Categories: Anatomy of a PhotoKeepers TourLook ProNostalgiaTechnique

Anatomy of a Photo: Cornering on Cobbles

The look says it all. Keep it clenched, sir.

A lot of things taken for granted in Cycling go swiftly out the window when cobblestones are introduced to bicycle and rider. The notion that your wheels should both be pointed in the same direction at any given moment, for instance, or that that they should in some way be in alignment with the direction of travel of the rider/bicycle unit, such as it is. Not true, in fact. As it turns out, wheels can move wildly in any maner of directions and not greatly impact forward motion. Another misconception is this notion that one needs to have their handlebars reliably in hand while whisking through a corner or that the direction the handlebars are pointing should be in the direction of travel. Also untrue.

Riding cobbles is a matter of going full gas over the secteurs, no holds barred. The faster you go, the more your bike cascades over the tops of the stones; as the bike flails along, the rider links together recovery after recovery to stave off the imminent crash caused by any of the above conditions going catawampus. Riding the pavé is basically like a toddler learning to walk: always one step away from a face-plant.

For me, though, the biggest challenge is recuperation during those intense efforts. Over the years, I have gotten good at faking it and stealing a few deep breaths during short windows of opportunity, like when the pressure comes off the pedals briefly when cornering. On the cobbles, however, this matter is complicated somewhat by the bouncing wheels, jackhammering of the bars and saddle, and the certainty of an imminent crash.

Which leads me to conclude that while endurance, strength, and interval training will all form critical elements of my training for Keepers Tour 2013, I’m going to also make a point of learning how to take recovery breaths with a tightly clenched bunghole as I try to keep from shitting myself. That’s going to be a differentiator for sure.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

starclimber says:

Oct 16 2012 at 7:51 pm

Yeah, but if you hit hard enough, your feet come out of your shoes. When you crawl to the roadside, they're still conveniently strapped to the pedals. I only used this tactic once.
Giles says:

Oct 16 2012 at 9:01 pm

@mouse

Back in the past when I rode a motorbike, someone told me the knee down technique was used by bike racers for two reasons, one to feel the edge of the track and secondly to actually decrease traction on the back wheel by pushing against the tarmac and allowing the rear (driven) wheel to keep spinning faster in the turn then once back upright on the straight there was no real need for acceleration - hence the wheelie popping on the way out of corners... Not sure how true all of this actually is but clearly that makes dropping the knee on a non-motor bike purely a matter of style as neither of these would play into riding.

Keeping the bike more upright and shifting weight around though allows much greater traction at speed in the corner because more of the tyre is actually gripping in the direction of travel because more of the force is going down through the road and providing greater grip. When I did ride motor bikes, the weight shifting technique actually allowed for less steering and leaning, and therefore faster cornering to get round the same curves - and for Joe Blow riders like me was far more useful than trying to lean the bike right over and get the knee down. But it did rely on stabilising the bike by pushing as hard as possible on the highside leg - which is a technique someone alluded to here a while ago (can't remember where) when cornering. It also seems to work quite well at slow speeds as well.

On a bicycle, I reckon the weight shift technique works, as does countersteering (when at speed) but whether they originated in motorcycle or bicycle racing, who knows!? Would love to see pictures of a tophatted dude on a penny farthing with his knee down, proving that we the riders of the bicycle are the mothers of invention....

I hated Physics at school, but I reckon if I'd listened a bit better I might just trust my bike in the corners a little more......