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Good cornering technique; relaxed, eyes looking ahead, hands on drops, outside pedal pressed down.
Whether you are a road racer, time trialist or sportive/leisure rider, the ability to go around bends safely and efficiently is very important, writes former national track champion turned coach Aidan Ryan.
This is a skill that can be the difference between winning and being an ‘also ran’. Even the leisure cyclist will save energy through good cornering technique.
The main objectives when going around bends/corners are:
- To get around safely
- To conserve as much momentum as possible.
The first point does not need much explanation. Suffice to say you can’t win a race or finish a sportive from the back of an ambulance!
With regard to the second point, every time a rider brakes and loses speed, extra energy has to be spent to return to the original speed. This is over and above the energy that would be required to keep riding at that speed.
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Acceleration has a higher energy cost than keeping at a constant speed. Stopping from 35kph and returning to that speed has a greater energy cost than continuing at that speed for an extra 200m.
Think about a rider riding a race on a short circuit. This circuit has four corners per lap to be negotiated. Rider A can freewheel through them 2km faster than rider B. The race is 20 laps. Rider B has to accelerate an extra 2kph on 80 occasions during this race. Rider A is going to be a long way ahead and/or a lot less tired approaching the finish of the race.
Cornering Tips
Below are a number of tips to help you with your cornering. You can try these in a safe place such a closed road circuit like Corkagh Park or an area of tarmac closed to traffic.
Look Ahead
Keep your head up and look well ahead at where the road goes. Try to see as far as you can ahead. Look to see where other riders or race vehicles have gone so that you get some idea of the route ahead.
Line
Pick a line that will allow you to come out of the corner fast. The most efficient line for this is an arc that has an increasing radius. In other words the point where you begin turning should be closer to the apex of the corner/bend than the point where you straighten up. Turning left on a closed road you can begin turning from the right-hand side of the road, almost clip the apex of the corner and then take a wider arc towards the right hand side of the road on the exit of the corner.
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Braking
Brake before you begin your turn. Brake progressively and smoothly, touching the front brake marginally ahead of the rear brake. Then lay off the brakes once you begin the turn, releasing the front brake just ahead of the rear. This is particularly important when the surface is wet or loose. The front brake will give more stopping power. However locking the front wheel will almost always result in a fall while locking the rear will result in a skid which is remedied by releasing the brake.
Feet
Keep your inside pedal up and your outside pedal down. (If you are turning right, the right pedal should be up and the left pedal should be down.) If you do this the wrong way around you will more than likely clip the inside pedal on the ground causing the tyres to lose grip.
Lean
- Lean into the turn using your shoulders and hips to guide the bike. Stay low and relaxed on the bike. You should feel at one with your bike and not feel like you are fighting it.
- Your lean will be at its most extreme just before the apex of the bend and should be gradually straightening up as you come out of the bend.
Grip
Press down with your foot on the outside pedal. This will help the tyre bite into the road and grip better on their lateral thread. The limit of the grip will be lower on wet or loose surfaces. In these conditions everything you do should be scaled back and gently applied.
Hands
- Keep your hands on the drops of your handle bars. This helps keep the centre of gravity low and increases stability.
- Stay relaxed with elbows flexed so that you can react to changes in road surface etc.
Pedalling
Learn to judge when you can begin to pedal again as you begin to emerge from the bend/corner. If you begin pedalling too soon, while you are still leaned over you will hit you inside pedal on the road.
Emergencies
If you need to brake for some reason while in the bend first straighten up the bike from the lean. Braking is far more effective when your bike is perpendicular to the road. Braking hard when leaned over is likely to cause the tyres to lose grip and the bike to slide out from under you.
Practice these skills by laying out some traffic cones to form a corner or bend in a closed car park or other traffic free tarmac area. Ideally you should have another cyclist or coach with you who can give you feed back on your technique.
You can also work on these skills using the drill below:
Dice 5 Cornering Drill
- Make a large square (10mX10m) with 4 small traffic cones.
- Place a 5th cone in the centre of the square.
- Ride, in a low gear, anti clockwise along the outside of the square until you are clipped and comfortable.
- At the next cone turn left into the centre of the square.
- Turn right around the centre cone and return to the outside of the square
- Repeat this process at each of the 4 outside cones
You can do many laps like this as it can be an almost hypnotic drill.
However make sure you switch to going clockwise around the square. You can also vary the drill by making the square smaller or changing it to a rectangle.
Aidan Ryan has been involved in track & road racing and mountain biking for nearly 40 years. He has won seven national track titles and represented Ireland on a number of occasions. He is a level 3 coach and holds a degree in physical education. Aidan has coached riders of all levels from beginner mountain bikers to European track champions, from leisure riders to ultra-distance record holders.
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