Quote Originally Posted by GLC1968 View Post
OK, I had to come back here and post about this. When Velogirl mentioned that we steer with our hips, I thought to myself "well, of course...sure...that makes sense" but I never actually thought about it while on the bike, until last night. On my commute home (in the parking lot before I left), I decided to try paying attention to how I was steering. Small swerves were done with my hips, but when I needed to turn big, I used my handlebars. So then I tried to not use my handlebars. I gripped my bike a little harder with my legs and leaned into the turns more. It was like a big ole lightbulb went on in my head!! OMG...so THIS is how the guys I ride with make those turns so tightly? The rest of the ride home, I found myself looking forward to turns where there were no traffic lights so that I could practice turning at a good clip. Then I did the same thing coming in this morning. Turns are fun...who knew?!

One small comment and I've just made a sizable leap in my cycling abilities!! Man, I love TE!! (and special thanks to Velogirl for stating what seemed to be the obvious...but in reality, isn't! )

Steering (slight changes in direction) and cornering are actually different skills. For cornering, we use a skill called counter-steering: outside leg down and weighted (you're standing on it), inside arm pushing the bar, bike leaning into the turn, body leaning back out, outside thigh pushing into the saddle nose, and looking (with your head, not just your eyes) around the turn. Oh, and I also recommend leading with your inside knee although some folks teach that you grab the top tube with your inside knee. Much easier to do than describe.

The only time we actually use the bar to steer or corner is at very low speed -- under 7mph (ie mountain bike switchbacks or something similar).