Welcome back to part 2 of last months newsletter, Cornering with confidence. Cornering is such a big subject to cover because it’s so varied, and no two corners are the same.

Just like a stage race, there are many moving parts to a great ride.
There are so many different ways to corner, all of them correct, but only one will be the most efficient! It’s up to you to decide when, what and how, for each corner and sometimes that can be the hardest part to figure out.

In Part 1, we stripped away the myths and “one-size-fits-all” to focus on what really matters: stability, adjustability, and grip. In this follow-up, I go deeper, with a little more momentum!
Why do so many riders plateau with their cornering, how do comfort zones shape skills development, and how subtle shifts in scanning, body position, and creativity can unlock new levels of flow. Think of this as the bridge between theory and practice, the step that turns knowledge into speed, confidence, and control on every turn.

Why aren’t we better at cornering?

Across all levels of ability, riders routinely name cornering as their biggest weakness, yet few actually practise it.

I get it… with limited ride time, it’s easier to chase Strava segments than to embrace time consuming, skill-building sessions. The irony is that the reward for skills training, specifically cornering, isn’t just speed; it’s efficiency, less unnecessary braking, less pedalling to regain speed and a smoother, less fatiguing ride from start to finish. Ever seen Greg Minaar in action? There is a reason why they call him Mr Smooth.

Framing the payoff this way helps unlock motivation. Again, you can never be too skilled! Better cornering expands the kind of trails you enjoy and amplifies the flow and fun. Practice, practice, practice!

Getting out of the comfort zone.

One of the biggest issues is that when you are learning a new skill or trying to improve a skill, your mindset is not always in the correct zone. We need to learn to train in the correct zone.

Picture three concentric rings. In the comfort zone, your margin for error is huge, but growth is slow. Out in the panic zone, fear responses kick in, you freeze or overcorrect, and confidence shrinks. The sweet spot is the stretch zone: it feels exciting rather than scary, you stay reactive and loose, and small wins compound. The stretch zone is usually quite a big zone, so the margin for error is big. On the contrary, if you are practising in the panic zone, the margin for error is too small, and everything feels like you are going to die!

Design your practice sessions so corners feel like a medium challenge. If you notice stiff arms, tunnel vision, or big, dramatic corrections, you’ve gone too far. Pull back speed or complexity until excitement returns and flow reappears.

Too often, we are either learning in our comfort zone or our panic zone. We have to try to get into the stretch zone.

There are a few ways to NOT corner, but there is no single “correct” way to corner. The same turn can be ridden five different ways depending on your line choice (high, low, early or late apex), how much you blend angulation and inclination, and how you manage entry speed and braking. Remember the 2 -1 – 0. Watching a highly creative or skilled rider take unseen high lines or exaggerated late apexes is often the fastest way to expand your sense of what’s possible. Once you see more options, motivation follows, because each option is a new way to play. Notice I said PLAY. This is often the key to a successful session, playing encourages you to want to do more, as this should be fun.

Try to make at least 3 lines around a corner or an obstacle. I like to think of them as a fun line, a fast line and a safe line. Experiment with all 3 lines. At least one of them should be out of your comfort zone.

Body position and balance.

If you have ever attended one of my skills session you are probably tiered of hearing this, but I’m going to say it again. Body position and balance is the key to most things! It’s the fundamental core skill to learn in mountain biking and is one of the key ingredients when it comes to cornering.

“Position” can sound like a fixed shape. Swap it for stability and balance. Stability is the ability to resist forces; balance is the controlled movement that lets you adjust to them. You can be tall and stable or low and stable; the right choice depends on speed, radius/turn shape, support and bumpiness, which brings me to my next point. Move! Mountain biking is all about being able to move on the bike. Forwards, backwards, side to side. The more you can move, the better you will be. Your position is not a static one!

A static position leads to fatigue. Fatigue is the silent enemy: riding low and wide everywhere feels “aggressive,” but it’s expensive. Tired riders slump rearward, bleed front-end grip, and start saving slides instead of shaping corners. On supported, flowing berms, ride taller with stacked legs, chin roughly over the stem and light hands; conserve energy and let the berm carry you. In flat, bumpy or tight turns, lower your body, hinge at the hips, and add range of motion (turning the hips outwards) to absorb, steer and adjust. Over a full ride, expect to move vertically—tall, medium, and low, so stability survives the whole lap, not just a few turns. Think of being tall as neutral. This costs very little energy, and you can hang out here all day. Always come back to neutral.

Remember you are responsible for creating your own grip (not your tyres) and adjusting your body position accordingly is key to creating this grip. See pic below!

Steering AND angulation.

Many riders try to “lean the bike”, but just counterbalance in a straight line because the bike never actually steers. Or leans for that matter. A simple cone weave solves this. In a car park at medium-slow speed, weave gentle S-turns between spaced cones and allow the bars to turn left and right freely. You’ll feel the bike begin to lean as it steers. Gradually increase the turn size and allow more lean while your torso stays stacked over the bike. You might feel the saddle (dropper posts are a game changer here) brush the inside thigh, a sign the bike is leaning under you (angulation) rather than you throwing your body around. Think of steering as the initiator and angulation as the controller. Practise separation first; add upper-body (hips) rotation later to create room for even more lean.

Trail scanning. The now and the next.

One of the single biggest mistakes all mountain bikers make is not looking ahead enough AND not looking at where you want to go. If you are not looking where you are going, you’re going where you’re looking!

Direction, direction, direction!

Trail scanning is a skill. It’s so much more than just “looking ahead” though. It’s when you move your head AND your eyes. Imagine a start line painted across the entry of every corner. Before your wheel crosses it, take in the entrance, apex, turn shape (radius), length and trail conditions. As you cross the line, shift your gaze to the next point in the corner. In a short-radius corner, jump straight to the exit of the corner; in a large-radius corner, pick up the apex, then shift your gaze to the exit of the corner. The start of the corner is the NOW, and the apex or exit is the NEXT.

Keep alternating between Now (where the tyre meets dirt) and Next. This timing alone reduces fixation on the middle of the turn, calms braking, and feeds better decisions about line, lean and speed.

I often say the secret to flow is line choice. But it’s more than that. The correct line choice, nailing or railing that turn, feeling in sync with your bike. You don’t think too much about your body position as it just happens like you are on auto pilot. Your speed is just right and everything just clicks. Welcome to the flow state.

This doesn’t have to be hit and miss. Sure, sometimes you have those days where everything just sticks and you feel like Alan Hatherly or Tyler Jacobs for you ladies.

Cornering progress doesn’t come from chasing Strava times or segments. It comes from deliberate practice in the right zone. And I mean that in the right mindset and the right trail, place and time. Be ready to learn. Staying too comfortable means slow growth; pushing into panic locks you up. The sweet spot is the stretch zone, where excitement meets challenge and learning compounds.

By understanding your comfort limits, experimenting creatively with turn shapes and techniques, and building stability before layering on more complex skills, you will create the conditions for real, lasting improvement. Every corner becomes an opportunity, not just to go faster, but to ride smoother, with more confidence and control.

Do this right and your Strava times will flow. See what I did there…

Until then, see you on the trails.

Gresh

www.Rachet.bike

FIND THE FLOW. BUILD CONFIDENCE.