[sundayrider]

Hey,

I just realized I corner way way better and more comfortably to the left...? I think i even prefer cornering left in my car...
Now ive realized, im trying to fix it...but its proving to be very hard, as its kinda ingrained.
Im wondering whether other people have noticed that they prefer cornering to one side, or whether im just some kinda lopsided freak?!

 

[buckoW]

Me too. I can drift way better going left and when I turn right it is usually a more controlled railing without drifting. Are you right footed/right handed?

 

[sundayrider]

yeah im a righty (foot and hand)...i guess that must have something to do with it...
Yeah i think i do the same as you to the right, tend to keep pedals more level (as opposed to outside one down) but feel heaps less confident, especially when traction is minimal...
I see you're in champery, say gday to all in Chatel (lived there in 2006)...love that danger h (anne caroline) track!

 

[dhkid]

everyone has a stronger and weaker side. and most of the time, each time they ride, they will just make their stronger side stronger and not bother about correcting their weaker side.

take some time to go back to basics, carve corners in the parking lot. where you dont have to worry about traction as much as on the trails.

lean the bike down, make sure you head and upper body is roughly over the stem, and not pushed out to the side. and rotate your hips into the corner. weather you want to drop your outside pedal is down to personal taste.

stop worrying about what hand/leg you are, the sooner you forget about that, the sooner you will stop using that as an excuse and actually just go out and correct the problem.

 

[buckoW]

yeah im a righty (foot and hand)...i guess that must have something to do with it...
Yeah i think i do the same as you to the right, tend to keep pedals more level (as opposed to outside one down) but feel heaps less confident, especially when traction is minimal...
I see you're in champery, say gday to all in Chatel (lived there in 2006)...love that danger h (anne caroline) track!

Will do, I lived there for 8 months in 2002.

It's actually called Dange H. Don't know where Seb (builder of that track and the Chatel Bike Park) got the name but it might make more sense in French. It is funny how everyone calls it the "Anne Caro Track" when all she did was guide some journalists on it a long time ago. They thought she had a hand in designing and building it so they called it that in the magazines and since that day it has 2 names.

 

[Damo]

That track is one of the best race courses in the area.

It's a shame it has been allowed to deteriorate so much.

Came 5th there.

 

[Gary]

I always used to corner better to the right (Right foot forward riding preference) then I had an unlucky crash resulting in my left foot needing reconstructed, pinned and put in plaster for 8 months. even 5 years on and after a lot of physio it still hasn't fully recovered and I have to ride in a foot/ankle support brace. I now corner to the left about as well as I did to the right but physically can't commit to a right hand turn so well.. it's also way harder to hold a drift turning to the right. basically I've totally over compensated for my weakness.

 

[- seb]

yeah im a righty (foot and hand)...i guess that must have something to do with it...
Yeah i think i do the same as you to the right, tend to keep pedals more level (as opposed to outside one down) but feel heaps less confident, especially when traction is minimal...
I see you're in champery, say gday to all in Chatel (lived there in 2006)...love that danger h (anne caroline) track!

Yep, it's the opposite of whichever foot you lead with. I lead with the left and corner better to the right, though conversely I can only endo/hip to the left Right handed btw, which I think might explain that, I think cornering is more to do with your feet, and endo/hip your hands. Maybe

 

[- seb]

I always used to corner better to the right (Right foot forward riding preference) then I had an unlucky crash resulting in my left foot needing reconstructed, pinned and put in plaster for 8 months. even 5 years on and after a lot of physio it still hasn't fully recovered and I have to ride in a foot/ankle support brace. I now corner to the left about as well as I did to the right but physically can't commit to a right hand turn so well.. it's also way harder to hold a drift turning to the right. basically I've totally over compensated for my weakness.

My theory is that if you're left footed, like me, then if you go to dab in a RH corner your left foot falls down, in a conventional pedalling fashion. If you're right-footed, and go to dab in a RH corner, then when your left foot falls down you're actually BACKpedalling.

Hence why I think the majority corner better to the opposite side that they lead with. makes sense in my head anyway You were just weird, now you're normal

 

[norbar]

Just brake an arm or leg on the side you are stronger and your much closer to ambidexterity Tested it

 

[TomBo]

It drives me nuts. Unless a track has more left turns / off camber then right. Then I love it. Same goes for skiing and driving.

norbar - I shattered my right clavicle, didn't really seem to have much effect. Don't worry, I'll keep testing your theory.

 

[Gary]

You were just weird, now you're normal

Oh, well... wierd or not, I still kicked your ass back then

 

[ride]

Generally whichever foot you ride forward will be the direction you turn better.

