down hill scardy pants

[Kelly728]

<~~Joins the scaredy cat hill club

I have always been like this. I remember back when I was 7 or 8, riding out the neighborhood on my bike. There was this "large" hill one street over and I braked the whole way down. It wasn't because of a fall, I'm just extremely timid and have difficulty being fearless.

[Reesha]

I don't know what happened to me-- as a child, I would bomb down hills with no helmet and then skid out as soon as I hit the bottom to see how long of a line I could make. Lived on a dirt road that was a giant hill!

Methinks common sense set in with age

[hipmama]

Oh yes, as a kid I flew down the hills, even in college when I lived in the mountains I was fearless. I think it's something about being a mom now... there's this whole different respect for my life needing to be preserved.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Personally, I would call the original poster "Down hill SMARTY pants" instead of "down hill scardy pants".
I was terrified of downhills when i started biking- very very cautious.
But glad I was! Now I have much more skill and confidence.
I can't believe some of the dinky hills I used to brake on and be terrified of. But HEY, I was SAFE and I slowly gained confidence without ever being reckless or taking chances. Lets not confuse common sense with being 'chicken'.

[Crankin]

Yeah, and I just don't get the "line" thing. How do you know what your "line" is? Is there some magical secret?
I can get up to 30+ or so if it's straight, but if I have to turn, forget it. I still feel like I have no control of the bike and I will find myself not where I want to be. Yes, I look ahead, lean in the direction of the turn, put the leg down, etc. It is not my bike, it's me... I will be over on the wrong side of the road if I start going over 25 on a right hand turn. I do better with lefts for some reason. Then there's the fear. Since I have been riding for almost ten years, I have given up. It's actually getting worse. On group rides I am the only one who loses time on the descents.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, and I just don't get the "line" thing. How do you know what your "line" is? Is there some magical secret?

Your line is whatever line you take.

You can learn faster lines through familiarity with a corner. Some corners have only one fast line. Some have several ways that you can set yourself up for the next corner. Most corners have a single apex (the point where you get closest to the inside); some are double or even triple apex.

In general you can take a corner faster by "straightening" it as much as possible, by moving to the outside of your lane on corner entry and exit, and squaring it off by moving to the inside at the apex. But other factors affect the fast line, notably camber, obstacles such as gravel, grates and potholes.

Then, of course, if you're not riding on a closed course, you have to take visibility into account when choosing your line - the likelihood that oncoming traffic will be drifting into your lane, etc.

This article was written for motorcyclists, but keeping in mind that bicyclists usually want to choose tighter lines, it's helpful.

[Crankin]

I knew you would answer, Oak.
Since I have to go down a hill (that curves to the right) every time I leave my house, I know where every curve and pothole is. And every day I say "this time I am going to do it." Get in the drops and go. Instead, I start drifting to the left, squeeze the brakes, and go down the hill at about 15 or less. I just freeze up and freak out. Like I said, I've given up. Maybe I need a sports shrink??

[maillotpois]

Thanks, Oakleaf.

Reading Hough's book to improve my motorcycling last year dramatically improved my cycling descending. That whole delayed apex thing. Good stuff.

[wildeny]

I fell during a downhill turn at a speed about 40 km/hr because I didn't notice the side road was quite slippery (you know, the part out of sun shine). It's quite serious though I didn't know at that time and still had to continue the rest of the trip.

Of course, later I still remembered the feeling of falling but I tried to overcome my fear by practicing. Keep the speed low in the beginning and slowly increase the speed.

This article, Descending by Jobst Brandt, is also quite useful.

[Geonz]

I knew you would answer, Oak.
Since I have to go down a hill (that curves to the right) every time I leave my house, I know where every curve and pothole is. And every day I say "this time I am going to do it." Get in the drops and go. Instead, I start drifting to the left, squeeze the brakes, and go down the hill at about 15 or less. I just freeze up and freak out. Like I said, I've given up. Maybe I need a sports shrink??

Yo both make me feel better. I'm out here visiting in Virginia and ACK!!! The roads curve!!! ... oh, and I'm talking about driving ;P My brother says I drive like a novice 16-year-old afraid of wrecking Mom's car, which is precisely true since I'm in a rental (and we were going up a dirt road in the mountains). (He wasn't faulting me for it... simply observing after I brought up that having been without a car for two years....)
Im similar on the bike, which may be why I rode so much more when I moved to the plains. When I did TOMRV, with so many hills and curves, I had 'em put my name as "ICORNERSLOWLY" so people gave me room (and advice as if I were a novice, which I didn't mind either since it generally applied).
Gonna go check out hte motorcycle page...

[Zen]

On group rides I am the only one who loses time on the descents.

Hello, are you me?
It's a p$$r too because I can climb like a demon

[tantrumbean]

Yeah, and I just don't get the "line" thing. How do you know what your "line" is? Is there some magical secret?
I can get up to 30+ or so if it's straight, but if I have to turn, forget it. I still feel like I have no control of the bike and I will find myself not where I want to be. Yes, I look ahead, lean in the direction of the turn, put the leg down, etc. It is not my bike, it's me... I will be over on the wrong side of the road if I start going over 25 on a right hand turn. I do better with lefts for some reason. Then there's the fear. Since I have been riding for almost ten years, I have given up. It's actually getting worse. On group rides I am the only one who loses time on the descents.

I might be reading this wrong, but are you turning your handlebars in the same direction the turn goes? I found my cornering improved 100% after reading Zinn's stuff on counter-stearing, i.e. actually turning the handlebars slightly in the opposite direction of where you want to go in a corner - makes the bike lean over more and means I no longer end up on the wrong side of the road. Took some getting used to but works great!!!!