I recently posted about cornering and it’s got lots of positive feedback. I believe cornering knowledge and skills are very important. Even if you already know it all, refreshing this information will help.
Today I want to share three simple cornering secrets that are used in group riding. Cornering in a group is difficult and is often where many of the crashes you see in local group rides and races occur. Even advanced riders make mistakes and these three simple secrets will help you stay safe and fast!
Secret #1. Always corner on the inside of the group.
This is the number safest place to be as you can avoid ALL mistakes by others by either holding your line, or cornering tighter. When you are on the inside of the corner, the mistakes of the other riders will happen on the outside of you and due to physics, they crash or ride sketchily away from you.
Secret #2. Change position in the group (move UP) BEFORE THE ENTRANCE TO THE TURN. Look ahead to see which way the turn is going to go and then change so you are in the inside of it.
Secret #3. When you are in the lead of the group going into the turn, set up the corner by going wide on the entrance, then cutting to the inside in the turn. This is so you are exiting the turn on the INSIDE of the corner. Not only is this stable, but this enables you to make corrections to your line as you exit. This is important because you are leading. You are the first person coming into the turn, so you do not have other riders to follow. Setting the corner up like this allows you to handle safely and quickly whatever is in or around the turn. This also allows you you to ride smoothly, making a more predictable/safer experience for the riders behind you.