For example; If you ride left foot forward- your right foot is rearward. When you begin to execute a left hand flat turn for instance, you begin to lean the bike over. This should transfer a large percentage of your body weight to your outside pedal/foot. This zone that your rearward pedal is at, (looking from drive side) say 9 oclock, is the optimal spot to lean on. The sharper/more off camber/harder the turn is the more you will be fighting to maintain traction. You achieve this by levering your rearward foot/body weight on your rearward pedal between 9 and 6 oclock. The harder you have try to make the turn, the closer your outside foot will go to 6 oclock. This is also the most natural position for your foot to be should you have to dab your inside foot, and will cause the least amount of disruption to your body position mid turn if you do so.

When the same rider makes a right hand turn the same principals are applied, except the outside foot is much farther forward. The levering you do with the outside pedal is now between 3 and 6 oclock (looking from drive side) this zone is not as effective for weight distribution as your rearward foot.

 

[4xBoy]

Go drive Nascar then.

 

[Lelandjt]

My theory is that if you're left footed, like me, then if you go to dab in a RH corner your left foot falls down, in a conventional pedalling fashion. If you're right-footed, and go to dab in a RH corner, then when your left foot falls down you're actually BACKpedalling.

That's pretty much it. If you've ridden Keystone this summer you'll remember the super tight, steep left hander at the beginning of Helter. Almost no one can ride it without dabbing. Approaching left foot forward I usually have to dab. If I switch to right foot forward just before the corner I can rail it clipped in. Remember this next time you have trouble with a steep switchback.

 

[Sandwich]

 

[Ksquaredracing]

Just brake an arm or leg on the side you are stronger and your much closer to ambidexterity Tested it

I tried to over achieve at this and have broken my right collar bone, right elbow, right side ribs, and tore a ligament / broke my ankle on the right side. Still prefer the left cornering.

I find when I drill before riding by doing figure 8's and mentally set up to do both sides equal I am able to be more ambidextrous. But when I am tired or not focusing I fall back into old habits.

 

[skatetokil]

I had this problem over the summer and I put lots of energy into correcting it. You can bring about serious improvement if you practice properly though. For me, the problem was particularly acute in steep, traction challenged terrain (read: snowshoe). If you think about it, these are places where you're usually braking hard up until the moment before the turn and then have to shift all your weight over the bars and lean the bike aggressively. That is a big, risky weight shift and it needs to be fast and automatic. You need to really commit to make a turn at speed.

The best practice I've found other than actually riding sections that gave me trouble was to find a long paved hill and cut the tightest turns i could back and forth all the way down.

Really pay attention to how you move your body, which hands push and pull, where your weight is on the pedals.

I found that I was trying to turn right and still control the carve with my right foot, which is impossible. It should be almost unweighted.

For me, a lot of it was just getting my hips loose to making my transitions between positions on the bike snappier.

 

[altix]

just do it...alot...my turning styles change drastically from lefts to rights, but you can still get threw corners the same speed, find a corner that gives you trouble and time yourself threw it...aLot

 

[NeilG]

That's pretty much it. If you've ridden Keystone this summer you'll remember the super tight, steep left hander at the beginning of Helter. Almost no one can ride it without dabbing. Approaching left foot forward I usually have to dab. If I switch to right foot forward just before the corner I can rail it clipped in. Remember this next time you have trouble with a steep switchback.

Ha ha, I rode into that the first time last summer sight-unseen. I didn't dab but it could have ended badly for sure.

As for turning, definitely better to the side opposite my lead foot.

 

[- seb]

Oh, well... wierd or not, I still kicked your ass back then

Back then I was poop. Gonna get back on a DH bike sometime soon?

 

[karpi]

this is just like so many riders will only 360 to one side, and cant to the other, or when most people will whip only to one side, or how snowboarders will only ride regular or goofy. Practice will make it perfect though.... just gotta try, time and time again until you get it.

 

[NOOP]

Generally whichever foot you ride forward will be the direction you turn better.

For example; If you ride left foot forward- your right foot is rearward. When you begin to execute a left hand flat turn for instance, you begin to lean the bike over. This should transfer a large percentage of your body weight to your outside pedal/foot. This zone that your rearward pedal is at, (looking from drive side) say 9 oclock, is the optimal spot to lean on. The sharper/more off camber/harder the turn is the more you will be fighting to maintain traction. You achieve this by levering your rearward foot/body weight on your rearward pedal between 9 and 6 oclock. The harder you have try to make the turn, the closer your outside foot will go to 6 oclock. This is also the most natural position for your foot to be should you have to dab your inside foot, and will cause the least amount of disruption to your body position mid turn if you do so.

When the same rider makes a right hand turn the same principals are applied, except the outside foot is much farther forward. The levering you do with the outside pedal is now between 3 and 6 oclock (looking from drive side) this zone is not as effective for weight distribution as your rearward foot.

So, how do you overcome the odd position (between 3 & 6 o'clock) of your forward foot in a turn that the same direction as your forward foot, i.e. left turn w/ left foot forward? How do you drive the tires into the ground and get a similar feel to turning the opposite direction?

