Descending

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Klaus

Klaus

Senior Member
Location
High Wycombe
That seems to be very tame - try the Chilterns - gives me regular nervous breakdowns, whatever the road conditions ....
 
fossyant

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Ah, a kilotogo vid - that's pretty straight that one - it's on the Cheshire Cat after Congleton. There is a picture of me drinking a energy gel down Bridestones on the 2010 event..... :wacko:

That's a very easy descent.

The main thing with descending is not to grab the bike, and be fluid. Look past the corner and the bike will follow. Also helps if you put your brain in your back pocket. :rolleyes:
 
montage

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
Love descending, though nearly overshot one with a car coming the other way just the other day. Pedal like mad, enter corners wide as possible, cut into the inside whilst taking the corner on and pedal like mad again.....

Welcome to the forum andrew G....some nice descents around that part of the world!
 
martint235

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Alien8 said:
I freely admit to not being particularly good at descending, put it down to not have much chance to practice here in Flatlandia, but this video (gets most interesting from about 30s in) looks a bit loony given the weather conditions, state of the road surface etc.
http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

I'm reaching for the levers as I watch it.

Chapeau to the rider!
Click to expand...

You're not alone. I'm cr*p at descending. Unless I know the road well and I'm confident that the road surface hasn't changed since I last saw it, I'm on the brakes the whole way down. The one thing that worries me more than anything else is where the grit has accumulated towards the centre line, I always have nasty visions of the outcome of running into it on a corner.....
 
Y

yello

Guest
I'm not the world's bravest descender either. That one looked okay to me though, nothing too hairy. Saying that, I am assuming the roads are not icy and the sun not quite as glaring as it looks at times. So I'm crediting the rider with making sensible decisions!
 
Kestevan

Kestevan

Last of the Summer Winos
Location
Holmfirth.
Thank god for fast twisty descents. They're the only thing that makes it worth dragging my lardy arse to the top of the hill in the first place :smile:
 
Y

yello

Guest
It reminds me; I rode a sportive this *last year (a rarity for me these days!) and was merrily climbing past folk, a 13km climb of around 550m... only for them to bomb past me on the descent. Most demoralising :rolleyes::laugh:

Edit: LAST year obviously!
 
GrasB

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Kind of what fossy said. For the straighter sections relax the body, keep your steering smooth & don't try to micro-manage the bike, let it wobble a little. You want to be looking a long way ahead for anything in the road.

On the tight corners keep it smooth, gentle & confident, one of the worst things you can do is be nervous as the bike will respond to that. Lots of pressure on the outside pedal & raise your self off the saddle a little bit. Again let the bike move under you if it wants to. Brakes can help you a lot, the front & back brakes have subtle effects on the bikes attitude so learn which brake to use when.
 
HelenD123

HelenD123

Legendary Member
Location
York
I used to hate descending and would be on the brakes the whole way down. I'm sure I was slower than on the flat! That descent actually looked quite tame to me. I'd happily go down it in dry conditions without braking much.
 
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