Cornering really weeds out those who do know and those who don't know. Being able to corner makes a big difference and once learnt and practiced, becomes very natural and for those who are brave enough, allows you to go faster!

Again, cornering is about weight distribution. The rule of thumb with cornering is to keep your outside leg down (unless you need to pedal) and let the bike move underneath you.

Types of Corners

Before taking a corner, you should work out what type of corner it is. You can then adjust your riding and approach to suit the corner.

Bermed corners (or banked corner) - this is the easiest type of corner to tackle. The outer perimeter of this type of corner may be raised a lot or a little. You can maintain some reasonable speed in a bermed corner as the bank will help to pull you around. Approach the corner as wide and as high as possible in order to sustain the initial speed.

Off-camber corners - these are the complete opposite of bermed corners. In these corners, the bank slopes down against the corner and feels very unnatural. You will literally feel like you are leaning or sliding out of the corner. With these corners, be a little more careful and if need be, slow down. If you're quite competent, you can try to approach this corner with more speed which means you're less likely to get the pedal caught on the slope (if it's steep).

Flat corner - the fastest and shortest way around this corner is by taking the "apex", which basically means cutting off the top of the corner. As you approach the corner, swing out a little wide, then lean in and shift to the inside of the corner as you reach the top of it, and then just go back out wide as you exit. If the terrain is to rocky or too slippery for this approach, you may just have to adapt to the corner and take the safer more appropriate route.

Decreasing corner - these corners get narrower and tighter as they go round. Leaning the bike won't be enough, you need to also do some steering. Usually, these corners are also off-camber which makes them very technical and difficult. To tackle a decreasing corner, you need to choose an apex point and set yourself up quickly. Approach the apex, you need to move your weight forward and then brake quickly until you lock up the rear wheel just for a second. This causes a slight skid which lets you turn to the apex and you can then take the widest line out of the curve. This move is quite technical and will take a lot of practice so don't get downhearted. Just keep having a go!

Increasing corner - these corners widen as they go around. You need to approach these corners tightly and try to take the smaller circle around. You could take the wider (and easier) line but this would also be the longest. Try not to use too much braking as there isn't typically a need to lose too much speed.