Last month, I rode with someone I hadn't ridden with for quite some time, and I was informed that I had really improved my climbing skills. I actually surprised him! I didn't realize that my climbing had improved that much ... but I live in a hilly area now, and every ride I do has some sort of hill in it, and so I climb them. Hills are not that big a deal to me anymore.

However, I had a crash last April on a descent. And now ... I hate descending. I would much rather ride on flat ground or climb the hills. I never did have a lot of confidence on descents in the first place ... 13 years of living in pancake-flat Manitoba didn't give me a lot of practice with them. But apparently now I descend hills slower than I climb them!!

I would like to build up my confidence, at least to the rather shaky level I was at before the crash. If you are a fairly confident descender ... how do you do it? What sort of tips can you give me?

There's nothing wrong with being conservative on descents, Matchka. The only thing I can think of that I do is using my hips and lower body for banking the bike, counter-steering in turns, looking farther ahead on the road rather than down in front of you, and relaxing and feeling confident. Think of yourself as a nimble panther running down a mountain. Looking farther ahead I think makes the biggest difference in handling turns on descents. Hope that helps a little.

You probably have all the skills with all the mileage you've put in on the bike.

What about wet descents? My crash was on a wet, muddy descent, and I'm almost at the point where I want to get off and walk down if the road is wet. (OK, I actually did do this once since the crash)

I see some cyclists just shooting down the hills ... even when the road is very wet ... and I wonder why they don't end up sliding, when I feel like I'm going to at any moment.

Only thing I would add to that is getting off the saddle a tad, nose closer to the stem, pedals horizontal, knees like shock absorbers. Sitting back on the rear wheel as you brake during your desent (you may feel yourself being pulled forward during the braking action). Also, give yourself extra lateral room. You may have to take a bit of the motorist's section of the road. I stick a hand out to let the motorists know I need and am taking the space. They usually understand and back off a tad, passing on the extreme left. Nod, smile and say or gesture "thank you as they pass".

Just like hill climbing, the only way to boost your confidence is to do more of them.

I had a crash on the flats while in a right-hand turn (front blow-out). It took quite a bit of time to get over the crash mentally. It was longer than the physical recovery.

Maybe you could consider finding a hill to practise your descending skills on--one that you've recon'ed ahead of time to ensure that there are no potholes or gravel. Climb the hill, turn around, and bomb back down. Quit while on a good note to re-enforce the positives of the experience.

Im a bit of a maniac decender, but when its wet I dont fool around. Id rather save it for another day then take that chance. Best way I found to improve is follow a good decender. Ask them to start out mellow and slowly increase. Feeling confident with the speed is huge.

I would take the fastest line, not to go fast, but to minimize the amount of leaning necessary. Of course when it wet and muddy, there might be no avoiding a crash. Road tires have very small contact patches and just a small slip at speed can mean going down.

1) descend in the drops. Lower center of gravity= better handling.

2) brake before turns. Slow in fast out is the fastest, and safest way.

3) learn to turn by countersteering (i.e. pressing down on the inside handlebar to push the bike over into the turn). Davis Phinney has written about this and he can explain it better than I can. See https://cvcbike.org/club/descend.html and https://books.google.com/books?id=O33...-IumE#PPA28,M1 This method allows much more control , and the ability to alter your line as needed.

4) when it's wet, really emphasize No 2, brake before the turn, enter the turn very slowly, and make the time up on the exit, and the straightaway.

I'm not a pro at descending, but that sounds like good advice and similar to the things they teach you when you take your car to the track. Brake before the turn, accelerate out of the turn, etc. I'm going to try descending in the drops more - I just don't feel as confident corning in the drops.

This comes up fairly regularly, you can probably search around for tons more info.


I would summarize my tips for learning how to descend better as:
1) Practice, practice, practice

2) #1, following someone who descends well, try to match their line through

3) #1, with someone who descends well following you, and offering criticism

4) Look where you want to go...as far up the road as you can see

5) Don't look where you don't want to go. Funny how when you look at that rut you don't want to hit, you end up hitting it. Keep your eyes focused out in the distance, your body will compensate.



I would not worry about the technical stuff too much (countersteering, even braking). If you work on the above, #1, 2 & 3 especially, you will figure the technical bits out naturally, so they become habit...not something you have to think about.

Also, keep your elbows bent, and weight the outer pedal. Keep your upper body relaxed.

Line selection is important (just like with motorsports). I see a lot of riders go to the inside of the turn too early ("early apex") and then have to tighten up their turn on the exit.

Pick a smooth turn with good sight lines that's on a regular downhill that you ride and, after you figure out the best line, make a point of letting off the brakes a little later each time you ride it. That'll teach you to hold your line when you're cornering a little bit harder than your comfort level. The bike can corner much harder than almost anyone actually rides; you just have to learn to make yourself do it.

I'd really recommend hill repeats. You get a lot of descending practice on a known course. After a few weeks (1 hill repeat workout per week), you'll be really familiar with that descent. Then you can take what you've learned, and your confidence to other descents.

