Originally Posted by
LMaster
With that in mind, my bike handling is going to need SPADES of work. General handling is somewhere between poor and below average, with a large dose of skittishness thrown in. I probably need to race them, but crit type races seem like an impossibility to me right now given this. I get gapped sometimes around corners on the few group rides I've been on, let alone a race situation where people are pushing it. Descending is even worse. On several local climbs my descent speeds are in the teens when top rides are coming down in the mid 30s. I think I understand the concepts and technique, but just lack the skill and most importantly confidence to really go after it on turns, not knowing exactly how much is too much lean before I go down (even though I'm obviously nowhere close to that point).
Really good that you recognise this. Too many people think that all they have to have to be a racer is a huge FTP. Find somewhere that does skills clinics. You need to get comfortable at close quarters, so that you aren't nervously hitting the brakes as soon as your front wheel is within a foot of someone's rear. You need to be able to handle contact without panicking - find someone who will ride slowly with you on grass (you're going to fall off a lot) and practise contact - shoulders, elbows, wheels - until you've absorbed the counterintuitive fact that the instinctive sudden recoil from accidental contact isn't the way to keep you and others safe.
Descending you can practise on your own. Find a descent that is currently just a bit too fast and technical for you to get down without using the brakes. Keep at it, focussing on staying smooth and relaxed, and getting used to the idea that if you hit the apex and trust the bike you can get through the turns without braking. The first time you manage to do that will be a huge confidence-booster and you'll never need to touch the brakes again on that particular descent. Then move on to something a little more challenging, and so on.
And have a look in the racers forum. Either the 33 or the master's forum, depending on your age, would be invaluable to you in terms of training tips.