it seems to work fine for me. Besides the fact that when you're trying to be streamlined on a road bike, sticking your knee out into the wind probably isn't doing you any favours!

CrookedCucumber

Jez mon wrote:

Well descend on a wide road where you won't meet on oncoming car :!:

As for anything above 20mph, alot of roadies will cycle over 20mph on the flat although on some roads it can be dangerous, however, most are fine.

Well, of course you have to match your speed to the conditions, as you do with any vehicle.

20-25mph pedalling hard on the flat doesn't seem to me half so dangerous as the same sort of speed on a steep descent. If you have to stop in a hurry on the flat, your brakes don't have to fight gravity as well as your own momentum. But, more to the point, on the flat there isn't the same tendency for your speed to run away.

Mark Alexander

Peddle Up! wrote:

Thanks for all the very useful tips guys. Regarding cornering, I've been told that straightening one leg (which!?) helps. Can you enlighten me? Thanks.

straight leg on the outside of the bend, when you lean in, have the crank pointing upwards so as not to ground the pedal.

All good advice that I can see.
practice on familiar descent.
Pick your breaking point and stick to it.
Watch the apex and pick your line and stick to it.
Don't make big movements or pedal through the corner.
DON'T BREAK THROUGH THE CORNER!
As you streighten up, pedal like crazy for the next bend to try out!

good luck and don't check your spedo on the way through those corners

John.T

Don't just straighten the outside leg. Put weight on it. This improves weight distribution and also makes it easier to lay the bike over a little more if you need to tighten your line. I do stick my knee out sometimes on sharper bends. Don't really know why but I just seem to have more room to move on the bike that way.