Maintaining control, power, and speed when cycling downhill
by: Troublegum
Posted on: Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pm by: Troublegum
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Descending is a balance between aerodynamics, maintaining power and cornering at speed. Your skills in each of these areas can make or break a race for you. Let’s look at each briefly.
Aerodynamics : If the road is relatively straight and steep enough that you can’t pedal effectively, you can adopt a tuck position. In this position, your hands will be close together on the top of your handlebar, while your knees will be pressed together against the top tube of the bicycle. This keeps your body very aerodynamic but leaves you unstable for cornering, away from your brakes, and stops you from gaining speed by pedaling. So for most descents, you will find a compromise position, typically with your hands in the drops, so you have more control over the bicycle and easy access to the brakes.
Maintaining power : Riding with a power meter such as a Power Tap will open your eyes to a whole new way of riding. If you simply practice riding at a consistent power up and down hills, you will find that you will be dropping your riding buddies on the descents and they won’t know how to catch up. This takes practice. Psychologically, we want to rest at the top of a hill, but if you practice working a little less going up and maintaining your effort going down, your overall speed will be much faster. Because your momentum will last you all the way down the hill, accelerating over the top of a hill and at the start of the descent is critical. It is much easier to gain speed and time on riders when you are still moving slowly at the top than it is to add extra acceleration once you are already flying down the hill.
Cornering at speed : Corners are a great place to make up time because it doesn’t take any extra energy. In general, you will ride a corner “outside, inside, outside.” This means that you will be swinging wide in preparation for the turn, cutting to the inside of the corner and exit wide. Often this is not possible, but it is the ideal situation. Your hands should be in the drops, but you should avoid braking in the corner. If you need to scrub speed, do it before you get into the turn. Your outside foot should be down, and usually it is best not to pedal until you are out of the turn. Don’t drop your inside knee like the motorcycle guys. Keeping your inside knee in toward the top tube will keep your weight more squarely over the bicycle for better traction. Pushing down with your inside hand will keep your torso slightly more upright while the bicycle leans further into the turn. Practicing this skill is best done on a closed course, preferably following someone who is better in corners than you are.
Remember, not all your time on the bicycle has to be hard work. Practicing these skills can be fun and can provide an excellent advantage in your next race.
