need tips on descending

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Miller
Any tips on how to descend well? I always get scared at speeds above 35mph and end up putting on the brakes.

easy. 500ml of Stella (act-a-[censored]) normal gives you bigger balls.
or as the man himself says - don't act like such a skirt. if you fall of - you fall off. no one every died of a little road rash.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by james.dippel
easy. 500ml of Stella (act-a-[censored]) normal gives you bigger balls.
or as the man himself says - don't act like such a skirt. if you fall of - you fall off. no one every died of a little road rash.

I'm not sure if you're trying to be humouress (you're not), but this is very poor advice.

And actually, they did (well not of road rash, that i'm aware of) but riders have dies crashing.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by ricstern
I'm not sure if you're trying to be humouress (you're not), but this is very poor advice.

And actually, they did (well not of road rash, that i'm aware of) but riders have dies crashing.

for goodness sake Ric - live a little. People have died crossing the road. Get a sense of humour. People have died just riding along the road in a normal fashion.

*sigh*. read about how lance descends in his training book. read about what he does in his spare time in his new book every second counts. He takes risks. We all take risks. some more than others. some more sensible than others. just remind me not to go to a party your having!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by james.dippel
for goodness sake Ric - live a little. People have died crossing the road. Get a sense of humour. People have died just riding along the road in a normal fashion.

*sigh*. read about how lance descends in his training book. read about what he does in his spare time in his new book every second counts. He takes risks. We all take risks. some more than others. some more sensible than others. just remind me not to go to a party your having!

james,

i do have a sense of humour. the roads are dangerous enough without suggesting that people do drink driving. i assume you've seen multiple TV campaigns to get people to stop. this isn't a joking matter. many cyclists have died because of drink drivers, and cyclists should not be exempt from such laws. Your post is neither funny or useful.

Lance's own team mate (Fabio Casartelli) died after crashing on a descent.

I suggest you grow up

Ric

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by ricstern
james,

i do have a sense of humour. the roads are dangerous enough without suggesting that people do drink driving. i assume you've seen multiple TV campaigns to get people to stop. this isn't a joking matter. many cyclists have died because of drink drivers, and cyclists should not be exempt from such laws. Your post is neither funny or useful.

Lance's own team mate (Fabio Casartelli) died after crashing on a descent.

I suggest you grow up

Ric

Ric -

You are pathetic. FYI 500ml of beer equates to about 1 pint. The legal limit is about 2 pints for the 'average' person. This is assuming you want to get anal about such?

Was Fabio wearing a Helmet?

go read lances book and find out about the risks that he takes. Seriously, you do need to live a little. Would you like some more tea polly prissy pants?

Armstrong - NO!

Ric says 'don't drink Champaign'. Especially when your on the bike. 'I don't care if you have just won the tour de france'.

Just think - he could have fallen off his bike, smashed the glass he was drinking from .... and what next... the pieces might have ended up in his eyes.

No more 'cheers France'. Lance GROW up!

JD -- Just shut the F up. You weren't funny, nor even entertaining, in any of those posts. Part of being funny is knowing WHEN to inject humor. Good effort, bad results. You'll get way more than road rash from 35 mph. Anything from severely bruised on up. I think you might be a troll, so I shouldn't even bother typing this response. But you never know who else might read this.

As for descending, the rules are similar to those of driving cars. Brake going into it, go wide from the start, cut close to the apex, exit wide. Keep your inside foot up or level, never down (pedal + ground = bad). Keep at the back of the saddle -- makes for better braking when you do need to. When in doubt, DO hit the brakes, but try not to in the middle of a corner, especially if it's wet. Always look ahead and think ahead... where will you end up if you end up drifting wide through the other side? Traffic? Keep aware of surroundings... is there a flat bailout, or is there a cliff you'd fall off of?

Taking a risk is one thing, but can you afford the consequences if that taken risk turns out to be a bad gamble? Is it worth it? If it's to finish 30th in a Cat 4 race, probably not. If it's the difference between winning and losing a stage in the TdF, then maybe.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Aztec
JD -- Just shut the F up. You weren't funny, nor even entertaining, in any of those posts. Part of being funny is knowing WHEN to inject humor. Good effort, bad results. You'll get way more than road rash from 35 mph. Anything from severely bruised on up. I think you might be a troll, so I shouldn't even bother typing this response. But you never know who else might read this.

As for descending, the rules are similar to those of driving cars. Brake going into it, go wide from the start, cut close to the apex, exit wide. Keep your inside foot up or level, never down (pedal + ground = bad). Keep at the back of the saddle -- makes for better braking when you do need to. When in doubt, DO hit the brakes, but try not to in the middle of a corner, especially if it's wet. Always look ahead and think ahead... where will you end up if you end up drifting wide through the other side? Traffic? Keep aware of surroundings... is there a flat bailout, or is there a cliff you'd fall off of?

