Sit Down Cornering

From DirtyTorque

Tight sandy corners mean one thing: sitting down, getting that inside foot out and laying your baby over, on max gas. Yep, there comes a time when cornering with your bum firmly seated on the saddle is the way to go. It’s not an exact science, but it is a deliberate process. And in this sequence you can see the various transitions required, riding the straight, entering the corner, mid corner, then exiting.

Now the most important thing to remember is that you don’t want to sit down too early. Don’t think, ‘corner coming up, must slow and sit down.’ That’s not going to work. No, in deep sand you power into corners. You want to maintain your rearward weight bias, you want to stay on the gas until as late as you dare, ease off the gas for only long enough as is required to get down to a cornering speed – it won’t be much – and aim for a point in the corner where you want to most definitely plant the bike. You can’t wander in; you have to be deliberate.

In this sequence I’ve got it in mind that I’m going to use a berm, I’m going to hit it low, where it’s firmest, ride it for a while then drive off it. Because I’m riding a wee 250F I won’t slavishly follow it its full-length as I don’t have the power for that to be effective. That said, in sand you mostly want to follow a corner, rather than try and cut it tight.

So you can see I’ve left it until the last moment to get seated, and I’m positioned mid-saddle not right forward, as in sand you don’t need to load up the front wheel, it’s got plenty to bite on already. I’ve also placed my bum over the topside of the saddle as I’m pushing the bike down with my thigh. And the moment I’m hitting the berm I’m hitting the throttle, you accelerate in sand from the moment you enter the corner – even before you’re turned. So you practically hit the power before you need it and you keep it on.

So mid corner I’m laying the bike over, I’m on the gas and I’m looking for my exit, which is very much to the inside of the corner. Lots of guys go wide which creates lots of whoops, whereas the inside line, being less travelled, will be smoother and so I’ll get better drive.