Quote Originally Posted by bouncybouncy View Post
I am a major downhill-wuss...and I ride nothing but these mountains. I do use my rear brakes but only on the straight sections, saving my front brakes for the turns (I am usually on my brakes for the entire descent!)

Relax! Hold your line! and yes...NO sudden moves! Go YOUR speed! Relax!

Don't brake in the turns, since that causes your bike to want to straighten out (resulting in an undesired exit from the trail). Feather your brakes to bleed off excess speed before you roll into the turn, let off the brakes and put the outside pedal down and weight it as you rail thru, then hit the gas again as you come out of the curve.

Brian Lopes has a nice, lavishly illustrated handbook out these days, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, that does a good job explaining cornering on downhill, XC, and 4-cross courses. It's a good read, and I've picked up a lot more from it than some of the older books...