Advice: How to corner properly

Ever stopped to wonder why spectators crowd around the corners at a racetrack? It doesn’t matter if you’re watching or riding, the corners are where the action’s at. And the real test of skill for any rider.

The truth is that you could teach a complete novice to ride a bike in a straight line within an hour. But corners, well they’re a different thing altogether. On a track they can be hard enough – with all that entry, apex and exit malarkey – and that’s with (hopefully) everyone going the same way and a flaggie there to warn you of oil or water on the bitumen.

But out on the road you’re literally on your own. No-one to warn you of that lump of wood, spilt gravel or child running for a ball. How the hell do we manage? Well, surprise, surprise, our corner management starts well before the road starts to bend. Just like every single action on a bike, preparation decides the outcome.

Go blind into a corner and that Russian lady Roulette plays a too big part in proceedings. So what can we do to keep her at bay?

If there’s one rule of cornering I’ve learnt over the years is that you can’t undo speed when the corner chips are down. So the smart money says that if there’s any doubt, cut your speed. But that’s by no means the whole story.

Your road position going in, through and coming out is just as important. As is your ability to act quickly to anything that’s thrown at you. So let’s break it down to the main components.

The single biggest factor here. The sooner you see things happening, the more chance you have of making the right reaction to the situation – and there’s a world of difference between reacting to something and making the right choice.

This instinct only comes with experience. For example, a car coming towards you on a right-hand bend way too fast crosses the centre line and is in your path. What do you do? Instinct says you stay on your side of the road and steer go left. But experience (and hence a better understanding of the situation because you’ve seen it unfold for longer) means that you might be better of diving right.

This has happened to me when a skidding car was coming towards me. I made the choice to go to the inside because I could see that the driver had completely lost control and was only ever heading to the outside of the corner. If I had gone left, we would have met and I possibly won’t be writing this. You just have to back yourself under this sort of pressure and react in the best way you think.

Now I love corners. There’s nothing better than tipping a bike on its side and feeling the tyres and suspension earn their keep. And I’d rather ride a road corner than a track corner. But, unlike on the track, you can always make time up on the road so there’s absolutely no need to be too fast into a corner. And I’m not talking about posted speed limits here.

Legality aside, the correct corner speed is one that you feel comfortable with. One that puts the least amount of stress on yourself and your bike, and gives you the maximum amount of “what if” time. A smooth corner with great visibility, dry surface and no other traffic might be posted with an 80km/h sign, but it could be safely negotiated at twice that by a clear-thinking experienced adult. Whereas a sharp hairpin that has a 30km/h sign but a line of gravel on the bumpy apex could be tricky for an advanced rider at 20km/h. It’s always better to feel comfortable with your speed than be dictated to by a general sign.

You want to see as much as you can as often as possible. That means you should be wide on the entry, middle of your lane at the apex and wide on the exit. That formula gives you the best visibility line. But other factors come into play out on the road. The gutters are often full of debris, be it gravel, Holden hubcaps, nappy bags or burger wrappers. So don’t ride in the gutter (ever!).

And the centreline might look attractive and be the “racing line” but your slim bike and buff physique, that has the frontal area of an anorexic when upright, turns into a barn door when leant over (with your head furthermost in the other lane), and looks pretty intimidating to the P-plater coming the other way. He’ll get fixated on your helmet and aim straight towards it…

If just before something in life was going wrong, someone told you about it five seconds in advance, you’d live a long life and eventually be buried without a scratch on you. Even though it’s impossible to predict every situation, you need to be on your game as much as possible. This can mean many things – it could mean having a tinted visor on a low-sun day that keeps you focused on the road, or waterproofs on a wet day that stops you thinking only that it's very cold and wet.

Or it could be that new tyre and balance that’s making the bike run smoother. And it most certainly means you picking out the car that’s pulled in ahead on the entry to the next corner and the driver that’s looking to jump out of the car because something bizarre has just happened to them. Suddenly your fate is sitting squarely on your shoulders. Tell me honestly, are you ready to make the right reaction?

There’s no magic formula that covers every danger out there. But those that understand what does and can go wrong are immediately ahead of the curve. And those that choose to go out and put that theory into practice are even more so. If your next Sunday ride doesn’t educate you in some way – be it big or small – and you don’t come back a smarter rider than when you started, ask yourself what you’ve missed. Every ride’s an education – don’t be asleep at the back of the class and just follow your mates.

This article was originally published on September 24, 2018.