{"id":131791,"date":"2015-10-19T16:53:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T14:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=131791"},"modified":"2015-11-09T15:40:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T13:40:10","slug":"cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/","title":{"rendered":"How to descend hills on a roadbike"},"content":{"rendered":"

It can be the most exciting part of road biking and a great pay off after a painful uphill struggle. For someone it\u2019s just a pure fun, while others are scared to death when the speed goes beyond 60 kph. On the Sellaronda Bike Day we had a talk with the former professional cyclist Michael Mourecek about regular mistakes that cost you not only precious seconds, but sometimes also result into serious injuries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To begin with, watch the pros descending the Alpine section of the Tour de France:<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

One of the first advices is to examine the surface of the road when you go up the hill. It\u2019s more than probable\u00a0that the surface will be the same when the things are going down. The smooth tarmac is rather comfortable but can be dangerously slippery when the rain comes. The rough ground is characterized by better traction but if there are some sharp stones or another objects, your tires may not be happy with it. Also, look out for\u00a0holes and cracks.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Radius of the turns is another important factor that counts – do they follow a continuous arc, or do they become sharper during the middle of the turn? Loose gravel on the side of the road can be very dangerous too. When you turn, you can\u2019t see what\u2019s behind the corner so it\u2019s better to keep off the edges.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Descending is similar to all human activities. As you ride more and more, you\u2019ll learn how to read the road and the turns with the plain eye even in the high speed.<\/p>\n

There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer and product manager in the bicycle company Festka.<\/p>\n

Check you bike<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Demands on the bike are much more considerable in the high speed. All the parts are under higher pressure. Always check braking pads. You should have mounted the ones recommend by the producer of the rims.<\/p>\n

Scan the terrain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Always look ahead. In turns, keep your eyes on the exit. Anticipate what may come next. There can always be a big truck behind the corner. Be careful what\u2019s on the ground – sometimes you slip on objects, which can be easily avoided.<\/p>\n

Brake smartly<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t brake too violently. For controlled slowing, gently squeeze both levers equally in short pulses. Don\u2019t brake in the turn. You have to slow down to appropriate speed before you enter it. Braking in the turn would lead to an uncontrollable skid.<\/p>\n

Cornering<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Think about your legs. When you turn to the right, your right shoe should go up while you keep the pressure on your left. You will lean to the sides like bikers in the MotoGP races in the corners while you will change the weight on your feet, which would remind you of the time you skied downhill.<\/p>\n

Hold the drops<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With your hands on the lower part of the drop-handlebars, your center of gravity is closer to the ground which means better stability. It\u2019s same as with the racing cars. You also gain a better traction, because your weight is more evenly distributed between the front and rear wheel.<\/p>\n

Stay relaxed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Your body should be calmed but prepared. If you\u2019re in a tension, you\u2019ll not be able to react properly to the things that will come. Don\u2019t get scared off. You should always stay as calm as the captain of the plane.<\/p>\n

Do you have any beginner tips for safe descent\u00a0on a road bike? Share them in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It can be the most exciting part of road biking and a great pay off after a painful uphill struggle. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":131792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,329],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-131791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-mountain","category-road-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to descend hills on a roadbike - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to descend hills on a roadbike\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-19T14:53:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-09T13:40:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Marsal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/\",\"name\":\"How to descend hills on a roadbike - \u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-19T14:53:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-09T13:40:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp\",\"width\":525,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to descend hills on a roadbike\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\",\"name\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"description\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine\",\"alternateName\":\"\u0160koda WLC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to descend hills on a roadbike - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to descend hills on a roadbike","og_description":"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/","og_site_name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","article_published_time":"2015-10-19T14:53:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-09T13:40:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":525,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Marsal","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/","name":"How to descend hills on a roadbike - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp","datePublished":"2015-10-19T14:53:58+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-09T13:40:10+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"There are some basic rules for safe descending written by our mate Michael Mourecek, former professional cycling racer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2015\/10\/opener110.webp","width":525,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2015\/10\/19\/cycling-tips-how-to-descend-hills-on-a-roadbike\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to descend hills on a roadbike"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/","name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine","alternateName":"\u0160koda WLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131791"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131996,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131791\/revisions\/131996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131791"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=131791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}