terrified of hills

[OakLeaf]

I've been down some steep switchbacks that came up suddenly.

Um, no, the switchbacks were there the whole time, and if you were looking ahead you would've been able to complete your braking before entering the turn. What I said before about "seeing with your whole eyes" and looking where you're going.

Smilingcat's correct about the limits of traction, but the thing is that corners often collect sand, gravel, water or oil, so that all of a sudden you have a lot less traction to spare than you did a ten seconds ago when you decided to apply the brakes. So just like in a car or motorcycle, the best practice is to complete your braking before entering the turn, then accelerate through the apex to improve your rear wheel traction.

[mimitabby]

Um, no, the switchbacks were there the whole time, and if you were looking ahead you would've been able to complete your braking before entering the turn. What I said before about "seeing with your whole eyes" and looking where you're going.

Smilingcat, great advice, thanks
Oakleaf, there ARE hidden turns and I encountered some on Monday! they were very twisty and I could NOT see where they were going. I WAS looking ahead. but suffice to say, i had already slowed down because the folks ahead of me warned me!

[OakLeaf]

Smilingcat, great advice, thanks
Oakleaf, there ARE hidden turns and I encountered some on Monday! they were very twisty and I could NOT see where they were going. I WAS looking ahead. but suffice to say, i had already slowed down because the folks ahead of me warned me!

Well, okay, but that's another point. That's what they call the "fridge factor," i.e., if you come around a turn and in one lane there's a refrigerator and in the other lane there's the pickup truck that just dropped it, what are you going to do? The point being, never go faster than your visibility and your stopping/swerving distance (speed and traction) allow. Sometimes that just means not going all-out. Even when you know the road and you *do* know the lines through the turns, you don't know what's going to be in them.