[Closed] Turning Left

just turn right 270 degees?

or perhaps more hepfully, I'm the opposite and struggle with big right turns, it just feels alien to me, but good planning and focussing on the trail rather than my mind means I can do both now, just need to concentrate more on not concentrating!

i was the same, some tuition has helped, hugely.

it's beacause of your strong/ weak leading foot.

now I can see there's an advantage in not knowing which is which :o)

yeah, I realised how bad I was at the pump track at Lee Quarry last night. nursing a reasonable graze to my shoulder!

Advice in the book of knowledge says "mirror, signal, manoeuvre". I tend to get my hands back on the bars though before actually turning.

The other approach is jam on the rear brake and skid round, proper 12 year old style

it's beacause of your strong/ weak leading foot.

if you steer with your feet...

if you steer with your feet...

Which you do! (or should!)

I'm a little bit zoolander myself. Much better on right-handers - down to naturally riding left-foot forward, which works best in a right-hand corner. Switching feet between corners works well for me.

Which you do! (or should!)

perhaps you're mistaking moving the downside pedal away from the ground with steering ? Steering is actually achieved by moving weight and slight opposite pressure on the bars ie push right to go left 🙂

How do people manage winding sections, do you move your weight about, countersteer, lean, or a combination of the above?

Much better on right-handers - down to naturally riding left-foot forward

I too prefer right-handers but I am Right-foot-forward favouring

I'm astonished by this! Does it mean some people favour clockwise or anticlockwise rides because more of the turns will be one way ? Bizarre 🙂

couldn't you all just ride and stop over-analysing?

How does one learn how to do something without analysis of what one is doing wrong? asking people with similar problems allows me to learn what I might change to improve.

How does one learn how to do something without analysis of what one is doing wrong?

I'm not convinced this isn't an intentional wind-up 🙂 Do these people also walk/drive in circles ? We have more or less symmetrical bodies, and I don't think the 2 halves of the brain need to be taught each operation individually...

So you're totally ambidextrous are you SFB?

I also find left turns more difficult, although I find good technique ie looking at the exit, correct body position etc minimises any issues!

...ride and stop over-analysing?

Isn't that how you improve though?

Can you write with both hands equally well? if you can, you will be one of the few who are truly ambidextrous. now please crawl back underneath that bridge from whence you came!

So you're totally ambidextrous are you SFB?

not quite, but I can walk in a straight line despite having to use 2 legs 🙂

I find good technique ie looking at the exit, correct body position etc minimises any issues!

with me it just happens. I don't know how I do it any more than I know how to walk

This is very often case, and as stated earlier is because of which is your natural leading foot. It feels weird to try and train it out because you need to lead with your "wrong" foot.

As for steering with your feet - I agree that this is the best way to visualise the turn. Or something close to the best way. Pointing your hips to where you want to go, combined with the correct footwork is the most powerful and direct way to learn more assertive cornering. Counter-intuitively it is better to not think too much about your hands, in my experience.

I have Similar turning right.
Am not an ambi turner

Hence the Name, eh Zoolander?

I'm much better at left handers, which i put down to being a left foot forwards person. Often I will wash out on right handers if I lean over as much as I do on a left, putting right foot forward helps but feels unnatural.

And strangely when I think about it, the majority of the berms on my local trails seem to be left handers..... surely that can't be right or I'd be going round in circles.....

i'm happier turning left.

based on nothing more than my own musings, i think it's because i lead with my left foot, so i'm only a quarter of a backpedal away from the correct cornering position.

but with a trailing right foot, i'm 3-quarters of a backpedal from the correct position for a right-hander.

(back-pedalling is better so you're not fighting the brakes)

That's the normal way of things. Especially for a quick turn where you snap from your normal cruising footwork into the turn. I lead with the right, so left pedal down is only a few degrees away.

It will make a big difference if you set your feet in the entry to the corner (ie on the straight) and then turn as a separate action. Alternatively you can consciously pedal forward as you drop on to the outside foot - some people prefer an all-in-one movement.

i had to laugh as i passed someone yesterday and they said to their mate ( oh your bike turns sharper than mine-wots wrong with my bike ?.... duh ? lol ...... its got handlebars just steer ! ? 😆

Or their bike had a longer wheelbase...

