Conquering downhill fears

[RoadRaven]

One more time, it's psychological,, not technical.
And it takes time. We know this. This is primarily a commiseration and support group.

Well, yeah - but some of it is technical if you want to do it more quickly.

I have a snippet from one of the Tour de France stages playing over and over in my head.
It was a descent (of course!) and I think it was Cancellara following someone else down - they were leading. I can't for the life of me remember who was in front (I'll ask my partner when I get home - he'll remember) and the leader went too wide on the corner and went off-road for a few seconds before getting back onto the tarseal... Cancellara had been following his swooping descent and followed the same line, trusting he had got it right and of course ended up on the grass as well.

They were taking the lines so wide to ensure the fastest path down the hill.

When you know the lines to take, and learn how to identify them, it helps you with your confidence because you know how you and your bike will react on angles at speed. Thats half the problem with downhills if there are corners of course...


(Oh, and my earlier post where I said I use the full width of the road...? It should have read I use the full width of MY SIDE of the road... never cross the centre line - espesh on downhill corners (or any corners).