Quote Originally Posted by PscyclePath View Post
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...

I guess I should have been more specific...ooops! I do feather the brakes but that was mentioned so I failed to say that when I am using mine it is in a feathery manner. Also the intensity of the turn also makes a difference of how I brake...PsyclePath did explain much better than I can...although I am repeating such instruction in my head for an entire descent. Many rides I am on consist of 5-10 miles of constant downhill...tough on a hill weenie!

For no explicable reason whatsoever I manage to descend on a mtbike with much more confidence and skill...someday I will be able to transfer these traits to my road bike!!!!