why are left turns/U-turns so hard (for me?!)

[latelatebloomer]

So here's me, doggedly trying to improve my rudimentary riding skills. I finally admitted to myself that I can't do u-turns AT ALL, and so have been taking my hybrid to a parking lot to keep working at them. I WAS practicing with my road bike but was getting worse instead of better - panicking at near-falls clipped in. I figure that when I was a kid on a bike I made hundreds of u-turns without thinking about it, and my plan is, when I can turn easily on the hybrid, put the little platform cheaters on the road bike - and then finally, clip in.

One thing I figured out is that u-turns are one situation where it's better to slow using the rear brakes, is that right? Leaving the front wheel to move smoothly?

And then I realized something... I can make a clockwise u-turn pretty well. Turning counterclockwise (to the left) as is more necessary - AWFUL! slow, jerky, unstable, too wide, nearly impossible. AND riding on the road I realize - same for left turns! My right turns are kinda slow but smooth and I hold my line, left turns - I start too early, skirt the other lane dangerously, and do it again no matter how hard I try! grrrr

Any ideas how/why I am making this so hard for myself? I did do my crash on a left turn, but that was 1 1/2 years ago, and I should be, and want to be, over that now and on my way to being a better cyclist.

(btw, I am a larger rider and this is my first sport at age 47, so I am just developing skills like balance and coordination and physical confidence/courage now. Better late than never!)

thanks for any help - the extremely determined LLB

[ehirsch83]

Besides being slow, turn your head! I learned that I used to make horrible tight turns, then I realized I wasn't turning my head-once I started to really turn and look, all of my weight followed and my turns are now nice and tidy!!

[DebW]

One thing I figured out is that u-turns are one situation where it's better to slow using the rear brakes, is that right? Leaving the front wheel to move smoothly?

You shouldn't be using the brakes during the turn if possible. And definitely not the front brake during the turn. Slow way down first, then turn with both wheels rotating freely.

[Zen]

I'm not real smooth with U-turns yet either.
Just keep doin' what you're doin' - practice!

[KnottedYet]

which foot is "down" on the pedals when you do a right turn? (should be left)

which foot is "down" when you do a left turn? (should be right)

If you have a habit of putting the same foot down whether you turn left or right, it could throw you off some.

[lph]

...and if you turn hard enough, it'll throw you off a LOT - like clear off the bike...

Did that once, doing a u-turn down a steep hill and caught my inside pedal on the kerb - did a perfect somersault and landed on my backpack

[OakLeaf]

It's common for people to have a much easier time turning one direction than the other and I don't know if anyone really knows why.

ehirsch hinted at this, but: pick your eyes up. Don't look at the ground. Turn your head all the way and look at something (a tree, a road sign, whatever) that's in the direction you want to be going when you complete the turn.

Your bike will go where your eyes are looking. That's true all the time, but it's most apparent at very low and very high speed, and hardest to correct once you've made an error at extremes of speed. Look at the ground while making a U-turn, and over you'll go. At high speed, if you look straight ahead rather than through the turn, presto, you've missed the turn and you're in the guardrail or tumbling down the hill.

There's a famous (if somewhat sexist) cartoon that illustrates the caption "Your bike will go where your eyes are looking." The drawing depicts a roadside billboard picturing a buxom woman. A tire track leads up to the billboard, and a motorcyclist's head is impaled in the billboard model's cleavage, the bike still dangling from his legs.

[OakLeaf]

...and if you turn hard enough, it'll throw you off a LOT - like clear off the bike...

Did that once, doing a u-turn down a steep hill and caught my inside pedal on the kerb - did a perfect somersault and landed on my backpack

OOOh yeah... someone was training me for racing 20 years ago when I was still riding a touring bike, long wheelbase, low bottom bracket, and they forgot to mention that little gem to me. I don't even have any recall of what happened, but from what he tells me, I stuck a pedal in the corner at 21 mph and all my forward momentum turned into launching me five feet up in the air, jackknifed front to back, turned upside down and came down on my head with sparks flying off my helmet. The next thing I remember is about half an hour later, when he was going to get his truck to take me to the ER (this was the days before cell phones).

If you remember to weight the outside pedal in higher-speed turns, that will help keep your wheels on the ground (your leg acts like a shock absorber), and that automatically keeps your inside pedal up.