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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I was meditating on this issue during last week's mtb ride. It was an up-and-down out-and-back, and I was, again, confirmed in my feelings, a) that climbing--anything--on a mountain bike is revoltingly tedious drudgery, b) that descending on a mountain bike at an adequate speed is a fucking thrill, and c) that b) is a short road to hospitalization and reconstructive surgery. Sadly, as I age I think more about c).
I have a question about technique on the road. When I started riding again, it was after spending a few years riding a sport bike--please, we do not use the juvenile phrase "crotch rocket." I read something last year about counter-steering through corners on a bicycle, and I thought "WTF?!" On a motorcycle, counter-steering is not optional, and at speed it's done quite deliberately and sometimes forcefully, the mass of the spinning wheels making the machine want to stand up straight and cornhole innocent cyclists on Mulholland Dr.
But FFS, you can lean a bicycle easier than applying italics to text on a website.
Don't you simply divide whatever weight is on your hands (and not on the outside pedal) evenly between left and right no matter which way you're leaning the bike?
@PeakInTwoYears
My dad was a motorcycle rider and tought me to hold the bike up as vertical as possible when cornering.
Bike have a different problem, one of not having enough friction in the tires. When I started racing and learned quickly that what you want is to lean as hard as you can on your outside foot and push as hard as you can on your inside hand. That pushes the tires into the road and gives you grip.
Tubulars on the road bike probably stand out most when cornering, by the way. On clinchers, when the bike is leaning, you feel your grip really change as the tire deforms. On tubs, it seems that since they're a tube already, the deformation is uniform and as you angle the tire, the grip stays just as good.
Heaven.
@Pedale.Forchetta
If I'd have known about that photo, I would have used that instead. Perfect.
One of the first things I thought when I saw that was, "I wonder if that bloke knows that road and where the bend will lead him." That's one thing I find for sure; if I don't know a road, I'm sitting back and taking it easy.
@frank
Or this:
http://vimeo.com/48158576
I really love going downhill as fast as possible. It's one of those things that as soon as I'm finished I want to try it again because I know I can correct some errors, or go a bit faster through certain corners.
Descendeur-ing always has me wanting to give it another go.
(one frustrating thing is how many corners I ride are gravel/sand strewn or seem to always have a car coming - it's not often enough that I get to really corner a corner, ya know?)
@Steampunk
That's just crazy - on open roads too!
@wiscot
It's not so much the speed that gets me, but the way in which he uses every millimetre of the road. Total comfort and confidence in that descent.
@Tobin - I have the same thoughts streaking through my head as well, especially the "where do I go if I flat..." Glad i'm not alone...lol
@Steampunk
And the condition of that road - its in horrible shape! I'd be descending on class tires too.
Or this one: