Don Hanson
Being a long time Rocky Mt. area racer, motor cycle road racer and a dirt
biker..a few tips..
Do not...repeat..do not, if you think you may hit something during a turn,
keep looking at the "thing". You will almost certainly hit it if you are
still looking at it. Dunno why this is, but I know it IS. Also, if you
think you're about to run wide in a corner and go off the road, don't 'seize
up' and keep looking at where you think you are headed..You will end up
right where you look...
Look through the corner. Look where you are going. Look at the exit of
the corner, or even better, at the road beyond the corner. Continually move
your focus as far up the road as you can see..This will make for smoother
cornering.
If you are right on the limit of traction during a corner, do not
brake..You will lose traction for sure if you do. Remember that tour where
Lance went through the weeds to avoid hitting Beloki, who had his rear wheel
sliding? Beloki braked. Wheel went sideways, tire rolled off, he went
down. If he had just looked ahead and kept calm, he may just have made that
corner. Instead, he freaked and probably touched his brake..bad move. It's
difficult, when you're sure you are gonna crash, to suck it up and look at
where you'd like to go...If you don't try, you will likely crash right
exactly where you are looking...Been dere, done dat too many times..
The main reason to weight your outside pedal during a turn is to lower
your center of gravity. Think of it. Sitting on the saddle your center of
gravity is probably 3.5-4' off the ground (and above where your tires are
controlling your direction, against the pavement as you ride) When you put
most of your weight on your outside pedal, with the crank at 6 O-clock, your
center of gravity is about one foot above the road. Big difference.
Better for traction as the road surface varies, as your bike flexes, as you
make minute corrections to your line or wind gusts hit you.
If you learn just one thing about cornering, it is "look to where you want
to go" ...
Don Hanson