How do you handle an unknown twisty?

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camthepyro · Mon May 12, 2008 4:17 am

So, I was riding with a friend of mine friday around Red Top Mountain, going through the twisties, and we were going at a fairly brisk pace, trying to get rid of those chicken strips.

The problem is that while I've ridden on those roads before, I don't know them like the back of my hand, so I wasn't comfortable taking them too fast (for fear that the turn would get really sharp at the end or something).

So, what would guys recommend for roads like that? Just take it slow until you know the roads really well? Or is there some hidden secret I don't know about for correcting your speed (slowing down) in a turn, while leaned way over, without crashing and sliding off the side of a mountain into the lake below?

jonnythan · #2 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:21 am

In my opinion, every curve is an unknown curve, even if I've ridden it 1,000 times.

Unless you can see the pavement, you never know what's there. There could be a moose standing in the road, a pair or wrecked cars, a truckload of loose sand, a fallen tree, you name it.

So, I pretty much ride "unknown" curves the same as "known" curves.

camthepyro · Mon May 12, 2008 4:36 am

jonnythan wrote:In my opinion, every curve is an unknown curve, even if I've ridden it 1,000 times.

Unless you can see the pavement, you never know what's there. There could be a moose standing in the road, a pair or wrecked cars, a truckload of loose sand, a fallen tree, you name it.

So, I pretty much ride "unknown" curves the same as "known" curves.

Definitely, the good thing about those roads are that they're purely for recreational use (like going to a campsite or something), so they don't get any through traffic.

Speaking of meeses, we actually had a deer, and a snake run out in front of us while we were riding. I ran over the poor snake...

#4 Unread post by **Skier** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:40 am

If you can't see the entirety of the corner, assume there's an SUV sideways in your lane. Will you be able to straighten the bike and stop in time to avoid a collision?

Riding any faster than that means you are taking more of a risk: some day there will be an obstacle in your path of travel and you may not be able to avoid it.

However, if you can see all the way through the exit, have fun scrub in those tires!

Fast Eddy B · Mon May 12, 2008 4:46 am

How do I deal with unknown corners?

I don't know!!!!!!

ahem.

camthepyro · Mon May 12, 2008 4:56 am

Skier wrote:If you can't see the entirety of the corner, assume there's an SUV sideways in your lane. Will you be able to straighten the bike and stop in time to avoid a collision?

Riding any faster than that means you are taking more of a risk: some day there will be an obstacle in your path of travel and you may not be able to avoid it.

However, if you can see all the way through the exit, have fun scrub in those tires!

Yeah, unfortunately it's pretty heavily wooded, so I can't usually see all the way through the turn. I was hoping there was some magic skill I need to learn.

KingRobb · #7 Unread post by **KingRobb** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:17 am

there is a magic skill...fortunately its easy to learn...

Relax the throttle hand allowing the bike to decelerate.

jstark47 · #8 Unread post by **jstark47** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:21 am

Wife and I were out riding yesterday in an area full of little hills with blind crests. Would have been so cool if I'd been able to roller-coaster over those - unfortunately couldn't see over them. Had to slow down to keep sight-line and stopping distance in synch. As my wife said, "...too many driveways..."

camthepyro · Mon May 12, 2008 6:41 am

jstark47 wrote:Wife and I were out riding yesterday in an area full of little hills with blind crests. Would have been so cool if I'd been able to roller-coaster over those - unfortunately couldn't see over them. Had to slow down to keep sight-line and stopping distance in synch. As my wife said, "...too many driveways..."

Another nice thing about those roads, no driveways or side streets. But there are hills like that where I have to slow down because I don't know if there is a sharp turn after or something.

#10 Unread post by **Skier** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:19 am

I used a stopped SUV in my prior post because I had that situation happen: I crested a hill and there was a LEO pulling a U-turn to pull over a speeder. Of course, the bike was fully loaded, two-up and it was raining.

After a ball-crunching episode of maximum braking, everything was fine as the LEO ran off after the speeder, oblivious to the egregious path of travel violation. The scenario did a lot for opening my eyes to hills blocking visibility.

The nice part about a motorcycle is you can very easily drop speed when your sight distance decreases and then twist your wrist to gain it all back in short order.