Have been following these articles and watching/reading more on cornering technique and trying my best to apply it.
Like you, most of my skills training came from the mid 00's (and some from the early 90's) and now at 42, I've been seeing some huge improvements in speed and confidence through corners. I'm getting to the point where now trusting the position and that the grip will be there is getting scary for me! My problem now is getting scared the grip or corner won't hold me... backing out of position... and then you're fucked... once you back out, you wash and you're down... I've had a few high speed two wheel drifts while freaking out and royally screwing everything up... caught two them... the last one has me limping around a little right now, haha.
It reminds me of F1 cars and the down-force they generate which creates insane levels of grip. (fun fact: at speed, an F1 car generates so much down-force, it could technically drive upside-down, which is to say it generates more down-force than the car weighs). But those huge levels of down-force and grip only come into play at quite high speeds... so if a driver lets off and goes too "slow" into a high speed corner, they won't have the down-force (and grip) necessary to get them through the corner and they'll be in the wall in a split second... they have to commit or risk destroying a multi-millon dollar machine... and/or themselves.
I'm feeling a similar thing (on a much, much lower level, ha), with mtb cornering... as my speeds increase it feels like there's more momentum change or weight to use to push through a corner and you can generate huge amounts of grip at quite fast speeds... the key it seems now seems to be, being confident I'm going to nail that position and committing to those speeds and corners while trusting that the grip will be there... scary.... I wish the earth was softer.
I used to wonder how world cup and pro level riders could corner at such speeds... it just didn't seem possible... I didn't get it. I'm nowhere near approaching those speeds and levels of commitment. But working and practicing this stuff has opened my eyes to understanding how they do it. And then you realize that these small incremental improvements in geometry, suspension tech, wheels and tires are all contributing to allowing these riders to go faster and faster and push harder and harder. Getting to the point where it seems like... how much faster can they go before the consequences are too much??
Again, reminds me of F1 where they have limitations on the construction of the cars (engines, downforce etc) because they could be going much faster than they are... but at some point it crosses a line.
Anyway... thanks for these... this is fun!
Aug. 7, 2020, 1:37 p.m. - IslandLife
Have been following these articles and watching/reading more on cornering technique and trying my best to apply it. Like you, most of my skills training came from the mid 00's (and some from the early 90's) and now at 42, I've been seeing some huge improvements in speed and confidence through corners. I'm getting to the point where now trusting the position and that the grip will be there is getting scary for me! My problem now is getting scared the grip or corner won't hold me... backing out of position... and then you're fucked... once you back out, you wash and you're down... I've had a few high speed two wheel drifts while freaking out and royally screwing everything up... caught two them... the last one has me limping around a little right now, haha. It reminds me of F1 cars and the down-force they generate which creates insane levels of grip. (fun fact: at speed, an F1 car generates so much down-force, it could technically drive upside-down, which is to say it generates more down-force than the car weighs). But those huge levels of down-force and grip only come into play at quite high speeds... so if a driver lets off and goes too "slow" into a high speed corner, they won't have the down-force (and grip) necessary to get them through the corner and they'll be in the wall in a split second... they have to commit or risk destroying a multi-millon dollar machine... and/or themselves. I'm feeling a similar thing (on a much, much lower level, ha), with mtb cornering... as my speeds increase it feels like there's more momentum change or weight to use to push through a corner and you can generate huge amounts of grip at quite fast speeds... the key it seems now seems to be, being confident I'm going to nail that position and committing to those speeds and corners while trusting that the grip will be there... scary.... I wish the earth was softer. I used to wonder how world cup and pro level riders could corner at such speeds... it just didn't seem possible... I didn't get it. I'm nowhere near approaching those speeds and levels of commitment. But working and practicing this stuff has opened my eyes to understanding how they do it. And then you realize that these small incremental improvements in geometry, suspension tech, wheels and tires are all contributing to allowing these riders to go faster and faster and push harder and harder. Getting to the point where it seems like... how much faster can they go before the consequences are too much?? Again, reminds me of F1 where they have limitations on the construction of the cars (engines, downforce etc) because they could be going much faster than they are... but at some point it crosses a line. Anyway... thanks for these... this is fun!