 

[skatetokil]

Relocate your foot. . .

 

[blender]

Generally whichever foot you ride forward will be the direction you turn better.

For example; If you ride left foot forward- your right foot is rearward. When you begin to execute a left hand flat turn for instance, you begin to lean the bike over. This should transfer a large percentage of your body weight to your outside pedal/foot. This zone that your rearward pedal is at, (looking from drive side) say 9 oclock, is the optimal spot to lean on. The sharper/more off camber/harder the turn is the more you will be fighting to maintain traction. You achieve this by levering your rearward foot/body weight on your rearward pedal between 9 and 6 oclock. The harder you have try to make the turn, the closer your outside foot will go to 6 oclock. This is also the most natural position for your foot to be should you have to dab your inside foot, and will cause the least amount of disruption to your body position mid turn if you do so.

When the same rider makes a right hand turn the same principals are applied, except the outside foot is much farther forward. The levering you do with the outside pedal is now between 3 and 6 oclock (looking from drive side) this zone is not as effective for weight distribution as your rearward foot.

absolutely on the money!

these are exactly the conclusions I came to when I analyzed my turning technique, and figured out why I can turn better to the left.

i ride left foot forward and i rail to the left, but i'm still struggling with pinning right handers
it just feels so natural to hang my ass off to the right, put pressure on the outside right foot that is between 7 and 8 o'clock and rip into the turn... can't execute that in the other direction to save my life

time for more practice.

 

[NOOP]

Relocate your foot. . .

Thanks, that helps.

Seriously, I've come to the same conclusion about why it's harder to turn away from your front foot. Does anyone have any insight into how you can develop the feel for, or get similar results as, turning towards your front foot? I'm looking for some techniques to actually practice.

 

[skatetokil]

Thanks, that helps.

Seriously, I've come to the same conclusion about why it's harder to turn away from your front foot. Does anyone have any insight into how you can develop the feel for, or get similar results as, turning towards your front foot? I'm looking for some techniques to actually practice.

I really wasn't kidding, you have to get that front foot down to 6 oclock or even further back on hard turns. Note that you cannot do this if you're braking hard in back at the same time. I noticed I was getting hung up on my right handers cause I wasn't releasing soon enough. Going the other way you're back pedaling so it doesn't matter.

 

[Gary]

So seems there are more of us that are "weird" than "normal"

because of this thread when I went out this weekend I actually spent some time testing which side I corner best to and it turns out I actually corner best to the right again, only my injured foot still won't allow me to weight outside pedal as well as it did before the injury so I hit some right handers more cautiosly now (shows up more on rough corners, G-outs and some off-cambers). I can now hold a drift better to the right again too. I still prefer to hip to the left and table to the right.. that never changed.

Seb - I still ride DH quite a bit, just don't race.. I still go to races, ride race tracks and follow racing.. talking of which, I noticed your Inners results.. did you crash both rounds?

 

[sundayrider]

/Users/Stefan/Desktop/chtel.jpg
Cheers for the response fellas...just trying to see if posting this pic works...

But yeah ive figure a lot of my problem is not being able to put my outside pedal down when turning right and braking into the corner as i cant back pedal (i ride left foot forward)...was thinking i might try and teach myself to ride switch then would be able to setup with either left or right foot forward depending on the corner...could take a while to learn though...

 

[Bicyclist]

To upload a pic, either use Ridemonkey's uploader or go to imageshack.us and copy the image code to the reply box.

 

[skatetokil]

/Users/Stefan/Desktop/chtel.jpg
Cheers for the response fellas...just trying to see if posting this pic works...

But yeah ive figure a lot of my problem is not being able to put my outside pedal down when turning right and braking into the corner as i cant back pedal (i ride left foot forward)...was thinking i might try and teach myself to ride switch then would be able to setup with either left or right foot forward depending on the corner...could take a while to learn though...

If you drive stick on a car, you'll know you need to put the clutch in before you try to change gears. On the bike, you need to release the brake, at least for a second, before you try to rotate the cranks.

 

[MinorThreat]

I corner better to the left too; I attribute it to too many of my formative years racing flat track motos - - it's all left turns, even on the straights.

 

[Red Bull]

I corner better to the left too; I attribute it to too many of my formative years racing flat track motos - - it's all left turns, even on the straights.

Hmmmm...

 

[Huck Banzai]

I want to corner better
who will coach me for a reasonable rate

BAH

I will watch people corner and mug whoever is nicest for their skills!


MUAHAHAHAHA

 

[NOOP]

I really wasn't kidding, you have to get that front foot down to 6 oclock or even further back on hard turns. Note that you cannot do this if you're braking hard in back at the same time. I noticed I was getting hung up on my right handers cause I wasn't releasing soon enough. Going the other way you're back pedaling so it doesn't matter.

Nice. Thanks for the clarification... I appreciate it!