Katie,
Your instinct to not push it is a good one! The most
dangerous riders are the ones who have no fear. I'd be
a huge liar if I said descending doesn't scare me a
little. I had a HORRIBLE accident while descending a
few years ago and I think about it every day. There
are MANY different takes on proper descending
technique and you'll see die hard arguments as to
which is the "right" way to do it. Kinda like shifty
hand technique vs. hands planted at 9 and 3. For
descending the only advice I've heard which holds true
for most techniques is the following: When cornering
you should have 100% (that's 100%, not 95%, not 99%...
100%!!!!!!!!!) of your weight on your outside pedal.
This means your butt is off the saddle!
Now for my own thoughts on descending... LOOK where
you are going to go. Your body is your steering wheel,
looking in the direction where you want to turn will
cause your bike to track in that direction. Bicycles
are not steered with the handle bars, they are steered
with the entire body. When I'm negotiating a fast
corner I have 100% of my weight on my outside pedal,
almost 100% of my weight on my inside handle bar, my
body is as relaxed as it can be, and I'm looking in
the direction I want my bike to track in.
Being RELAXED is important. You are one with the
bicycle and you WILL change it's ride characterstics
depending upon how relaxed or tense your body is. I'd
venture a guess that this is most likely your #1 issue
right now. The all important sense of self
preservation kicks in, you're riding with a group and
you don't want to get too far behind, you're trying to
keep up and you're taking corners right at the very
edge of your comfort zone and the natural reaction is
for you to tense up. If I haven't been riding for a
few months I almost ALWAYS do the same thing for the
first few rides. Depending upon the handling
characteristics of your bicycle it may even start
oscillating quite violently at certain speeds.
Relaxing is the best way to correct this, also bracing
your inside knee against the top tube can also help to
stabilize the bike.
My suggestions for descending would be to practice on
your own time when you aren't worried about getting
dropped by the pack. Find a road with a nice surface
that you are familiar with. Keep your speed well
within your comfort zone and focus on only one thing
at a time starting with relaxation. If your body
doesn't respond to thinking about relaxing then focus
on body parts. Simply thinking about loosening the
death grip on the handle bars may be enough. If that
doesn't work try relaxing your shoulders or your
torso. Then work on weighting your outside pedal, then
the inside bar.
As for your other comments about liking climbing I'm
not at all surprised, most good climbers I know of
have a similar build to yours, this is where you can
win a race! You don't have to be a stellar descender
either, just in control and you WILL get faster.
Now... if someone can help me beat the Audi S4 in DS-N
<grrr>.
Cheers, Joe
--- "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com> wrote:
> I really like cycling, but I'm terrible on the
> descents. I have such a hard
> time convincing myself that I can go fast downhill
> through a turn and I won't
> die.
>
> It's quite humbling, because in the group ride this
> morning, I really, REALLY
> lagged behind. I actually liked the climbs, because
> I knew that's when I could
> catch up to everyone. In fact, the climbs appear to
> be the only place where I
> demonstrate any sort of natural ability, thanks to
> my Saturday coach's great
> advice of just peddling faster. But as soon as we
> get to a downhill, my
> chicken gene kicks in. I know I set up for the turn
> right, but then I just
> watch everyone pull ahead, while I'm battling my
> brain just to convince myself
> that my wheels WILL stay connected to this earth.
>
> It's kind of embarassing and humbling. That, and
> just riding with a group.
> It's hard to convince myself that tailgating is
> good. Especially riding in
> traffic, like with stop lights and cars. Bikes don't
> have brakelights. What do
> you do when the person in front of you makes a
> sudden stop? Doesn't it just
> make sense to leave ample space between you and the
> person in front of you?
> That's how it seems to me, but I'm all alone in this
> view point. The group
> takes off, and I'm left way behind. So, obviously,
> something's got to give
> here.
>
> I'm just going to keep practicing, though, and
> little by little, I trust I'll
> gain in confidence. This is definitely something I
> don't want to force. That
> could hurt a lot. Any tips would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Katie
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