I've been riding road since last summer and am beginning to race this year and I'm realizing that my bike handling ability is not where it should be. I came to cycling via messengering and I got really good at handling my bike in/through traffic and was generally not intimidated by most situations on the bike.

I've found that riding my road bike I'm not too bad in the pack, and I can hold a line, etc... but I'm really skittish when it comes to hitting corners aggresively. Is this just something that comes with time? It's not that i'm all that concerned with hurting myself if my wheels slip out (although it would suck) as much as I don't want to risk wrecking a bike I've put a ton of money into. (my dented and scratched fixie was one thing, but a 2K road bike is something else entirely). Any advice/words of wisdom on building skill and confidence in the turns?

I've been riding road since last summer and am beginning to race this year and I'm realizing that my bike handling ability is not where it should be. I came to cycling via messengering and I got really good at handling my bike in/through traffic and was generally not intimidated by most situations on the bike.

I've found that riding my road bike I'm not too bad in the pack, and I can hold a line, etc... but I'm really skittish when it comes to hitting corners aggresively. Is this just something that comes with time? It's not that i'm all that concerned with hurting myself if my wheels slip out (although it would suck) as much as I don't want to risk wrecking a bike I've put a ton of money into. (my dented and scratched fixie was one thing, but a 2K road bike is something else entirely). Any advice/words of wisdom on building skill and confidence in the turns?

Pretty much like anything else, knowing how to ride through the corners with speed will take time and practice. Find a small "course" somewhere near where you live with some hard 90 degree turns in it, and practice riding through at different speeds until you get comfortable with how you feel in the corners. It comes with time really. So try it alone first, and then with others. You'll get the hang of it.

push your inside knee in towards the top tube, this will bring your body's center of mass over to the inside of the turn, and allow your body to stay tight to the bike (good thing in a pack), while allowing for very aggressive cornering. Your best bet is to just practice... remembering that coming from the fixed gear, you were making turns with the pedals always moving... you can now even get more aggressive by dropping the outside pedal and coasting through with more lean, without having to worry about pedal strike.

Chances are you will find cornering on a freewheel equipped bike is a lot easier, and it is just a matter or practice to get comfortable with it. Find a small crit style loop and start slow (and alone) and build up the speed slowly... then get a riding buddy to do it with you, and make sure you force each other to ride close enough to bump shoulders... then, go whole hog and do a group ride.

hope that helps
gears
pmiska

push your inside knee in towards the top tube, this will bring your body's center of mass over to the inside of the turn, and allow your body to stay tight to the bike (good thing in a pack), while allowing for very aggressive cornering. Your best bet is to just practice... remembering that coming from the fixed gear, you were making turns with the pedals always moving... you can now even get more aggressive by dropping the outside pedal and coasting through with more lean, without having to worry about pedal strike.

The second old-school theory on cornering is to point your inside knee into the turn. I've tried both methods and I like point with my knee better than pressing it against the top tube. If you put your weight on your outside leg and pull up slightly on the outside arm, you slide through the corner with ease, since you're perfectly balanced. I love to take corners dangerously fast, and the only time I've had a problem is on recently rained on roads (I do not advise) and gravel (again, do not advise).

The other thing I've been told is to scrub your brakes before the corner to reach a speed that you feel is safe. Braking in a corner is a last resort -- don't do it unless you're going to bail. Especially if you have someone on your wheel. :)

The pictures I have are too big to post (and no photo editor to shrink them), but these will show setting up into a corner and going through a corner (I'm the one in the back with the butt-ugly glasses):

http://myweb.jhmi.edu/vonteity/2004-05-16_0033.jpg
http://myweb.jhmi.edu/vonteity/2004-05-16_0042.jpg

One of the great enlightening phases of a roadbiker's life is when they stop using the brakes in the corners! Learn to soft pedal, anticipate, let your front wheel go between the two racers in front of you (very safe), and follow everyone else. Get on a good rider's wheel in an attack, that is always good learning.

Nice pics. You really wanna corner on rails? Ride in the drops, get your CG very low.

Nice pics. You really wanna corner on rails? Ride in the drops, get your CG very low.

Thanks, one of my goals this season is to get more comfortable in the drops. Last year was my first year (both riding and racing) and I was more comfortable on the hoods where I could brake or shift. But yes, I need to get into my drops more! At the end of last season I was at least sprinting in them -- this season I need to improve my cornering, too. :)

I've been riding road since last summer and am beginning to race this year and I'm realizing that my bike handling ability is not where it should be. I came to cycling via messengering and I got really good at handling my bike in/through traffic and was generally not intimidated by most situations on the bike.

I've found that riding my road bike I'm not too bad in the pack, and I can hold a line, etc... but I'm really skittish when it comes to hitting corners aggresively. Is this just something that comes with time? It's not that i'm all that concerned with hurting myself if my wheels slip out (although it would suck) as much as I don't want to risk wrecking a bike I've put a ton of money into. (my dented and scratched fixie was one thing, but a 2K road bike is something else entirely). Any advice/words of wisdom on building skill and confidence in the turns?

Sounds like you've got the basic skills. You may need to practice turns and trying out different ways of getting through them. Leaning the bike, steering the bike changing conditions, speeds etc. I deferred racing for several years because I didn't realize that nice bikes are just tools for racing and training. I didn't know what I was missing. If you are really worried, get a serviceable ( disposable )racing frame just for Crits.

........Counter steering..........do it.

Your tires will not slip unless you touch the brakes in a turn.

1) Look - find the apex of the corner as you are entering. By the time the bike is turned you should move your eyes to the corner exit

2) Slow - get your braking done before the corner - realistically you will never actually need to get on the brakes road riding unless you are on a mountain descent as the bikes do corner exceptionally well.

3) Lean - Counter steer the bike by pushing the bar in the direction you want to go. If you want to turn right, push on the right bar. If you want to go left, push on the left bar. You're doing this automatically already but it helps to be concious of it as you corner harder.

4) Accelerate - start pedaling again ASAP. Don't bother with any of the techniques like pointing your knee at the apex, putting your inside foot up, etc.. until you know how far your bike can lean before you scrape your inside pedal.

In Cat 4/5 way too many people are scared to lean the bike, and scared to keep pedaling through a corner. The fast riders at the front are willing to lean harder and keep pedaling and that helps them pick up time on the rest of the field and contributes to the yo-yo effect.

thanks for all the helpful advice... i went out earlier to practice and i'm really surprised by how quickly i'm getting comfortable cornering -go figure: practice pays.

Hey, vonteity, I checked out your blog (curious as to who you are by the pics -- BBC races in my area -- I'm in the D20, too). I remember when you won that cross race -- you had a great cross season! I was standing there nursing a badly bruised hip when you stepped up on the podium. That they had a podium is cool enough! Congratulations.