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Afraid
of Road Bikes?
Lessen your fear by learning some cornering
techniques.
by Dave
Wiseman
The bike is not your problem, your skills are.
You need to work on cornering.
Some Prerequisites Before Cornering
If you have knobby tires on your mountain bike, lose them and get some
slicks 26x1.25 or 26x1 (no wider than that). Pump them up to their stated
limit or a little past it. You want to mimic the feel of a road bike as
closely as possible. You might also want to drop your handlebars down too.
An upright riding position is a significant drawback to good cornering technique.
Basic Plan
Find a corner and go around it as fast as you can then go faster then faster
then faster still.
You do need to be particular about what corner you use. Be safe. An office
or industrial park on a Sunday morning might be ideal or a VERY quiet
residential street. Make sure the corner is free of gravel, glass, small
furry creatures, UPS trucks and land mines. Check to make sure that
the pavement is smooth.
The Physics
To corner correctly, you need to have a low
center of gravity. Have your body centered on the bike. Lean the bike
as opposed to steering it and take a correct line around the apex of the
corner. Low center of gravity is achieved by getting your upper body
as low as possible while maintaining control. Do not however put too
much weight over the front wheel as that will compromise your body being
centered on the bike. You want your weight low and between the wheels.
Lean the bike, don't steer it - think Formula 1 race car, not
tractor-trailer. Watch racing motorcycles on a road course and notice
that they do not turn the handlebars but rather they lean way over and,
voila! The bike corners. Also notice how they use their outside
knee as a counterweight. You want to brake as little as possible as
braking not only slows you down but can also radically change your line
around the corner.
Approaching the Corner
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Adjust your speed and make sure your inside
pedal is up.
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Press down on the outside pedal, lean the
bike over slightly.
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Its better if you can use the whole roadway
because you can start on the left side of the road.
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Drift across both lanes to reach the apex of
the corner and drift on through to the left lane to exit .
Use the whole road (this is the reason I recommend a NO-traffic situation).
Find the local roadie scene and watch a criterium. Look at the body
position of the riders and look at the lines they take. Also make note
of the speed.
You are only going to learn by doing some fast cornering. It is about feel
and (lack of) fear. Trust yourself and your bike. You build
trust by practice.
Good luck.
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