Oh, and stay away from your back brake in the rain. Try to section the descent curves into straights, so you can gain a little speed, then do some braking without turning, then curve at a slower speed, moving inside. Then you can straighten up and brake more if you need to, then turn back in.

There's a descent here in Austin (Beauford) that, while I can beat cars down, I still can't get fluid on it. It still freaks me out, and I've been down it like 100 times. The road is grooved/textured, with a 20% grade in places, and very curvy. So, I go straight, brake, curve, straight/brake, curve, etc., etc.

You also have to listen to your instincts. I will never descend Beauford in the rain unless I'm on a mountain bike. You wouldn't even be able to walk it in cleats. School buses can't get up it even when it's dry (they drop the kids off going downhill). A friend recently bounced a bottle out of its cage on the descent, and it took him 100m to stop. When he finally stopped, his bottle passed him up and he had to chase it.

Haha wow! That's awesome!

If your bike starts that horible high speed wobble, press your knees into the top tube and the wobble will stop.

Lots of guys smarter than me regarding descending have already answered but to me it sounds like you might have had a bad day because it was a bad day, i.e. riding down a wet, muddy road. Working on a known hill to rebuild your confidence would be a start and take it easy on wet roads.

From mountain biking I learned to scoot my rear way back on (or even off of) my saddle. It's not particularly aerodynamic or otherwise technically sound but it lowers my center of gravity enough to feel like I can stop riding my brakes all the time. It's saved me from flipping over many times on my mountain bike and I feel like I'm more ready to react if I start to skid out on my road bike. I go slow when it's wet, muddy or if the road is covered in gravel. +1 on braking before the turn, it's too late to scrub speed once you're in the turn.

Congrats on your improved climbing skills- I'm still working on that part!

I'd agree 100% on hte known roads issue. I've had 4 close calls decending all involved a nasty surprise of some sort. (Uneven roa repair with 1-2 inch lip, gravel that looked like rough tarmac, off camber turn with a light coating of sand and a killer pothole). In all 4 cases the first 'warning was when I hit the problem. That does not happen on a truely known road.

I'd say the next step is taking roads with good visibility.

Oh and keep a bit of your fear, from now on if a road is wet or otherwise nasty take it easy decending.

I had a bad crash on a wet decent a few years ago (my brakes stopped working and I flew through several downtown red lights before crashing onto the curb on the waterfront). It took me a while to get back on the bike at all. Like any fear you just have to face it, take it slow at first, and after some time you'll forget about it and love the thrill again.

I'm the slowest descender on my last group ride. All the fattys past me. I was at the front and with in a few tenths of a mile a dozen people passed me.

Most lousy descenders I see have two things in common other than bad line choice: bad braking and too much tension.

1. Do your braking in the straights and navigate the turns w/o braking in them. Your bike will follow the turn much more naturally and will be more stable if you lay off the brakes. Hitting the brakes in a turn is an easy way of laying down the bike (and you) especially in wet/loose conditions.

2. Nervous descenders tense up and their rigidity is translated to their bike. Try to relax and let your bike follow the road the way it is designed to. If you are tense your ride will seem stiffer and less stable which will only result in more tension for you. Tension can also cause you to overreact and make mistakes on the descent.

Lots of good advice. I try not to think about too many things. Practice one or two until it becomes second nature, and then focus on one or two more.

Look at where you want to exit the turn
Brake before the turn, hands off the brake while turning unless you have a major emergency
Steer primarily by leaning bike
Outside pedal down on turns.
Weight on outside pedal
Keep body vertical while bike leans

and finally - increase body mass.

j/k on that last one.

I am a wuss on wet descents and descents with loose gravel. I slow it way the fark down. Nothing wrong with that, IMO becasue there is little to lose in slowing down, but a lot to lose by going down in bad conditions. Someone in this thread said it also, when its wet or gravelly I go wide before the turn, actually turn before the turn, then cut the turn in a series of straight lines. It just makes me feel safer. Same with train tracks...I do all my leaning and turning before I hit the tracks and I go over the tracks at a 90 degree angle, nice and straight, no leaning.

Yeah, but you don't count...

decending is an art. the key is to relax. try to balance your weight evenly between the front and rear wheels. I actully don't like decending on the drops...I like to be in a comfortable relaxed position, this means the hoods. I can get to the brakes and shift if I need to.

the key is to know the road and find the best line. be as smooth as possible. if its wet, dont lean the bike as much. there is a way to counter lean the bike but lean your body. picture the lean of the bike and your body as a single line, this would be a straight line at an angle, this is the typical lean in a turn. now, picture the bike as one line and your body as a separate line, the head would be at the end, the same place as the single line, but the body would have a steaper angle and the bike would have an almost vertical angle, this keeps reduces the stress on the tires, thus reducing the chance of sliding the tires out. this is something that you would need to practice, but in wet or sandy conditions, it will help keep you upright.

Don't be a wuss. Disconnect your brake cables, then you'll get the hang of it !

(Sorry, but someone needed to get the smart-ass comments going after all those serious, helpful posts !)