May 11
11
Road Cycling – Descending Downhill
One of the most fun and frightening things about road cycling is descending downhill, you can hit speeds in excess of 45mph, even as much as 60mph. Although it is fun to reach those speeds, you need to know how to do so safely; corners, traffic, potholes and gravel could turn a fun descent into a hospital visit or worse.
One of the main dangers of cycling at high speed is that your stopping distance is greatly reduced, and small things such as gravel or small bumps in the road become much more dangerous as your speed increases.
Relax
People have a tendency to tense up and grip the bars like their life depended on it when descending. The problem with this is that every little bump in the road causes your handlebars to be shaken quite dramatically if you tense up. By relaxing your arms, the bike will straighten itself out over any bumps in the road, and you will be able to control it much more easily.
Look Ahead
DO NOT stare at your front wheel as you descend, look far down the road, and look out for potholes or other hazards on the road, and manoeuvre away from them well before you need to. Looking ahead will also help you with cornering, which brings me onto my next point.
Cornering
Cornering is something which you need to gain experience with, no online article will help you corner better, you need to get out on your bike and gain confidence, however here are a few tips: Shave off any excess speed before the corner, do not enter a corner faster than you are comfortable. Next look as far as you can through the corner, if you do this you will automatically lean the bike the correct amount for the corner. Lastly pull the handlebars with your hands, this will increase the amount you can lean and keep the bike under control. Do not be worried about your bike sliding out from under you, a bike with good tyres can be leant to really extreme angles. You need to watch that your pedal doesn’t strike the ground, so don’t try and pedal through the corners, and make sure your outside pedal is at the 6 o’clock position.
Speed Wobble
Some bikes can go into what is called a “speed wobble”, I’m not sure about the exact science behind them, but the way to stop a speed wobble is to lean forward to put more weight over the front wheel, and clamp the top tube between your knees.
Practice
The only way to get better at descending is to do it more often! Start out by going much more slowly than you normally would, and as you gain confidence and experience, start increasing the speed gradually until you can take the descents at full speed.
So that is how to descend downhill on a road bike, the most important things to remember are to not go faster than you are comfortable, relax, and look ahead, especially through corners.
Check out our other advanced cycling techniques
