Originally Posted by
waterrockets
Have you ever bombed through a corner in a crit and just been
positive that you over-cooked it, but didn't? This happened last night. I had reserved myself to low-siding if it didn't stick, but took the risk because I needed to keep my teammate in the top 10 for the last lap, and there was no other way to move up the last couple spots without taking wind.
I'm not the cornering genius that several of you are, but I just kept my head about me and fed it countersteer input in a smooth fashion. If I crashed, it was going to be a calm one. I also decided against topping off my tires last night, and was probably racing at about 100psi rear and 90psi front, and I feel that was a good thing.
I've been racing this course every few weeks for, what, nine years now??? I've never hit this corner that hard, and I've skated a bit going slower. I was so sure that I would lose the front this time.
It's this western-most lefthand bend here (we raced counter-clockwise last night).
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2640.../data=!3m1!1e3
I've done it. Not a fan of it! Among my riding friends, I've got a reputation as a good handler and descender, and I think a lot of them think I'm some kind of daredevil. From my perspective, I actually do not like pushing the limits and actually hold back a LOT. I guess there's a lot of variation in how well we perceive the limits.
But when I have tested the limits, well, the most exciting corner like that I've ever taken wasn't in a crit at all. It was my first year in college, well before I started racing. I was borrowing my roommate's bike, which was just a Specialized Crossroads hybrid, and I went to take a downhill right-hander at some of the roads going by the Central area dorms at UMass, realized immediately that I'd way overcooked it and didn't have room to complete the turn on the road itself. So I had no real choice to ride it out, rolling up onto the sidewalk (thank goodness for rounded curbs!) at full lean and then try to hang on long enough to slow to a stop. The impact with the curb knocked my feet off the pedals, but I managed to stay on the bike and brake to a stop.
I was lucky I didn't fall off that time, but it's a nice reminder of what a bike is actually capable of if you keep your **** together and don't panic. You can ride over a lot of things and still recover if you don't **** out. Like a frickin sidewalk curb.