realskiers

More on the subject of cornering skills...

Here is a good video talking about hip flexion, turning the body and looking ahead into the turn.  Well described, with some good, clear video.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/How-to-Hip-Flexion-Video-diamondback-2012.html

Back to Jim's original post, a small point that was not discussed, and what was the subject of an email exchange between Jim and myself, was the use of a twitch of countersteering to get the bike tipped and leaning into the turn.  This is a skill I learned when riding a road motorcycle (sport bike, way back in my early '20s), and was very helpful in achieving quick and assertive entry into a turn, as well as good transitions in a series of linked turns. 

What Jim was talking about in his OP, was that the inside handlebar (the one to the inside of the upcoming turn) is given a slight but quick nudge forward.  This acts to move the front wheel in the opposite direction of the turn, but just for an instant.  The bike then tips to the inside and leans into the turn in the desired way.  It takes a bit of practice to get over the counter-intuitive nature of this, but it really works well on mountain bikes for making snappy tight turns.

During our chat, Jim was describing to me his movements in turning, and mentioned that he pushes down on the inside bar.  It occurred to me that he is probably using countersteering and didn't even know it.  (Note that I use the term countersteering in a different sense than what BW meant in one of his posts, which talked about sliding a corner).