Seems a relatively reasonable comment to make!

better at left turns but I presumed this was due to riding on roads, more practice doing fast left turns whereas right turns normally need brake check for traffic etc.

interesting point ahwiles, also a few weeks ago I had serious problems dodging a rock aimed squarely at my right pedal, had to fight the brakes to lift pedal to dodge it.

(left foot forward rider)

highclimber - Member
Hence the Name, eh Zoolander?

Indeed!

This is not a wind up some people are more confident dropping into fast turns on a motorbike one way more than the other me included

Edric, SFB is just trolling. its best to beat the Trolls back under their bridges

I'm the other way around. Lead with my right foot, and am happy dropping that forwards a quarter of a stroke (or sometimes less) to get a good purchase in a elft hand flat turn.
I am much less comfortable dropping the left foot. Any advice?

As for steering with your feet - I agree that this is the best way to visualise the turn. Or something close to the best way. Pointing your hips to where you want to go, combined with the correct footwork is the most powerful and direct way to learn more assertive cornering. Counter-intuitively it is better to not think too much about your hands, in my experience.

might you not as usefully imagine your guardian angel gently shoving you round the bend ?? Give me strength! What cobbblers 🙂 Perhaps you also brake with your nose ?

Edric, SFB is just trolling. its best to beat the Trolls back under their bridges

Oi! No I'm not! I just ride my friggin bike without complex visualisations.

Perhaps you also brake with your nose ?

Considering your claim on another thread recently that you end up in A&E at least once a year, is this not your preferred tactic? Do you prefer your face in general? Perhaps you should be listening to some of the advice...

its all to do with being in the northern hemisphere.

when i was down under, i really noticed my cornering was all messed up.

Left is best.

I subscribe to the road riding/more practice theory but there agin, left is only best when I actually think about it!

When I'm riding it is all the same to me.

LOL at SFB with his complex visualisations! Last time I did one of those I went over the bars as I exited a 3 foot platform into space - I missed the exit ramp altogether. Funny thing is, having thought about it as I approached, I cleaned the bloomin' thing with aplomb!

Perhaps you should be listening to some of the advice...

I didn't get where I am today by ever doing that!

Also I think people demean themselves by insisting that anyone who disagrees with them has to be a troll 🙁

much as i hate it, i'm with sfb on this. Do you really notice that much difference? If you do, I'd say there's a fundamental problem rather than anything else.

Analysing it verbally on the internet will do f'ck all as opposed to getting out there and riding, and at the very worst getting a mate to watch you go all grinder round your chocolate side.

I corner left better than right and I am sure it is because I press nice and hard on the right pedal when going left but dont automatically do the opposite when going right; I am right footed.

Sometimes it is nice to play on a section and try different things.
(I spent 30 mins the other day seeing how fast I can go over a particular log, for example) Did the same on a jump, too. (until I fell on my face - Ill keep the wheels on the ground for a bit)

I think I'll stick with my very well tried and proven methods, SFB. Thousands (literally) have been taught by us and it most definitely does work. If you think of cornering primarily in terms of the handlebars, rather than footwork, looking and body movement first you are missing quite a chunk of potential. Or it is possible I suppose that you are already doing these things but are just not aware of it.

btw, If you don't want to taken for a troll then don't type like one.

And pk-r - analysing it and thinking about it when you're not riding is exactly the right way to go about it.

I only notice the difference on really tight switchbacks I must admit, at speed, or on wider corners I can't tell the difference.

glenp, once again i fundamentally disagree with you.

and your encouragement of more people onto the surrey hill pees me off too.

pk-ripper - Member

Do you really notice that much difference? If you do, I'd say there's a fundamental problem rather than anything else.

er, exactly.

the fundamental difference being about 180degrees.

i only have to turn my cranks 90degrees to set myself for a left hander, and can do this in one smooth movement, but 270degrees for a righthander - so i've got to quickly unweight my left foot to get it backwards past tdc, and then apply the weight again when it's at the bottom of the stroke.

now i'm aware of it, i've got something to work with, and i'm getting much better at it.

i confess that in most right handers, i just pedal forwards, but this can get me into trouble if i try it on steep stuff when the back wheel is more or less locked out. so i'm trying to get the hang of both, and learning when to use either...

