By Coach Fred Matheny
Your fast friends go downhill in strange postures. One tucks low over the top tube and holds the handlebars close to the stem, his nose nestled between his knuckles. Another puts his hips behind the saddle, resting his stomach on the seat. And you’ve seen pictures of pros sitting on the top tube in front of the saddle, chin almost touching the front wheel — although no one in your group has quite jacked up his courage to try it. What’s the best compromise of speed and safety?
Once you are going so fast that you’re spun out in your largest gear, superior aerodynamics can add substantially to descending speed. So pros try to get as low and narrow on the bike as possible, even risking stability. But hey, they’re pros. They’re great bike handlers or they wouldn’t try such dangerous gimmicks. And they get paid to go fast so they’re willing to take the risk. The rest of us can afford to descend a bit slower in order to be a lot safer.
Some Safe Descending Tips
Be balanced. With the crankarms horizontal, rest about one-third of your weight on the pedals, one-third on your hands and the rest on the saddle. Don’t sit heavily on the saddle but rise up slightly — just enough to take some weight off the part of the saddle where you normally sit. Pin the nose between your thighs for greater stability.
Touch the top tube. As you coast down a fast hill, press the top tube between your knees or upper calves, depending on the frame design. Doing so helps avoid bike shimmy because your legs damp vibrations in the frame that might make the whole bike shake. Even just resting one leg against the top tube can be enough to prevent shimmy.
Keep hands wide. Grip the brake lever hoods or put your hands in the handlebar hooks within easy reach of the brakes. Forget holding the bar on top next to the stem. Sure, this position is slightly more aerodynamic, but it’s less stable due to the narrower grip and it puts your hands far from the brake levers. An experienced descender desperately in need of another mile per hour can use it on a straight road with good visibility. But it’s best left to the pros.
Look ahead. Keep your back flat and your head up. A flat back is best for aerodynamics and stability, too, because it gives you a low profile from the side. There’s less area for crosswinds to catch and push you off line. With your head up you can see down the road. You’re going fast, so problems come at you much quicker, too. Looking well ahead helps you anticipate and react.
Feel like a cat. Mountain bike racers need superior descending skills because the surface they’re zooming down is rough, narrow, curvy and lined with rocks. Laurie Brandt, a multi-time winner of the Leadville 100 off-road race, coaches riders to imagine they’re a cat, emphasizing suppleness, relaxation and a “pounce” position on the pedals. Think about it next time you have the opportunity to observe a cat stalking a bird or playing with a toy. Cats are both loose and coiled at the same time, always ready for action. They jump from scary heights but land lightly. Feel like a feline on descents, weight balanced on your hands, feet and the saddle.
Relax. The biggest descending error for most riders is unnecessary tension in the hands and upper body. Bikes are meant to be piloted with a light touch on the handlebar so the front wheel can move slightly back and forth for balance. But it can’t happen if you have a death grip on the bar and an advanced case of rigor mortis in the shoulders. Tension starts in the face, so consciously relax your jaw muscles before you start downhill. Then let that relaxation flow down through your shoulders, arms, and hands. Be loose. Be a cat.
Next Article: How Can I Avoid Boredom on Long Solo Rides?
Fred, this a great article! Thanks for sharing it. In Indiana we have one of the most popular rides of the year this weekend – The Hilly Hundred. Indiana is known mostly for it’s flat terrain, but in the southern part of the state, we have some very steep hills that will challenge your bike handling skills. Several thousand riders attend this event, creating many rider groups with a mixed bag of downhill riding experience. For those who have been riding a long time, the advice Fred provides here may come more naturally. But for the more novice riders this article could possibly save them from a bad wreck and injury. When I started racing back in the mid 70’s, one general technique I was taught and I’ve shared it with many novice riders over the years is to relax your mid section while riding. Along with Fred’s suggestions, this will help you ride more efficiently and get you down long hills safely.
The picture that accompanies this article is not appropriate. The cyclist should be on the right side of the road so as to ‘hit’ the apex and get a better line of sight.
I wouldn’t assume this was on a “drive to the right” road/country… some places are “drive on the left”. 😉
The bike will align itself directly in the direction of your eye sight fixation.
Same as when passing through side posts on narrow pathways
When defending on curvy hilly roadways …
if available keep your eyes on road Centerline and/or Sideline markings.
I’ve also watched this video on Descending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuWNJ745Zzs
Thanks for the reminders. Also, look at where you want to go, Not what you want to miss. If you focus on a rock or pothole, really good chance you will hit it!
All my bikes have the cyclocross interrupt levers, so I can move my mass back and use my Torso as an air brake. I only use a helmet with a Snell sticker. Based on my injuries the ER thinks I was going 50+ mph. I have no memory of the month of August.
Great reminder on descending. Only thing I would add is to keep the weight balanced, or even slightly back of center to allow that fraction of a second extra to react to a bump or sudden obstacle. The roads most of us ride are not perfectly smooth, nor closed to other traffic. A bump that is no problem at 20mph could cause a life threatening crash at 50+mph. Leave that kind of risk to the pros. Even at that skill level, serious crashes are not that rare.
And plus 1 for Indiana’s Hilly Hundred. I’ve done that event and Tom F is spot on. The hills on that ride are short and steep (up to 20%). Hitting 50+mph is very possible, although on those roads my testosterone levels limit me to about 45 :0
You actually want to have a slight bias to the front wheel more than usual at high speeds because almost all bikes have trail built into the fork design. Your first reaction maybe to put your weight back behind the saddle but thiis will make it worse. This video is about motorcycles but goes through how weight itself and weight distribution can affect speed wobble on a bike. Well worth the time if you can save your ass in a speed wobble situation. Remember all bikes get speed wobble just most pe opp please are not fast enough. YouTube video: https://youtu.be/z3OQTU-kE2s
The safest hand position is in the drops, not the brake hoods. Even a slight bump can knock the hands off the hoods unless they are gripped very securely. A bump when you’re in the drops will loosen the hands from the bar, but the upper curve of the bar above the hands will prevent your hands from completely losing the handlebar. I found this out from sad experience.
Most people have descending problems because they don’t know how to corner. You can’t go fast downhill until you learn how to go fast around a corner. (Well, you can, but you might also kill yourself.) I limit my downhill speed only because I don’t get to ride on closed roads. You never know what’s around that corner…