Cornering, One Hand Riding,gearing And Climbing.

I'm a little under 2 months into cycling and have improved in speed and stamina quite a bit. I have a few questions for anyone a little more seasoned.

Cornering- When you are approaching a sharp corner say 90 degrees or less, do you slow down significantly or are you skilled enough to ride through it?I pretty much treat them as if I were driving and slow substantially (probably go through it at 5mph or less)

One hand riding- I feel like ill never get fully use to this. I can manage if I sit up right and hold my hand towards the middle, but only for short intervals. Riding and grabbing a water bottle is still a clumsy affair for me. When did this become very natural for you?

Gearing- I feel like I gear change to frequently. The course I do isn't that steep, but has some pretty decent hills. The course I did today had a elevation climb of 3000 feet for 23.34 mile which I completed in 1hr 25 min 40 seconds. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting the hang of it(changing gears), and others, I'm spinning fast and hardly moving.I know the simple answer is "switch to a heavier gear", but i'm still trying to figure out the ones I'm most comfortable with. How long did it take you to become very familiar with your bikes gearing?

Climbing-I don't lose that much speed climbing, but I stand for much of it. Seated climbing is not my specialty. Is it just a preference thing(seated vs standing climbing)?

Thanks in advance.If you can only answer a part of this long winded thing, thats fine. Btw, this is the bike I use.

 

Cornering is mostly technique, partly a test of nerve. The ability to visualize where you need to be, how to brake and just as importantly, when to get off the brakes, is key. On open roads always err on the side of caution. If you're in a race and have the full width of the road, allow for the fact you have lots more room to drift out too because of the higher cornering speed. The best thing you can do to improve is join a club that has some really good road racing guys or find a road racing "clinic" that offers instruction to folks that have never raced before. They can critique your style and provide much needed advice. Tire choice and tire pressure are key, Get a good floor pump (aka track pump) and inflate to the correct pressure prior to every ride. I like the Specialized Turbo inner tubes with the smooth valve stems as they don't chew up the rubber grommets on my track pump. Continental GP4000S2 hold those inner-tubes in place.

Gearing - changing gears lots isn't a bad thing. You've not been riding all that long so I'd guess that you don't have a lot of cycling specific fitness. Spend some time specifically looking at one style. Climb some times out of the saddle and get used to the bigger gear and other times remain in the saddle and pedal a bit quicker. You may find that you're quicker climbing one way than the other but being able to swap styles can provide much needed relief to the legs during a hard effort.

One handed riding - it's something you just need to practice and get used too Try sitting a little further back in the saddle. Having a little too much weight over the front wheel can make things a little "twitchy." I don't know how your bike is set up but this may help.

Nice bike. That's definitely more than good enough to get you riding very fast. It's probably lighter, stiffer yet more comfy than the bike that Greg LeMond used for this first Tour de France win... I ride a Cannondale too and love it.

 

I have seen cyclists who are good in cornering. They would slant their bodies to help the bike veer towards the right direction. I used to do that but not so fast since I am a safe rider. Whenever I need to make a turn, I would slow down and press on the brakes slightly to assist me in my turning. As I said, I have seen cyclists who were good in cornering and I have also seen cyclists who crashed due to an error in cornering.