Cornering Downhill

EaSwe

Had a bit of an accident last week while out with a friend. Coming down after a climb there's a bit of dirty bend, it was only my second time riding it and I came at it a bit faster than I would normally be comfortable doing but not mad fast. Anyways, ended up just not making the corner properly at all. Ended up in briars on the other side of the road, bike a few metres in front of me. walked away with just a few scratches and a broken collarbone. More importantly the bike survived OK too,

Anyways, I was a bit shook and my confidence going downhill has probably been hurt, but I'm wondering is there any specific tips for taking a corner like that at speed? it'll be a few weeks before I'm back in the saddle and needless to say I wouldn't want a repeat.
Anything tips appreciated

Seaneh

Have a watch of this.

browsing

The video seems to unavailable...

A good idea is to put your weight on the outside foot with the crank pointing to the ground so that you just about lift yourself out of the saddle. This will give a bit more grip.

EaSwe

browsing wrote: »

The video seems to unavailable...

Same for me,

Seaneh

Try again.

EaSwe wrote: »

Same for me,

browsing wrote: »

The video seems to unavailable...

A good idea is to put your weight on the outside foot with the crank pointing to the ground so that you just about lift yourself out of the saddle. This will give a bit more grip.

Arthurdaly

Any tips? Yeah slow down on dangerous descents! Anytime you feel like you are loosing control it's time to feather the brakes.

killalanerr

Its not the time of year to be pushing it on the descents
I took a bit of a tumble this week myself wet greasy road caught me out but going down hill is fun a lot of fun i can drop of the side of a hill with the best of them i would say the most important thing is to relax,as soon as you start to tense up your ability to control your bike suffers practice will improve things
So drop the shoulders when you start to feel them tensing up but dont take silly chances

bcmf

killalanerr wrote: »

i have no idea how to use paragraphs or full stops

Jaysus! You took a spill as well! Ya alright?
Mr. Karma came and kicked Rob Fowl smack between the legs yesterday. ( I or he will explain later) and he took a tumble as well.
Never known so many silly falls this time of year.
A bit of dry weather with bit of morning dew maybe leading to greasier then usual conditions.

killalanerr

bcmf wrote: »

Jaysus! You took a spill as well! Ya alright?

Ya im fine besides feeling a bit silly sitting in the road.Are you not suppose to fall off when your riding cross

Lusk_Doyle

Who wants to know what about cornering? I've shed loads of tips! :P

bcmf

killalanerr wrote: »

Ya im fine besides feeling a bit silly sitting in the road.Are you not suppose to fall off when your riding cross

Ah yeah. Falling off when riding cross is part of the fun.
The only thing is he wasnt riding cross yesterday.
He was slagging myself and another rider where we had the great Swords crash a few weeks back.
Then went on his hole a while later himelf.
Sympathy is hard to come in here.

07Lapierre

Relax
Ride within your abilities
Head down, bum up!
Apply the brakes before the corner and not while cornering.

Lusk_Doyle

07Lapierre wrote: »

Apply the brakes before the corner and not while cornering.

That's what got me this year. I just could not bring myself to go through the corner and not continue to slow down. Madness, I know, but it's amazing how the doubts take over the mind after a crash. I've spent enough time chasing back on after corners this year to last a lifetime. No more. That's my resolution for the new year.

Lumen

When bad things happen you must continue to look through the corner and rely on your instincts to fix things (but not brake unless you're bailing out!).

Under no circumstances look down at the thing that is causing you to slide.

If things don't improve and there's no way you'll make the corner exit, straighten up and brake HARD. You will either stop in time or have a much slower crash.

Understand the difference between position and rotation - hitting an apex pointing in the wrong direction is not good enough.

Apart from the obvious stuff about not expecting your tyres to decelerate and change direction at the same time, the key to safe cornering (solo) is to get more cornering done in the early part of the corner, by (somewhat counter-intuitively) aiming for a late apex.

You know when you're doing it right if you're winding off the steering after the apex and flowing out of the corner. If you're adding more steering you're definitely doing it wrong.

Try and corner well, not fast. When you're cornering well you can increase speed safely.

smacl

Some great discussion on this in the past, as a weak descender myself, I found this post from lennymc very helpful.

EaSwe

Lumen wrote: »

When bad things happen you must continue to look through the corner and rely on your instincts to fix things (but not brake unless you're bailing out!).

Under no circumstances look down at the thing that is causing you to slide.

