10X Your Cycling Cornering Skills With This Secret Weapon 

Great advice re. mantra. When I’m fatigued, I often use FOCUS as my mantra.

Being tiny helps. When leaning, the reduced distance from helmet to where the tyre touches and grips the tarmac (hypotenuse) means your head and upper body and all their weight (cyclist are top-heavy) aren't as far from the tarmac as would be for a taller rider. So apart from having less assistance from gravity on the way down, being small is plus for descending as well as climbing.

As both a road cyclist and a motorcyclist, I found that your relating motorsport concepts, such as countersteering and trail breaking, interesting. It is the first time I have heard someone make those relationships, and I thought it may be helpful to bring up a few other strategies from the motorcycling world that can help to make descents faster and safer. I am by no means an expert but think these are worth considering. Safety and proper bike handling techniques are of primary concern in motorcycling training, which you don't hear too much about in road cycling. Cross-Training: Applying Motorcycling Skills to Road Cycling 1) Countersteering: Motorcycling: Push the handlebar in the opposite direction of the turn to initiate the lean. Cycling: Apply slight pressure on the inside handlebar and weight the outside foot to control lean and improve cornering precision. 2) Trail Braking: Motorcycling: Continue braking into the turn, gradually releasing the brakes as you lean further. Cycling: Use the front brake for initial deceleration and ease off while maintaining slight rear brake pressure through the turn for better control and stability. 3)Target Fixation Avoidance: Motorcycling: Train to look through the turn and focus on the exit, not obstacles, to avoid fixation and maintain smooth trajectories. Cycling: Practice looking ahead to the corner exit and key points, rather than obstacles, to maintain a clear and smooth path through turns. 4) Body Positioning: Motorcycling: Shift body weight inside the turn, keeping the torso low and flexible for better control and traction. Cycling: Adjust body position by pointing the inside shoulder and hips towards the turn's exit, unweighting the saddle slightly for improved handling and reduced tire load. 5) Braking Techniques: Motorcycling: Use both brakes with a bias towards the front for more powerful, controlled stops. Cycling: Emphasize front braking power, ensuring smooth modulation and shifting weight slightly back during hard braking to prevent rear wheel lift. 6) Vision and Scanning: Motorcycling: Continuously scan the road ahead, using peripheral vision to monitor surroundings and anticipate changes. Cycling: Develop a habit of scanning ahead and using peripheral vision to stay aware of road conditions, upcoming turns, and potential hazards. 7) Cornering Techniques: Motorcycling: Enter turns wide, apex late, and exit wide to maximize control and visibility. Cycling: Adopt a wide entry, focus on a late apex, and maintain a wide exit strategy to navigate corners more efficiently and safely.

I did wonder if the guy following Pidcock just didn’t want to be too close in case Pidcock messed up. I’ve done that and it’s a little scary - the person in front hits the brakes and skids a little because they overestimated their ability in the corner and now you have to react similarly to avoid them. So maybe Powless was using the air braking you mentioned as well as not countersteering because he’s a little heavier or better tucked in the drops and was gaining too quickly. I’m not sure, just a thought. He does seem to loose ground after that corner so maybe he’s just not as good as you said. The other thing I wondered about was the Pantani, which you omitted in the discussion. It’s 2% faster than the back down (looks like hands in the drops) method and you didn’t mention if it’s legal or not. Now, maybe sticking your hands on the bars makes your back down position even percentage-wise with the Pantani, but then you have to consider which is actually safer - not being able to brake quickly or being able to brake, but not quickly get out of the aero position behind the seat. I’ve never felt comfortable with the “safe on top tube” position - it feels unstable to me and even harder to get out of - but the Pantani feels very stable and very fast to me on a very straight descent. However, there are few times I can use it. Even gradual turns are a bit much. I can’t remember if I was using it at the time or not, possibly, but a deer ran out in front of me in a gradual turn once. I chose not to brake because I was afraid I’d slide out at that speed and just hoped our trajectories were different enough and the deer didn’t change its mind. The guy behind me said it looked like we merged 😮

Isn’t the saying “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” ???? Maybe he just misspoke. Good advice to be heeded whenever doing something both safety & time critical.

Pidcock is an incredible diver!

Awesome. Science!

AMAZING INFO

Use your body as a brake in air, it helps just to brake a little bit. 9:14, I'm doing this, but I have a reason, if somethiing will go wrong, you can kick back yourself into the traction (Peter Sagan did that on some race). NOTE: I'm not pro rider, this is just my experience.

grip it and rip it. FYI watch brakeless street bmx riders whip out of fakie to see the most extreme version of counter steering

Also comparing to the motorcycle is not a good idea, they use motor to increase the adhesion. In case of going up for sure. I'm not sure in case of descending.

What helped me the most was committing to not using the brakes and leaning way over

Helps to be the mountain bike world champ, powless is a good climber though

" Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. " Mark Allen

ever seen safa brian descent? some people think hes a lot better than tom going downhill

Descending on hookless? Good luck with that