The Functional Trainer - How to Descend on a Road Bike

How to Descend on a Road Bike

03/30/20 • 10 min

Descending is an inevitable part of riding your road bike, it's a necessary skill to develop. Many riders are fearful when descending, while others lack the skills to fully take advantage of a good dip in the road. Some riders may just want to further their skills so that during a ride they can take full advantage of any decline.

So as well as developing your skills with my handy tips, I'll aim to build your confidence and turn you into an accomplished descender.
Relaxing Tension in the shoulders and braking into the corners" are the two biggest mistakes in amateurs when descending, and my number one tip to a new road rider is to relax

Get Low Getting low on your bike while descending serves two functions. Firstly, it will reduce your frontal profile which will improve your aerodynamics enabling you to hold speed throughout the descent.

Look ahead How far ahead should you be looking? "You should always be looking at where you want to go, where you want to exit the corner or in a straight line 30 metres up the road.

Push on your outside leg This is a specific skill that you need to practice to the point when it becomes automatic.

On or off the seat? Referring back to the aim of getting your centre of gravity as low as possible, it's best to stay in the seat.

The shortest line The safest and fastest way through a corner is also the shortest.

Descending isn't a time for rest Well, it's a great time to recover but it's not a time to completely stop pedaling and rest. If you were to stop pedaling on a long descent, your legs will fill will lactic acid and end up feeling like cement blocks.

You have two brakes, use them There are two brakes on your bike so use both when descending. This will spread the load through the bike evenly, helping you maintain balance and preventing your weight and centre of gravity from changing too drastically.

Ride on the drops In addition to lowering your centre of gravity, riding on the drops will give you much greater control over the bikes handling thanks to better grip and less chance of your hands slipping if you hit a pothole or bump in the road. Riding on the drops will also give you greater efficiency when using the brakes as you'll have greater leverage than if you stayed on the hoods.

Things to be aware of

Having your brakes on too long: Constantly having pressure on your brakes will result in the braking surface overheating causing brake fatigue and eventually failure. This is especially the case for carbon braking surfaces. To avoid excessive heat build up, try pulsing the brakes to wash off speed or alternating between the front and rear.
Take care in the wet: Braking becomes significantly compromised in the wet. The quality of contact between the braking surfaces is diminished, as a result, it will take you longer to slow you down. On top of that, traction to the road won't be as good, you won't be able to see as far ahead, you may have water sprayed in your face by another rider and it will be harder to grip the bars. As a consequence, take care in the wet, leave yourself enough time to brake appropriately and be extra cautious.
Descending shouldn't feel like work: It should feel fluid and easy. If you are working too hard or concentrating too much, there's a high likelihood you're not descending as well as you could. Try to let the descent flow and again, practice makes this possible. Pick a descent you know well and practice it over and over to build your confidence to the point where you can get to the bottom safely, at good speed and with minimal effort.

For more top tips on cycling or if you want to improve your fitness and skills head to our website www.apachebrave.co.uk

Look ahead How far ahead should you be looking? "You should always be looking at where you want to go, where you want to exit the corner or in a straight line 30 metres up the road.

Push on your outside leg This is a specific skill that you need to practice to the point when it becomes automatic.

On or off the seat? Referring back to the aim of getting your centre of gravity as low as possible, it's best to stay in the seat.

The shortest line The safest and fastest way through a corner is also the shortest.

Things to be aware of

Having your brakes on too long: Constantly having pressure on your brakes will result in the braking surface overheating causing brake fatigue and eventually failure. This is especially the case for carbon braking surfaces. To avoid excessive heat build up, try pulsing the brakes to wash off speed or alternating between the front and rear.
Take care in the wet: Braking becomes significantly compromised in the wet. The quality of contact between the braking surfaces is diminished, as a result, it will take you longer to slow you down. On top of that, traction to the road won't be as good, you won't be able to see as far ahead, you may have water sprayed in your face by another rider and it will be harder to grip the bars. As a consequence, take care in the wet, leave yourself enough time to brake appropriately and be extra cautious.
Descending shouldn't feel like work: It should feel fluid and easy. If you are working too hard or concentrating too much, there's a high likelihood you're not descending as well as you could. Try to let the descent flow and again, practice makes this possible. Pick a descent you know well and practice it over and over to build your confidence to the point where you can get to the bottom safely, at good speed and with minimal effort.

For more top tips on cycling or if you want to improve your fitness and skills head to our website www.apachebrave.co.uk

Previous Episode

Covid-19 and Staying Fit

Why we should be exercising and staying fit during Covid-19 isolation period. There are many benefits to exercise not just physical ones but mental reasons too. In this podcast I examine and list many reasons why exercising is so important to our body and mind.
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Want a FREE Home workout plan, visit my website www.apachebrave.co.uk and download one now

Next Episode

Should Cyclists Strength Train?

Should you? Shouldn’t you? There's much debating about the effectiveness and necessity of strength training for cyclist.

It is vital that strength training be added regardless of age, the benefits will enhance your cycling ability and your overall enjoyment of the sport

Resistance Training and Weight Training Enhance Coordination

Whether you are doing body-weight resistance exercises, lifting free weights, or using rubber tubing, there are balance and coordination components to your movements. This develops and maintains neural pathways for proprioception and balance, and it develops small muscles that help your stability.

Strength training increases your options

This is crucially important for lifelong cyclists. Cyclists have extremely well developed aerobic engines, yet very underdeveloped musculoskeletal systems for any sport other than cycling.

Strength training keeps you in the game

In my experience, well-rounded athletes are able to be more consistent in their sport-specific cycling training because they spend less time sidelined by soreness and injury caused by being unprepared for activities of daily living. The position of a cyclist is an unnatural position for the human body to stay in for a period of time; hyper-extended neck, rounded back, and shortened hip flexors all add up to a poorly developed posture for every day life. This is another reason cyclists should program strength training in to their training schedule. All professional athletes from all sports will spend time in the gym, correcting muscular issues and building strength training as part of their daily routine.

But, does Strength Training make you Faster?

So, does strength training make you faster on the bike? Probably not in a direct sense. Even though squats, for instance, use the same muscles you use to push on the pedals, the rate of force production is far slower during a squat than it is during a pedal stroke. You don’t squat at the leg speed of a 90rpm cadence. However, in an indirect sense, the fact that strength training makes you a better-rounded athlete, increases the range of activities you can participate in, and increases your chances of exercising on a more consistent basis, means you can apply a greater training stimulus more frequently than you could otherwise. And that can definitely make you a faster cyclist.

Strength Training for cyclists

In conclusion should cyclist incorporate strength training in to their workout schedule? In my opinion there is no doubt that strength training should be a regular training regime, especially during the off season, Re-addressing postural and muscular issues during the off season and then focusing on building strength is vital if you want to have a good cycling season ahead of you. It really doesn’t matter what type of cyclist you are, whether that be a road racer to sportive rider it really doesn’t matter, what matters is that you are in the best shape at the start of the cycling season. To be the best cyclist you can you need to train wise and train complete.