My trouble isn’t with being a good descender; it is with cornering and stopping – and sometimes both. Or, as G’rilla puts it, “Descending is like sex; how good I am at it has nothing to do with how much I enjoy it.”
Descending is demanding and requires great skill. It is not a time for resting or taking it easy; getting down the mountain should be every bit as hard as getting up it. Merckx was himself a good climber, but his bikes were all designed to be stable and fast on the descents so he would be able to get off the mountain faster than the mountain goats he was chasing.
On the way down, we are compelled to smoothly spin the pedals at 120 or more rpms in pursuit of maximum speed. Once escape velocity is reached, we contort our bodies into the most aero tuck possible, causing our muscles to scream out in agony from the unnatural position. Cornering, we push on the pedals and bars in an effort to maximize friction between tire and pavement as an alternative to finding too much friction in the ditches at the roadside. The mind is consumed in the total concentration of keeping the rickshaw in one piece.
We hereby hand down Rule #93, plucked from the ether by @urbanwhitetrash in a moment of clair-V-ance after the VVhidbey Island Cogal.
Descents are meant to be as hard and demanding as – and much more dangerous than – the climbs. Climb hard, descend to close a gap or open one. Descents should hurt, not be a time for recovery. Recovery is designated only for the pub and for shit-talking.
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Fuckbeans, good old IE8 doesn't like me doing the embed thing. Click on the first link if you want to watch it...
@The Grande Fondue
Feeling your wheels go where you don't expect them is always an "Oh Shit!" moment. There is one corner here that is a 90deg off-camber into more off-camber halfway through. It is quite a distinct drop between the two sections, and the whole bike moves. Even when I am expecting it it freaks me out.
From my more mountain bike side.
"To win a (downhill) race, you just need to be the least afraid to die"
ride a MTB to become a better descender.
Two things have revolutionised my descending (in the dry):
1) Weight on outside foot, and inside drop.
2) Tip bike further than body slightly.
Obviously everything in moderation, but the cornering really feels quicker.
Other than that "Pros don't freewheel downhill!"
True fearless descending by the Prophet himself. Right into the fog. I could stand to learn from this. As @frank says, I descend like a Schleck.
Trying again c/o chrome
@Beers
This...
The other aspect of descending not being for recovery is something I've noticed since becoming a Power Ranger.
On shorter inclines a lot of people will push 500 watts on the way up and get to the top so fucked they have to ease off and coast down. Push a steady effort on the way up AND on the way down and you end up at the same point at the same time without having gone into the red.
@wiscot
As a fellow SE Wisconsinite (and city boy) I ask, Where do you find a 30-second descent? Unless I pack up the ol' stead and head up north, my longest descent is Lake Drive hill heading South. Or maybe the hill from the Water Tower to the Lake, but I don't like getting hit by cars so I don't ride that one.
@frank
So they don't time the climbs in these gravel races? Only the descents? Sign me up!