The corner – a simple bit of trail that seems to pop up everywhere. I suppose we need them. The Romans did many things right, but they wouldn’t have built the most interesting of trails would they. So, cornering. If it appears that often, and is the key to riding smoothly, maintaining speed and keeping the ‘flow’, then why is it so neglected and abused? In this quick article I’ll go over the basics of this fundamental, yet often overlooked skill and give you an idea of how you’ll benefit from coming to a Dirt School/ Alpine Bikes coaching course.
Although no corner looks the same, the same underlying principles need to be applied. In the picture above, first look at the riders body position. As you can see, he’s looking ahead. He’s dropped his outside foot and is keeping his upper body stable and facing down the trail. The correct body position is crucial. Start using your shoulders and you’ll reduce your stability with a high centre of gravity (COG). To help this, dropping the outside foot will further lower that COG and help increase grip and balance. Finally, looking ahead will give you plenty of time to react and set-up correctly for the incoming corner.
Finally, learn to brake in time. Looking ahead as previously mentioned will help this. Slowing up before and letting off the brakes through the turn will undoubtedly get you going faster and decrease your chances of crashing. You don’t see Lewis Hamilton jamming on the brakes mid-turn!
So there you have it - the fundamentals of cornering. Get yourself along to a Dirt School/ Alpine Bikes class and you’ll learn this and much, much more. Everyone can learn something.
Please visit the Dirt School page for more information and booking into a Dirt School class.