Taking a risk is one thing, but can you afford the consequences if that taken risk turns out to be a bad gamble? Is it worth it? If it's to finish 30th in a Cat 4 race, probably not. If it's the difference between winning and losing a stage in the TdF, then maybe.

Probably the best advice is to know the course where there is a downhill that you hit those kinds of speeds.. You dont want any unexpected bumps in the road.. Decending at 35-40mph is scary, but that makes it fun.. Dont feel bad for hitting the brakes, just get used to it and you will get to the point of not having to slow yourself down unless you need to.Having a beer wont make your testicles any bigger, just your reaction time slower. If anything, have an espresso first.

this is a funny thread.

i agree, quite amusing for the readers but the points made are relevant. Yes have fun biking and live a lot but beware of those 'dime-bars' on the road who've been swigging on their Granddad's homebrew.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Miller
Any tips on how to descend well? I always get scared at speeds above 35mph and end up putting on the brakes.

The best advice is to do your hill (ascent) repeats on a hill/mountain with a winding descent. Just repetition will get you confident and pushing the envelope.

Keep your weight off your front wheel, push hard down with your outside extended leg and lean the bike more to steer if you are taking the corner too wide.

A lot of cyclists do not realise that by turning the handlebars into the direction of a turn actually causes the bike to steer in the opposite direction! Try it by going in a straight line (over 15 kph) and deliberately attempt to steer to one side and you will find yourself going in the opposite direction. We unconsciously steer our bikes by leaning not by turning the bars.

My house is at the top of a 200m long hill. When I first started a few weeks ago, on my new RB, I braked all the way down for a top speed of about 30kph. Gradually I got more confident. Yesterday I hit 65kph. But the side street about 150m down the hill still scares the hell out of me - so I still touch the brakes a little. I just know that one day some goose isn't going to see me - I'm counting on the probability being quite low, just like winning the lottery (in reverse).

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Miller
Any tips on how to descend well? I always get scared at speeds above 35mph and end up putting on the brakes.

Now that the testosterone crew has 'busted a nut' all over the thread, I will attempt to address the pragmatic realities of your question...

Scared is a GOOD THING. It means that your hind brain is functioning... and more importantly that your frontal lobe is processing those primal alert logs.

35mph will get you killed in a heartbeat on some of the narrow, winding descents out here in Western Mass... but then again I know a 2 mile, freshly paved, wide shouldered, straightaway downgrade on Rt. 9 that I hit 45mph (using a generous tailwind) and never felt safer in my joyous rapture.

So... basically 'good judgment' is its own reward.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Miller
Any tips on how to descend well? I always get scared at speeds above 35mph and end up putting on the brakes.

Stop being a wuss mate. You won't be able to break that elusive barrier unless you try to build your confidence somehow.

1) Stop looking at the bloody speedo!
2) Look as far ahead of you as you can (in the direction of the road is best!) to pick the best way through aproaching corners and/or potholes.
3) Do all your braking smoothly before the entrance to the corner so that you do not have to brake mid corner. (this is most important in the wet - if you brake mid corner you WILL go down!)
4) As you turn in, lean the bike and your body into the turn together. Don't lean your bike further than your body or vice versa. As you corner the body and bike should line up in the one straight line. Neat and tidy.
5) Use as much of the road as you can safely do so. Start at the opposite side of the lane from the direction of the corner (the outside) and come across gradually towards the inside as you turn in so that you briefly "hit the apex" of the turn before heading back to the other side of the lane again on exit. This is called using the racing line, just like in car and motor bike racing. It makes the turns more gentle so you can carry more speed through.
6) lay off the damn brakes until you spot another turn which is worthy of slowing down.

Its okay if, at the first few attempts, you feel as though you are going too slow. You will soon be able to use the brakes less and less and the fun will increase!

More descending crashes are caused by panic than actually going too fast - eg hitting the brakes suddenly mid curve, or feeling like you are leaning too far and suddenly lessening the lean angle which just throws you off to the outside of the bend.

One useful tip I had from a motorbike rider: once into a curve, keep your vision focussed some distance ahead on what he called "the horizon" - really just the far edge of the road beyond the apex of the curve. If you start running wide, the horizon will appear to "narrow" and move away from you towards the inside of the curve - if this happens, lean further into the bend until the horizon "opens out" again. It's hard to describe in words but it definitely seems to work.

That said, it only works if you haven't gone into the bend way too fast, and discretion here is always the better part of valour as far as I'm concerned. Plus lots of practice.