CYCLEFILM'S Sportive Survival Guide - Descending
Learn how to descend safe and sound in another special masterclass hosted by top UK cyclist and Sportive Specialist Michael Cotty. The full Guide is available as part of the Bonus Features of Cyclefilm's "The Trilogy" and "The Road to Hautacam" at http://www.cyclefilm.com/trilogy.html
Step 1: Let momentum take you round bends:
You can see here, just the position of the bike nicely on the drops, relaxed upper body, just letting the momentum take you through the bend. Outside leg pushing down, keeping everything nice and tight. Inside leg up so you’re not going to clip a petal on the apex at the corner. Also a nice technique is to actually apply a little bit of body weight, sort of push on the outside with your outside leg; that really helps you sort of stay tight to the corner and it means if you do need to tighten up the line, you can just pull down with the left hand arm in this instance and just keep nice and tight on that apex.
Step 2: Tackling a right hairpin.
Now, what we’ve got here is a right hand hairpin, and as you can see, as I enter the bend I’m getting close. I’m try to, actually, break before the bend, and then use the bend to roll through with as much momentum as possible so I start off on the left hand side of the road, swinging out and then really cutting across the apex using the bend as much as possible. It’s quite a difficult technique and I don’t always do it because if you’re in a bunch you can get a bit nervous.
Step 3: Mind traffic:
Make sure that you do understand from the organizers that you are on closed roads though because if you’re shooting down a mountain decent at 80 or 90 kilometres an hour then if there is traffic coming the other way, it could be the end of your race, it could be the end of more than your race so watch out for cars. On the race here, you can see we certainly didn’t have closed roads so we were taking a few risks at times, but, yeah, just keep an eye out for cars and oncoming motorists at all times.
Step 4: Stay relaxed:
We’ve got a nice flowing right hand bend here, so on the entry you can see I’m on the left hand side, of the bend. I would have taken most of my speed off before that point and then taken the brakes off, so I’m rolling through this section. From there you can see how I’m just sort of cutting straight across the apex to the midpoint of the decent. So hands are actually on the brake still, just in case you’re going to need them in emergencies, but try and stay relaxed and try to roll through the corner, and then you can see straight afterwards on the exit moving out to the other side of the road, and then try and gain the momentum again.
Step 5: Don't ride this line:
You see on this same right hand a different line, perhaps not the most efficient line through this bend, so, I’ve started off on the right hand side, so I’ve had to scrub a lot more speed. And then I still wanted to take the apex tight to see if there’s traffic or things coming the other way, but I would have lost more momentum coming into the bend, and then as I exit the bend I’m slightly in the wrong position, I’m actually running wider now which is going to put me closer to the barrier, and again it’s going to make it harder to get momentum up and gain speed for the next corner.
Step 6: Pay attention to the lines:
On any section of the road, pay a lot of attention on inner or outer lines where generally the traffic aren’t going to go, there could be gravel, the road could be a worse surface so it’s a big consideration because if you come into a bend a little bit fast or you run wide, as soon as you hit a gravel patch, you could quite easily be in the barrier before you know it.
Step 7: Now for the left bend:
Well, the same thing coming into a left hand bend, you can see I’ve moved over onto the right hand side of the road. Going to sweep through, trying to cut the apex nice and tight, and then on the exit, move straighter onto the right hand side of the road again, try and keep as much momentum as possible to start getting that speed up again.
Step 8: Adjusting the lines:
If you aren’t on closed roads then you’re going to have to adjust the line and it’s not going to necessarily be the racing line, so here, I can’t see all the way around the bend so I can’t check if there’s traffic coming the other way. I’ve stayed slightly further on the right hand side of the road still keeping it tight onto the apex, but just staying all the way up on the right so if there, if it does happen to be traffic coming the way, that follows the kid won’t be spread all over the road for the wrong reason.
Step 9: Ride conditions of the road:
Well the same thing here on another right hand, so I’m all the way on the right hand side, it’s a real tight bend here. Taking a lot of my speed down before I hit the corner. If we were on closed roads you could sweep straight out from the left hand side, straight across the bend and keep a lot more momentum, but on this occasion you’ve got to ride to the conditions of the road, so I’m right on the right hand side, taking a lot of speed down, just getting around the corner, hitting the apex, and then straight on the exit for the next bend.Now, descending any mountain is always exhilarating, it’s always a real buzz. Especially when you’ve got a series of hairpins, and you piece them all together, you feel that you’re hitting a good line, you’re keeping good momentum. One thing to consider though, is if the weather does change then you’re going to really have to slow that riding down.
Step 10: Weather considerations:
Don’t be put off by riding slow when it is wet because the roads can turn really, really slippery and as you can see here, I’m sort of gingerly making my way around the corners now, trying to keep my weight more upright so I’m not leaning as much into the bends. And also, you know, consideration is sort of diesel and sort of things on the road when it does rain, they just become notoriously like ice rinks, so I think the aim, really, here for me is just turns into making it down the mountain as safely as possible in one piece with the bike in one piece, the rider in one piece. And if you do have one point of consideration, if you do have roads with the white lines, then, try and avoid them at all costs because they just get ridiculously slippery.And when you are in a decent, it’s not so bad in a climb like this, but definitely a couple of times in some of the sportiest, you hit a mountain decent and you get a tunnel.
Step 11: Light Considerations:
If it’s a nice day you’re going to have your glasses on and when you hit that tunnel, make sure that you either move your glasses forward or that you’re just looking past your lenses because as soon as you hit the tunnel your pupils are still going to change. I’ve been caught out a few times where I’ve gone into a tunnel it’s been dark, I’ve got my glasses on, I didn’t shift them forward, pupils are going to change, so, you end up just riding into this, you know, black hole, and not seeing anything and it can be really, really dangerous so, if you do know that there’s tunnels on the circuit, or you can see it as you approach a tunnel, just shift your glasses forward, look past your lenses so that your pupils adjust before you hit the tunnel, and hopefully it’s going to stand you in good step for when you hit the middle of the tunnel and you can still actually see where you’re going.
Step 12: Riding in groups:
A part of any sportive or ground fun event will encompass a lot of riding in groups, so despite the fact that there may be times when you want to take a particular line, whether it’s the fastest line, the racing line, round a bend, always consider the riders around you. I’ve seen on numerous times when a rider almost is riding as if they’re on their own on the road. And before you know it, they sort of cut from the left to the right, or right to left, and they’ve taken twenty or thirty riders out straight away without even realizing. So, pay a lot of attention if you are riding in a group, and, as I say, if you are not on a perfect line, whatever line you’re on a decent, just stick with it. The main thing is actually just to make it to the bottom in one piece, and enjoy as much as you can in doing so. Just a couple of general riding techniques, you can see a nice high cadence and that really sort of preserves the legs. If you go out there and you’re going two-hundred kilometres and you’re grinding away in a big gear, it soon wears you down. So try and keep a nice high cadence, nice and relaxed on the bike, arms are slightly bent to just mop up any road vibrations or if you do hit any pot holes your ready to react to them. So really, you know, just try and stay really nice and light on the bike and relaxed at all times and I think that’s going to be a nice technique to get through the longest sportive.
