World Championship Road Race

Sad to say the same spot claimed someone else in similar circumstances a year or two ago but ultimately nothing is risk free and I know my routes and my abilities and try to ride as safely as I can. the benefits of riding regularly are very important to me.

My regular routes pass several roadside 'shrines' to dead motorcyclists. You would never get me on one of those.

Bruce

Best place to get better for descending is in the alps or pyrenees, it helps to follow someone who is better than you.(if they are lot better ask them to take it easier)   This teaches you how to take the lines on the bends. (don't try and follow someone where u feel uncomfortable with the speed)  Being comfortable on the drops helps with the weight distribution, a lot of riders are not comfortable on the drops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FudfOB8KcyI

Lombardy 2010 - Nibali fall at 20.50 worth watching couple of mins before as Gilbert (white rain jacket) and Nibali (blue rain jacket) battle over who dictates the pace, Gilbert taking the smoother lines and Nibali taking the more aggressive lines.  5 mins after falling  (25:20) the ease he takes the rain jacket off in atrocious weather.  Great battle on the final climb shoulder to shoulder between Gilbert and Scarponi (49:30)

Oh yes. Motorcycle riding (especially on sportsbikes) is truly dangerous. You have all the vulnerability of cycling, combined with ludicrous speeds. I feel comfortable enough on a touring bike where I'm not pushing the boundaries of performance, but I feel lucky to have survived a few years on a sportsbike. The track is really the only place to ride those.

Thanks Moog, funnily enough I've been to the Pyrenees and Alps several times (including crossing the Pyrenees on a loaded touring bike) and didn't have issues on the descents as the gradients are generally ok for me (6-8%) and I'm comfortable on those at 30-40mph. A notable exception was the descent of the tourmalet (steeper) east side. My cornering etc. is generally not that bad - its the straight line balls out speed that scares me and that when I tend to tense / hit the brakes / speed wobble.   

An appropriate thread to mention that on a tour in 2006 we regrouped at the Fabio Casartelli memorial and 2 Italian Campervans were there - It was the Casartelli family paying a visit to respect and clean the memorial. We kept a distance, however a lady came over to speak to us. She spoke French and being the only French speaker in the group I had a long conversation with Fabio's Mum. Clearly very emotional she replayed the whole accident to me and I think took comfort in other cyclists passing and visiting the monument. A very emotional moment and we rode in near silence the rest of that day.    

The big difference in descending for us mortals compared to the pro's is that in pro race conditions they only have to think of the road, which is closed to oncoming traffic. When we are on a descent at 40 mph approaching a bend we have no idea if there is oncoming traffic and so the natural inclination is to slow diwn and be prepared to brake, while it could also be suicidal to take the optimum racing line.

Good story.  

Speed wobble does destroy your confidence, had it twice, I blamed my Mavic wheels. Not had any trouble since changing them.

Great to see cycling fans on the forum.  I'm going to watch some of these links.  Touching story re Casartelli.  Thanks for sharing. I've never been to the Pyrenees.  Looks beautiful on TV.

Thanks - Moog, I changed old mavic wheels this year for some new ones out of necessity - I'm not a gear freak with cycling but similar experience to you - I was amazed at the improvement in handling at speed.

K90 - Pyrenees are beautiful and my favourite place to ride. on paper the Alps have the better known climbs but also a lot more traffic and developments which takes something away from the experience for me.

Pyrenees for me too-lovely roads and relatively lightly trafficked.

These European descents do indeed seem easier. I think our climbs are (a lot) shorter but sharper with less of the nice sweeping constant radius bends so the constant gradient and direction changes are in some ways more of a challenge. We also have poorer road surfaces++ on our minor roads than in France. This was very obvious to me returning home after 2 weeks around Cahors this summer. Our roads are rutted and pocked at the edges, and badly patched. Unless you are riding the routes of the TdF and the recent Tour Of Britain which have all been re-surfaced nicely!

Bruce