We close out the 6 Days of the Giro with our sixth and final installment.
A body at rest, stays at rest. A body in motion, stays in motion. Things get a bit more ambiguous when it comes to a body on a bicycle tearing down a twisty mountain descent at speed, particularly in the rain. But it is here, on the boundary between clarity and ambiguity, where things get interesting.
Cornering feels a bit like you’re stealing from Physics, as if you’re getting away with something. Momentum, as fundamental as it is, doesn’t know what’s good for us and stubbornly wants to carry us on its merry path. The faster we go, the bigger its influence becomes and the harder we push against it, balancing on the knife’s edge between our body’s lean and the bike’s pull. For those skilled in this craft, the bicycle and rider carve through the bend in perfect harmony.
I’m not particularly good at cornering, which is to say I’m not particularly good at descending. Its a shame, too, because given my size I’m not very good at climbing, either. The way to get better is to practice, and not to give Rule #64 too much thought. You will crash if you want to get better, but you mustn’t lose your nerve. A nervous descender is a bad descender and everyone knows where to find bad descenders.
The riders getting the most practice in this discipline must surely be les grimpeurs for it seems they would be riding down all those mountains they’re riding up. The surprising truth is that this does not always appear to be the case; one need look no farther than Andy Schleck to find evidence of that particular postulate. Furthermore, one would think that a professional, who by the very nature of their occupation is quite used to finding themselves on the tarmac, would be most able to come off and not lose their nerve. This, also, doest not always appear to be the case.
The Giro, known for its narrow mountain roads, is won as much on the descents as it is on the climbs. Who can forget the 1988 Giro, which was won on the descent of the Gavia, not its climb. Or the 2002 and 2005 editions when Il Falco used every millimeter of road as he swept through the hairpin bends to distance his rivals. This year, Brad Wiggins had already put himself on the back foot on GC when he came off on a slow bend and spent the rest of the stage riding like his tires were made of glass. On the same stage, Nibali attacked and came off on a high speed corner before jumping back on his machine and rejoining the leaders moments later. The difference is a question of not only skill, but fearlessness.
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The only reason to go up a hill, is to go down it as fast as fucking possible. Grippy rubber and lack of self preservation are the keys.
I always find it amazing what goes through my mind as I descend at really high speeds. "Which portion of the ditch I should fly towards if I flat? Keep pedaling till your spun out! If Ihit the deck, how far I will slide before the pavement eats through my jersey? Can I break 100km's per hour? How do I correct a speed wobble? 90 km's an hour doesn't seem this fast in a car! I wonder where I can stop for coffee..."
I love descending for the sheer thrill of riding the line between reckless abandon and shitting your bibs with fear.
This is a mysterious image and article -- and I like it -- a lot. Since better cornering truly started with me after building up the MX Leader, I can only add that frame geometry and wheelbase will add or detract from the whole experience.
Great article....personally I love descending, but I am relative novice and have not crashed enough to learn any better. My ...above 65kph...generally are "if I come off now this won't hurt immediately, I will just be pretty badly injured" but it does not stop me from loving the adrenaline rush.
One thing I love, as a Clydesdale, is that I descend fucking fast...friends, grimpeurs, and cycling Sinsei who smile sweetly at me as they dance pass on the climb and soft pedal at the top, feel the rush of compressed air as the howling banshee comes screaming past them on the descent freewheeling as they spin out frantically.
At the bottom they look at me quizzically trying to understand the huge childlike beaming smile on my face....right until the road turns upwards once more and hell returns!
Great read as always, another important part of the pro peloton seems to be their ability to take a fall. We saw the first week of the Giro a Nibali sliding through the tarmac as much as 7 meters, quickly picking himself up and continue with his madness! Hard men.
@Tobin From the memory of an autodidact, not experience you put weight on the bars to stop a speed wobble.
@ Frank As a nervous descender I think you for this article. I've gotta Rule #9 this out of my psyche. It might also have something to do with a lack of confidence in the bike I ride which is two sizes too small. Soon though I'll be finding out what it's like to descend on a properly fitting carbon fibre masterpiece!
Maybe "autodidact" isn't quite right. Been dying to use it in a sentence. What I meant was I've read about it, I haven't ever experienced speed wobbles.
When I first started riding a bike, anything other than flat roads were intimidating to me. It wasn't until I started riding in groups that my descending skills started to improve, mainly because it was the only way I could stick with the group in hilly terrain.
Now, despite losing 1/5th of my body weight, I descend faster than ever before. I'm still not a great climber but I'm probably one of the best descenders around, my time as a fatty taught me how to do it right.
A good, long descent, a hard earned one, is one of the best feelings for me on the bike. Oxygen is returning to the brain and muscles, the aero tuck slicing through the wind, hitting the apex just right. It all makes up for the pain from the climb to get there.
I had a ~200 meter gravel descent on my road bike yesterday. That was pucker-city. I thought I was going to eat shit a few times.
Wrong race, but this is how you descend.