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Cornering on a Bicycle Center Until We Need to of Countersteering Without Risking Falls Speed Down at First

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Cornering on a Bicycle Center Until We Need to of Countersteering Without Risking Falls Speed Down at First Then we are riding ground with their feet. You can create a path you want to take. The bike is likely Mechanical Advantage on the straight again. Fig. 4 makeshift balance bike by removing the to follow. (Use this technique on the We continue to keep pedals from the child’s bike and lowering straights as well.) the bike upright the saddle. Or have them ride a scooter. Ride with an experienced cyclist and by countersteering These vehicles allow children to learn follow their line. Ask them to keep the CORNERING ON A BICYCLE center until we need to of countersteering without risking falls speed down at first. You will be sur- gravity Master centrifugal force on curves lean into the next because kids push off the ground with prised how far you safely can lean the corner. their legs as they move along. As they bike on most surfaces. by Jan Heine Training Wheels: become more confident, they can coast Conclusion: Many children’s longer and longer, until they are ready Cornering is so intuitive that we bikes are sold with to balance all the time and ride a bicycle. are not even aware of the process. We training wheels, which (For safety make sure the balance bike countersteer by pushing the handlebars Cornering on a bicycle is a remarkably simple process. It has two prevent the bicycle has brakes.) toward the outside of the turn, which from falling over. Tips for Confident Cornering: Fig. 5 main components: leaning and countersteering. The rider leans Unfortunately, they Cornering can be daunting to some the bike by moving the wheels to the outside of the curve. This is also prevent the bicycle riders who may feel like they are balanced balanced from leaning. They falling over as they lean the bike. It called countersteering. At first sight, countersteering may appear counterintuitive, effectively convert the may help to visualize that cornering yet all riders do it because it is the only way to make a bike lean. Countersteering bicycle to a tricycle, which uses the same mechanisms as riding requires the opposite steering input from straight. In both cases, we balance local gravity explains why training wheels are counterproductive to learning to balance a two- a bicycle. On a bicycle, we countersteer the wheels to stay above the center of wheeler. Understanding the processes of down and keeps our tires on the road. the bike upright as it falls. (Experienced and push the handlebars to the left when gravity except that the “local grav- cornering can help you corner with more To lean left, we must turn our handle- riders who “trackstand” actually roll we want to turn right. On a tricycle, ity” now is inclined (Fig. 5). Our bike gravity confidence and increase your cycling bars to the right. back and forth slightly with their front we steer and push the handlebars right is as stable in mid-corner as it is on a Fig. 2 enjoyment. Yes, we turn wheel turned sideways. They are coun- when we want to turn right — the exact straight path. And the faster you go, Cornering: our handlebars center tersteering, but instead of going forward opposite of what we do on a bicycle. the more stable your bike becomes When we round a corner, the centrif- in the opposite of and steering right and left, they just If you ever have the opportunity because the self-stabilizing gyroscopic ugal force tries to pull us to the outside direction of gravity steer one way and go back and forth to to ride an adult tricycle, you will be forces of the wheels increase with of the curve. We can see this when a car where we want balance the bike.) surprised how hard it is to unlearn the speed ( Fig. 5). goes around a curve. It leans on its sus- to go! It is called Stability: instincts of riding a bicycle. Make sure To corner confidently, relax your pension to the outside of the curve. The countersteering, Bikes are self-stable because gyro- you have enough room and no obstacles! grip on the handlebars. Your bike springs compress until they counter the and all cyclists do scopic forces and other factors turn the The reverse is also true. Children have is self-stabilizing even as it leans, as centrifu- this. We also coun- front wheel so that it automatically coun- a hard time unlearning the instincts of long as the front wheel can move in Fig. 1 gal force. tersteer when we tersteers to correct changes in lean angle. steering a tricycle when the training response to changes in lean. A “death leans the bike into the turn. We reverse A bicycle balance while riding This means that if you don’t provide wheels are removed. From experiences grip” on the handlebars prevents the the process to upright the bike and go leaning to centrifugal straight ahead. As any input, your bike tends to continue among my neighbors, children who had self-stabilizing forces of the bike from straight again. This same countersteering force the outside gravity the bike begins to fall to corner on the same radius. (On the training wheels took longer and fell more working and makes your bike less stable. enables us to balance on the straights. local gravity of the curve over, we countersteer straight, it will continue to go straight.) often as they tried to ride a two-wheeler A light touch is best to guide your bike. would crash, so in the direction of the When we have fully leaned the bike than those who did not use training Look where you want to go. If you Jan Heine is editor of Bicycle Quarterly, a magazine it needs to coun- lean to rotate the bike into the left turn, we simply stop the wheels. focus on the obstacle you are trying to about the culture, technology, and history of cycling. This article is adapted from a more detailed article ter the centrifugal in the other direction until it is upright rightward pressure To teach children balancing on two avoid, you have to steer the bike in your published in the Winter 2010 issue (www.bikequar force in some other again. on the handlebars. Fig. 3 wheels, you can use a balance bike, peripheral field of vision. It is much terly.com). way. Leaning Your Body: The bike stabilizes which children power by pushing off the easier to focus your attention on the We do this by leaning Can’t we just shift our body weight to at its current lean the bike. When we lean the lean the bike into the curve? Not really. angle and rounds bike, gravity pulls it to the When we move our bodies to one side, the corner. inside of the curve while the inertia tends to keep our center of grav- Straightening: centrifugal force pulls to the outside (Fig. ity in the same place. So we lean our To upright the 1). The resulting force of the two, “local upper body to one side, but our bike is bike at the exit of gravity,” is in line with the bike’s wheels. leaning to the other side. We remain bal- the left turn, we gravity The bike is balanced. anced and cannot resist the centrifugal simply push the Countersteering: force of cornering (Fig. 3). handlebars to the How do we get our bike to lean? We If we could just shift our body weight left into the corner. spin our bodies and bike around the to change the lean of the bike, it would Now the wheels center of gravity (Fig. 2). For example, be easy to balance a bike that is standing move left, and the to turn left, we move our wheels to the still. For most of us, it is impossible to bike rotates until right so our bike spins counterclockwise balance a stopped bike because we can- it is again upright and leans to the left. Gravity pulls us not move the wheels sideways to rotate (Fig. 4). ILLUSTRATIONS BY GREG SIPLE 38 ADVENTURE CYCLIST FEBRUARY 2011 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST FEBRUARY 2011 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 39.
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