Thanks, definitely guilty of these two in my crash

12 sprocket

Prevention

Always look well ahead to anticipate . two main dangers to be aware of any time of the year are.

1: Streams / water off the hill running across the road on a bend.

2: Trees overhanging the road on a bend and the roads under the trees are still wet, even though the road is dry approaching the bend

Spook_ie

Arthurdaly wrote: »

Any tips? Yeah slow down on dangerous descents! Anytime you feel like you are loosing control it's time to feather the brakes.

+1 What he said, God forbid you should lose it on a left hand bend and end up under something coming the other way, only marginally better I suppose to lose it on a right hander and end up in the ditch/verge

deandean

And, ironically, the grit and salt being laid on the roads every night (not needed most of the time) is comprimising grip.

del_boy13

I got a good tip from a Garda a few years ago who had completed an advanced drivers course. Always look through the corner if you the road in front of you is shrinking then you are going to fast into the corner if it is opening up ahead of you then you don't have a problem. The main thing for me is that it helps to focus on the road ahead and not the road underneath me.

Hatcho

del_boy13 wrote: »

I got a good tip from a Garda a few years ago who had completed an advanced drivers course. Always look through the corner if you the road in front of you is shrinking then you are going to fast into the corner if it is opening up ahead of you then you don't have a problem. The main thing for me is that it helps to focus on the road ahead and not the road underneath me.

This is known as the limit point - the point where the sides of the road come together. On a perfectly straight piece of road this will happen at the horizon. As you approach a bend you will notice the limit point getting closer to you. This indicates the need to reduce your speed (in advance of actually taking the corner). Once you enter the corner you will see the limit point start to move away again indicating that the road is straightening out. At this point you can safely begin to increase your speed again.

Bicycle tyres have a limited amount of traction. Changing speed (braking) and cornering will both use up the available traction so its best to perform these activities seperately. Use the limit point technique above to gauge the appropriate speed before entering the corner so that only your change in direction is using up the available traction as you go around the bend. When you brake hard in a corner and the required traction is greater than the available traction - and down you go.

In the majority of cases if you leave the brakes alone, look out of the corner and simply ride it through, both you and the bike will navigate the corner. It's difficult to do though as your instincts are screaming 'slow down!' which makes you grab a handful of brakes.

1750W

EaSwe wrote: »

Had a bit of an accident last week while out with a friend. Coming down after a climb there's a bit of dirty bend, it was only my second time riding it and I came at it a bit faster than I would normally be comfortable doing but not mad fast. Anyways, ended up just not making the corner properly at all. Ended up in briars on the other side of the road, bike a few metres in front of me. walked away with just a few scratches and a broken collarbone. More importantly the bike survived OK too,

Anyways, I was a bit shook and my confidence going downhill has probably been hurt, but I'm wondering is there any specific tips for taking a corner like that at speed? it'll be a few weeks before I'm back in the saddle and needless to say I wouldn't want a repeat.
Anything tips appreciated

I just spent the last week in Gran canaria with the downhill legend Janos Kohler of Bray wheelers. I've had a great improvement in descending technique and confidence. You should be able to make contact with him via facebook

kingoffifa

1750W wrote: »

I just spent the last week in Gran canaria with the downhill legend Janos Kohler of Bray wheelers. I've had a great improvement in descending technique and confidence. You should be able to make contact with him via facebook

that would do the trick no doubt

The Big Lebowsky

1- Do most of your braking in a straight line before the corner, then release your brakes as you negotiate the bend. If you try carry too much speed into a corner or tight bend, you will be then forced to brake hard mid corner/bend causing your bike to understeer, leaving you on the pavement or in a ditch. This is a basic mistake that I see being made by elite level riders sometimes.

If you get caught out by an unfamilliar bend that you have carried too much speed into, just feather those brakes. Less front brake and a touch more rear. Hopefully you will have scrubbed off enough speed to make it round.

On sweeping bends with a good view of the exit, you can carry as much speed through the bend as you dare:eek:

2- Counter steer (steer in the opposite direction briefly)swing wide and then clip then apex of the bend. Obviously on right hand bends you need use some common sense here, as you don't want to be hit by a vehicle coming in the opposite direction as you carve your turn. If the road is wet and grip is poor, lean your body and keep your bike as upright as possible.

3-before you enter the bend, slide to the rear of your saddle and keep your body position as low as possible..Your outside pedal should be in the 6 o clock position...

you will corner more safely and under greater control with a lower centre of gravity.