Steering with your Hips

[GLC1968]

OMG! I'm sorry...I admit to feeling partially responsible for your spill!

Two things that came to mind reading your post...one was that velogirl mentioned that you need more handlebar on a turn when doing switchbacks at slow speeds. My guess is that at higher speeds, you need both handlebar and hips in perfect union?

The other thing I thought while reading was OMG...I'm on a road...not a trail!!! My conditions are a a bit tamer than yours!

I hope you aren't hurt and that you'll be out there giving it a shot again soon!

[telegirl]

It's all good!... It seems like it was more a Blonde Moment than anything else - I was so into "steering with my hips" that I just totally blocked out everything else! It was just so funny to be sitting there thinking "wow, I need to work on my hip movements" and then thinking "hmmmm, I wonder if I should have steered more with the handlebars??"

I'm thinking I am going to practice on some tamer downhills and try to get those handlebars and hips a goin'. Salsa on Bike- I'd like to see them put THAT on Dances with the Stars (well, maybe not Jerry Springer in bike shorts )!

[Squeaky]

I love this tip! Since I read it on the other post, I've been practicing it and my turns (especially left) have improved immensely... weeeee

[han-grrl]

When it comes to turns or any mtb riding, or any bike riding, you always want to look where you want to go. as soon as you turn your head you will naturally start pointing the rest of your body where it needs to be. also...being lose on the bike will let the body follow more easily.

during the 24 hour race earlier this year (that one i did on a team), i was coming into a a switch back, descent...there was a tree on the side, and i guess some people started to shoot for the tree...i was watching the path to the tree and realized that i actually had to turn BEFORE the tree (and also didn't realize how steep it was), so at the very last second i threw my inside knee (it was a left turn, so the left knee) and hip to the side, and steered it left. meanwhile i hear this "oh crap" behind me. the guy behind saw the tree as well, but was following too close behind to change directions and well..didn't make the turn...i said "you were too close weren't you" he gives me this sad "yeah"...i said "my husband might be jealous if he saw you that close to me"...

[rocknrollgirl]

I was just practicing this on my new bike this past w/e. I think I had the same mantra going on....hipsthiswaybikethatway hipsthiswaybikethatway...
DH was behind me with a mantra of his own whatinhell whatinhell

LOL!!!!!


Ruth

[telegirl]

THANK GOODNESS no one was with me, Ruth! Because I was actually singing my mantra LOUDLY to whatever happened to be playing on my ipod.....

I tried again last night....and it seems to be making me better at rolling when I fall, but not at cornering!

K.

[velogirl]

Okay, lots of excitement about the concept of steering with your hips, but I think there's also a bit of confusion, too. Let me try to clarify.

Steering-- Steering refers to minute changes in direction. Steering is not cornering. Steering also includes the ability to ride in a straight line. When I refer to steering with your hips, this means that the bike will move/point in the direction your hips are facing. This assumes that you don't correct this motion with your hands. So, if I drop my hips and point them to the right, the bike will naturally move to the right. When I point my hips in a given direction, my core and shoulders will also point in that direction. Ideally, your head also points in that direction (also referred to as looking where you want to go). The focus, however, is your hips. If you point your hips, your body will follow. If you point your head, your body might follow. Tricky, eh? when I teach this skill, I ask riders to let their pelvis roll off the side of the saddle. I also ask them to unclip their feet so they don't try to counter-steer (see below). Your feet should be completely weightless when you do this.

Cornering -- to corner the bike, we use a skill called counter-steering. Counter-steering is a complex skill, but the corner-stone of being able to corner and descend with confidence. It looks something like this:

• Assuming a right turn, I place my left (outside) leg down and stand on it. This weights the leg and allows the bottom bracket to flex. I'm still seated on the saddle, but you might see a little daylight between my right glute and the saddle. I'm also able to steer by pushing the nose of the saddle with my left (outside) thigh.
• My hands are in the drops and I weight or push the right (inside) hand. You can also unweight or pull the left (outside) hand.
• I allow the bike to lean to the right (inside). This increases the contact patch on the tires which makes the bike more stable. The more you lean, the faster and tighter you can turn. The faster you are turning, the more you need to lean.
• I lean my body to the left (outside), countering my weight on the bike so I'm still over the bottom bracket. If you don't lean to the outside, the bike could slide out from under you.
• I lead with my right (inside) knee. There are actually two schools of thought here. I teach to lead with your knee because this opens up your hips (ie pointing with your hips as in steering). Old school coaches will teach that you grip your right knee against the top tube. This second method just doesn't make sense to me.
• I look around the turn with my entire head (not just my eyes). I refer to this as looking with my chin or leading with my chin. The more you look, the tighter the bike wil turn.

Differences Between Road and Mtn -- The skills we use are essentially the same, however there are some subtle differences between road and mountain, mostly because the terrain is different. For example, in mtn biking, you might make a very tight turn (switchback) that you would probably never do on the road. Most of the differences are really defined by the speed at which you ride (see next bullet).

Speed -- The speed at which we perform a turn really determines how we do it. At slow speeds, we definitely use the bar to assist with steering and cornering. This is because the bike doesn't have enough momentum to corner without using the bar. This means that most times when we're climbing on the mountain bike or the road bike, we use the bar to control direction. When we're descending quickly on the mountain bike or the road bike we would steer with our hips (minute changes in direction) or counter-steer (corners). If we're descending more slowly (ie tight, technical switchbacks) we need to use our hands/head much more than for fast descents.