Improving Descending, Stopping, and Tight Turns on S40

[MNBentRider]

Greetings! I'm so excited - the weather has warmed up this week in Minnesota and I have been getting some rides in on my S40. It is such a pleasure to be back on the bike again! The weather will turn cold again next week, but for now I am enjoying the respite from winter.

These rides have got me thinking about goals for this year. My S40 was new to me last June, and I put on about 4,000 miles last year. Mostly I rode for fun last year, and didn't work much on skills. Certainly I've got the basics down, but I'd really like to improve in 3 areas:

1) Descending. Where I typically ride, we don't have any real hills. Most of you would probably call these "bumps" and not hills. Even so, I struggle mentally to go down almost any incline. I often ride my brakes, and my partner jokes that I go faster up hills than down them. (I just looked at the stats for my last ride, and he may not be wrong - oof!) My goal is to teach my brain to relax and allow my body to keep pedaling.

2) Fast stops. This is related to #1. Part of the reason why I'm nervous is that I'm convinced that if I am going faster and I need to stop quickly, I am likely going to lose control of the bike. I feel this mostly acutely when descending, but also even on the flats. My theory is that if I practice this regularly, I will gain skill and that confidence will follow.

3) Tight turns. I'm slowing way down for many turns, especially the tighter ones. I also often sit up and unclip for turns. Time to work on this.

For that last item, I think I probably need some time in a parking lot doing some turning drills. But I'm open to suggestions for ways I can improve my skills in these areas.

Thanks, and happy riding!

 

[chicorider]

Glad to hear you're having some decent riding weather. The good stuff is coming.

Fast stops and tight turns improve with practice and time on the bike, as you suggest. Some of it is also situational. Not all fast stops and tight turns are the same, and they come with varying amounts of warning. Parking lot drills are good, but that's a controlled environment. The open road is harder to predict, so you almost have to just accept it and let things play out while assuming that all will be fine. I have noticed that the more anxious and tense I am on my V20c, the worse I ride. I'm not saying "just relax," which is right up there with "calm down," but making the mental decision to try to relax can help. When things do go awry, I make sure to learn from it and adjust my approach. After overcooking a downhill turn on iffy-quality pavement and washing out the front end, I now give downhill turns a little more respect, especially when the pavement is chattery. After passing cars on the right to catch a green light, and a car suddenly turned right in front of me without signaling, I no longer pass cars on the right, even if it means missing an otherwise catchable green light, dang-it! After wiping out at full speed on uneven pavement under construction, I now take it easier through construction zones, or alter my route. And since nearly being car-doored at full speed, I have kept my line further out from parked cars (another thing I learned from that incident, which happened when I was still fairly new to the V20, was that I maneuvered around that door with no time to think. No time to slow down. My body just did it reflexively. That was the day I realized I was all the way through the learning curve).

Descending with less fear is another beast. I have cracked 60mph a couple times, and regularly hit the 50s. It isn't until after that I sometimes think about how much trust I am putting in the bike, and I try not to think about what could have happened at 50+mph (a tire blowout, a poorly timed squirrel, a car pulling out in front of me...). These worst cases can happen on any bike, so I try not to believe that the Cruzbike is somehow more prone to descending mishaps. These bikes do handle quite well at speed, and they flow better when the body is relaxed. Again, I understand that that can be easier said than done. And again, downhill speed can also be situational. The descent is twisty? I'll ease up a bit. The road surface is chattery or inconsistent? Same. Car traffic is on the heavy side? I will ride the downhill as if I was another car, even though I could go faster. But when the descent is at least fairly smooth, not too twisty, and traffic is light, I put my trust in the bike and let it rip. I won't claim that this is the smart choice (it isn't), but I rarely feel like I'm asking the bike to do more than it can handle. If I were wanting to work on descending with less fear, I would face it head-on, just not all at once. Go to a downhill that you are familiar with that is smooth enough, straight enough, and with light enough traffic, but that you also tend to ride with the brakes, even though it seems like you shouldn't have to. Do downhill repeats, working on using the brakes less and carrying more speed each time, until, eventually, you are able to make it down without brakes. It might take three runs and one day, or a dozen runs over a few days. Your brain should be able to relax a little more each time, and you'll get plenty of good climbing in. Then, once you've mastered that hill, move on to another that is slightly more challenging and do the same thing.

Two tips for descending on a Cruzbike: first, since the feet are involved in the steering, it can help to keep them turning, even if only lightly, when going downhill. This keeps that part of the steering active rather than passive while coasting. I am comfortable coasting when things are calm, but when descending in crosswinds that want to push the bike, and especially its heavy front end, around, I will keep my feet lightly pedaling to have more control over the bike as my feet and hands work together to steer. And second, a DF rider can create stability through higher speed turns by weighting the outside pedal. You can do the same on a CB by weighting the outside edge of the seatpan with your torso. I will also keep my head level with the road through the turn for better visibility.

All that said, in the end there is nothing wrong with descending inside your comfort zone, whatever that might be. The goal is to enjoy the ride, and while facing mild terror is a thrill for some, for others it can really put a damper on the pleasure of riding. If you really do want to descend better, you can work on it. But if the truth is that you really don't, then don't sweat it and ride your ride. Have an awesome spring.

 

[MNBentRider]

Go to a downhill that you are familiar with that is smooth enough, straight enough, and with light enough traffic, but that you also tend to ride with the brakes, even though it seems like you shouldn't have to. Do downhill repeats, working on using the brakes less and carrying more speed each time, until, eventually, you are able to make it down without brakes. It might take three runs and one day, or a dozen runs over a few days. Your brain should be able to relax a little more each time, and you'll get plenty of good climbing in. Then, once you've mastered that hill, move on to another that is slightly more challenging and do the same thing.

I like this idea a lot. There is a stretch of road not far from here about 1 mile long with roundabouts on either end and a valley in the middle. It can be busier but probably not at times I am riding, and not many cross streets or driveways to worry about. Practicing on this section could help me get comfortable going downhill. I did ride it several times a week last year during July, but I was still new to the bike at that point and I was always nervous. Now that I'm more comfortable on the bike I might be able to train my brain to relax.

since the feet are involved in the steering, it can help to keep them turning, even if only lightly, when going downhill. This keeps that part of the steering active rather than passive while coasting.

Yes, I keep telling myself this, but for some reason my brain cares little for logic when I am at the top of a hill. All I can think is "oh no- scary!" Completely ridiculous. I don't even have a good excuse like a previous crash.

All that said, in the end there is nothing wrong with descending inside your comfort zone, whatever that might be. The goal is to enjoy the ride, and while facing mild terror is a thrill for some, for others it can really put a damper on the pleasure of riding.

True. Riding really fast or racing is not something I'm interested in. BUT I want to be able to ride down a hill faster than 8-12 mph, which is just embarrassing LOL.

Thanks for the encouragement!