Cornering - Richmond Park - Sawyers Hill - Amnesia

Chad_c_Mulligan

I've taken some time off from riding due to work and moving house and I seem to have forgotten how to go around corners.

Before I stopped cycling I had a nasty fall turning right into a side road where the bike just disapeared from beneath me, I think this did affect my confidence but I was still regularly cycling for at least 3 months after that event.

So what I want to do is to try and work out whether it's just my confidence that's taken a beating or I've lost some technique. My idea for confidence is to pick a hill many people will be familiar with that has a corner in it and ask what speed they think is getting close to the upper limit for being safe in dry conditions.

The hill is Sawyers Hill coming from Kingston Gate in a anti-clockwise direction in Richmond park and the corner is the sweeping right hander.

Today I went round it at about 35mph but I was pushing towards the verge and didn't feel I could tighten up and lean in more.

Opinions?

merak

This does not sound like a great way to get cornering confidence back - it's more likely a recipe for another spill. And at 35mph. Going into downhill bends on the basis of mph rather than feel is not a good idea. IMHO.

Better just ride lots of bends - follow other riders whom you trust. And keep a little safety margin.

furrag

It's incorrectly called Sawyers hill on Google maps. The hill you refer to is called Broomfield. Sawyers is the long draggy one (usually with a headwind) up to Richmond gate.

When I first started cycling, I was going down it about 23mph, brakes on. As I began cycling more and grew in confidence I've learnt to get that speed up by realising what the bike can do. I was hitting 33mph and feeling quite pleased with myself until I learnt that you can pedal down it, leave your outside foot down and don't need to brake at all. Fastest speed I've done down there is 39.6mph. Looking at the exit and sweeping from the outside dark patch to the inside just off-centre of my side of the road as the turn began helped me most at being able to maintain my speed around there and not drifting off of that line.

I would be wary though as I've seen several times myself, and read countless reports of cyclists being treated who have over cooked that corner and ended up in a heap at the bottom. So be aware of your limitations, and don't try anything stupid like overtaking other cyclists or cars when going down it.

Thankfully for you as a comparison, there is a Strava section of that descent section which starts at the top, and ends just before the Robin hood gate roundabout after the chicanes.

http://app.strava.com/rides/1569354#24827515

43.8mph is the fastest in the top 10, though the fastest overall time recorded maxed out at 40.9mph.

I went down it today at 35.6mph in the wet, and I was braking as there were cars coming up the hill, and a cyclist ahead of them. So many times cars overtake. Changing your line at 35-40mph to avoid a car and not much room to make that change can end in disaster.

Chad_c_Mulligan

merak wrote:

This does not sound like a great way to get cornering confidence back - it's more likely a recipe for another spill. And at 35mph. Going into downhill bends on the basis of mph rather than feel is not a good idea. IMHO.

Better just ride lots of bends - follow other riders whom you trust. And keep a little safety margin.

It's not the brightest idea I've had but at the moment I don't have anyone I trust to go cycling with and am currently too slow for club riding. I think I'll just have to go for the usual method of practice.

flasher

So much for the 20mph speed limit then.............

Chad_c_Mulligan

Flasher wrote:

So much for the 20mph speed limit then.............

No speedo on the bike, just looking at the GPS when I get home.

If it hadn't been completely empty I might have made more of an effort to keep within the speed limit (well probably not).

lef

you're might be looking at the verge resulting in you heading for the verge. Look to where you want to go and the bike should follow.