[QUOTE="azl, post: 284539, member: 39826" ]... I really didn't understand counter steering and leaning the bike ...
[/QUOTE]
THIS! Despite all my time on bicycles counter-steering is not something you have to think about, the bike itself is just too light to recognize that you are even doing it.
On lesson I took from the initial rider course back to bicycles was to TURN YOUR HEAD. Look where you want to go, don’t fixate, stay loose. (Works with skiing too). I remember coming into a turn that was sharper than I thought at over 40 mph. (On a 23mm tire wearing only spandex.) I could hear myself screaming inside my own head to TURN YOUR HEAD! and it worked. Unfortunately it also gave me confidence and made me gonzo descender. I can assure you, crashing a bicycle at any speed over 20 is gonna hurt. Over 35-40, in basically your underwear, will get you an ambulance ride or worse..
But the real x-factor (at least for me on motorcycles) is counter-steering. When you feel like you’ve overcooked a turn, stay calm, look where you wanna go, and PUSH hard with that inside hand. (Calm, turn, push. Repeat that I your head so it’s second nature) It’s almost magical!
The other most important skill is awareness. Assume no one sees you. Even when the seem to be looking right at you, assume they don’t see you. Be conscious of the other drivers blind spots and stay out of them. Pass trucks, do not ride next to one. Ever see a truck tire come apart? With oncoming traffic that looks like it might turn in front of you - cover the brakes and be prepared. Always know your outs. (These lessons are probably the most valuable once you have good bike control. These are identical in cycling, just in cycling your ability to ‘throttle out’ of a danger zone is much more limited.)
Riding requires more concentration than most things you do. To me, that’s part of the allure, I’m out there doing one thing (that I love) and you have to always be thinking, looking, scanning and there’s not a lot of bandwidth left over for other stuff so you block that out and just focus on the moment. About nailing that next curve, blipping the perfect downshift, just being ‘in the flow.’ And some days, it’s just not there. On those days, put the bike back in the garage and do something else.