(numbers are approximate)

Sorry you're peed off, pk-r (genuinely). I've lived here all my life and I've never wanted to stop people coming and enjoying the lovely countryside that I've been fortunate enough to have been brought up in. What we do is a local business which helps the local economy.

You can fundamentally disagree with the method that I described, but the evidence doesn't really back you up. If there were a better way to tackle cornering we'd use it.

i agree with the principle glen, i just don't agree that it can be taught through anything other than practice, and the whole thing of "oh, i'm on the internet therefore i can learn it" is just daft. If someone's unable to find their way to do it naturally, that's what I find bizarre - it's riding ffs. it just happens.

Get out there and ride, have fun, ride with people and see what they do differently. then ride some more until you find what works for you as that'll be entirely subjective. Over-analysing it in a thread seems a bit lame.

If you think of cornering primarily in terms of the handlebars, rather than footwork, looking and body movement first you are missing quite a chunk of potential

I said "weight" first. As to footwork, I'm still of the opinion that is restricted to moving the pedals out of the way of the ground.

If you don't want to taken for a troll then don't type like one.

oh, you mean I have to agree to all this clueless guff ? "Steering with the pedals", right....

i just don't agree that it can be taught through anything other than practice

Ok then, say someone can't (for example) tie their shoes. They can practice all day long, but if they're doing the wrong thing then they may never get anywhere. If someone points out the right technique they could have it mastered quickly. Skills sessions seem a bit like that really, you can spend years trying, and probably getting there, or get someone to instantly show you where you're going wrong.

I wish I was good enough to not be able to benefit from skills training!

You see, there you go again. "Clueless". You're free to disagree, fine. But hell of a lot of people don't find it "guff".

And pk-ripper - no-one is saying that you can [i]only[/i] read about it and thereby learn - but there is nothing strange at all in thinking about it before you practice it. There are a lot of people that want to learn how to be good smooth riders and not hurt themselves, and a little best practice can save a lot of pain. Not sure where you are from, by the way, to be so peed off about people coming to Surrey Hills - if you don't want people to come here you can start by not coming yourself, surely?

i only have to turn my cranks 90degrees to set myself for a left hander, and can do this in one smooth movement, but 270degrees for a righthander

I must admit I have no idea where my feet default to, so I suppose, if I'm freewheeling, it'll be where ever I left them after the last bend, or perhaps level if the ground is very rocky...

You see, there you go again. "Clueless". You're free to disagree, fine. But hell of a lot of people don't find it "guff".

but fact is not determined democratically...

I'm sure people can benefit from skills training, I just think that the ability to be able to corner both left and right isn't a skill per se, it's a fundamental of riding a bike.

I'm by no means a great rider, but i learnt that by myself when i was a child.

I'm right handed and footed, but lead with my left foot and feel better on left hand bends. right hands berms feel especially weird.

I absolutely benefit from reading technical advice and going to try it out. Some of it works for me, some of it doesnt. I am not a natural rider and I fall off quite a bit, but I [i]am[/i] getting better.

Conversely, a riding partner of mine never falls off and he can look at you very strangely when any skills/ technique are mentioned. Taking little drops/ jumps for example, I still havnt found a repeatable safe technique (for me) that gives me confidence to tackle them all. When I quizzed my mate on his technique, his reply was "eh? Just ride off it..." he is what I would call a "natural"

edit, ok everyone falls off but you get my point

i typed out a long reply and it didnt post.
oh well.
loads of riders keep pedals level and are always more comfy one way than the other. most usually because of the closed d open body position the pedal position allows.
just got in from coaching and am menatlly too tired to type it again 🙁

Jedi, when that happens you can often get it back by clicking the "back" button on the browser (if you didn't close the window/tab). This didn't used to work, but has since the rewrite...

this problem can actually lead you into all sorts of issues and in one severe case a guy called mark beaumont lost the ability to corner in both directions - he only nipped out to the shops for some milk...

this problem can actually lead you into all sorts of issues and in one severe case a guy called mark beaumont lost the ability to corner in both directions - he only nipped out to the shops for some milk...

did he not try the back button either?