Cornering on a bicycle is a pretty intuitive process. Your body figured how to maintain control while turning ages ago, however, you may not understand the principles at work. The fact is, when cornering, you don’t actually steer the bicycle. That is, unless you are moving at very slow speeds—for example, less than 8 mph—speeds low enough that the bike remains almost perfectly upright. When cornering at typical riding speeds, you are, in fact, countersteering.

Countersteering is just like it sounds. It is the opposite of steering. You’ve probably noticed that any time you turn you lean in the direction of the turn. This is the primary effect of countersteering. Suppose you want to turn right. By turning the handlebar slightly to the left, the front wheel is shifted left of your center of gravity. This initiates a lean to the right. Once the bike is leaning to the right, it turns right, the same way a skier or skateboarder would. Ending the turn requires steering the front wheel back under you to bring the bike upright, something we learned to do unconsciously years ago.

The turn’s radius (its tightness) is controlled by two factors: Your countersteering and your weight distribution. How you weight the pedals will help determine how the bike corners. The most common mistake new riders make in cornering is to drop the inside pedal. A rider who doesn’t understand the principles of countersteering will effect a weight shift to lean the bike in the direction of the low pedal. Unfortunately, this can result in the pedal hitting the ground, which can result in a crash. Even when it doesn’t result in grinding the pedal on the ground, with so much weight shifted in the direction of the turn, oversteering—turning too sharply—can result.

Before you can take a corner at speed, you need to figure out how you prefer to coast. This is another reason to know which of your feet is dominant. By putting your dominant foot forward, you can better shift your weight from side to side to control the lean angle of the bicycle. Keeping the cranks level will help you control your weight distribution as you corner. If you have ever ridden with no hands on the bar, then you already know you can control the bike by shifting your weight on the pedals and saddle.

How to Look over Your Shoulder
To get the fullest picture of what is behind you, you need to be able to look over your shoulder. Looking over your shoulder accomplishes two things. First, it gives you a clear picture of how many cars are present. Second, it shows drivers you are aware of the traffic and will be less likely to make a sudden turn into traffic.

The trick to looking over your shoulder is to keep the bike pointed straight while your head and shoulders are twisted to the left. Sounds easy enough, but the hardwiring in our brains is such that where your eyes are pointed, your head tends to follow. And wherever your head points, the body tends to follow.

To overcome this, pick a road with little traffic and a painted shoulder line. Try riding a few inches to the right of the shoulder line with your hands on the top of the bar. Next, twist your head and shoulders to the left while continuing to look forward. Remove your left hand from the bar and keep your body centered over the bike—do not lean as you twist. Many riders will put their left hand on their hip as they twist.
You will likely drift to the left as you twist your head and shoulders. With some practice, you’ll find that you can twist without drifting. The next step is to simply look back quickly, just like checking the blind spot when you drive. If traffic is heavy or moving quickly, you may want to look back twice in quick succession.
Your first priority, of course, is to remain aware of what is directly ahead of you.

Your peripheral vision is absolutely key to this maneuver and riding safely in general. Compared to driving a car, you have more unobstructed view and remaining both vigilant and observant will make this move safer and increase your awareness overall. Likewise, along with the unobstructed view, your sense of hearing is heightened because you’re not encased in a car. You’ll soon learn to recognize the sound of traffic approaching from the rear and can steer accordingly. Supplementing a look back over your shoulder with vigilant listening will dramatically improve your safety on the road.

Patrick Brady is the author of the forthcoming "The No Drop Zone, Everything You Need to Know About the Peloton, Your Gear and Riding Strong," published by Menasha Ridge Press, which will be released this May. When Patrick started writing about cycling 20 years ago Greg LeMond was still a pro and Lance Armstrong was an amateur hoping to make the Olympic Team. Since then he has served as an editor for Bicycle Guide magazine and publisher of Asphalt Magazine. In addition to his work as a contributing editor to peloton magazine, Patrick publishes his own blog, Red Kite Prayer.