Has anyone got over their fear of going downhill?

For me it has been practise and some more practise which has helped me relax going downhill. But having done the Fred Whitton this year, the descents there were totally different to what I'm used to. I was a lot slower than a lot of people there, even with lack of familiarity of the descents taken into account, I was slow. But I would sooner finish my ride by riding home and not by being driven home after a trip to A&E.
Also I prefer the overall average speed of a bike ride, I see people who reach well into the 40's mph, but their average speed is slower than mine. For me making up the time on the climbs and flats is more important than the hairy chested max speed figure...
Do what you feel best for the time/situation, don't be dragged into something you aren't comfortable with, it'll just end in tears.

I used to be the same as this. Just practice, practice, practice. I would now describe myself as a moderately good and confident descender. I definitely prefer to descend on the drops. Doing lots of cyclo cross and a bit of BMX pump track on the cross bike has helped. Brake in a straight line, take the right line,look for the exit point..... Most importantly like climbing go at your own pace. Going uphill you have no choice, go too hard you blow up, downhill overextend yourself and it can be worse.
Try to relax though, slow and tense could be more dangerous than fast and relaxed!!

Having crashed at over 80kph on a descent some years ago, I can understand trepidation as I have largely lost my mojo.

At high descending speeds, braking isn't really an option if you get into trouble so do not go fast if you are not sure of the road ahead. I think most riders tend to sit too heavily on the bike, gripping the bars for grim death. Raising your behind and shifting it back helps with weight distribution, especially when you apply the brakes, and allows the bike to follow the road whilst you follow a smoother path. This means that the shock of bumps is only transmitted to and acts upon 7kg of bike, not 85kg of bike and rider combined. It feels much more controlled.

Remember, that 2 square cm of tyre contact will not enable you to stop quickly if you are descending at speed. Focusing on climbing quickly is much safer.

I had a similar problem, but I got over the worst of it with a few of changes to the bike and regular practice. Some bike modifications had I found helped give me confidence were: swapping out the original cheap, nasty wheels for a £200 wheelset which got rid of a slight speed wobble about 30mph. Adding 10mm to the stem made the bike feel less twitchy. 25mm GP4000S tyres instead 23mm Gatorskins gave me a bit more grip and made it much easier to balance on the edge of locking the wheels on greasy roads. I'm still not the quickest downhill, but I'm not the slowest.

Your fears are quite rational, steep, narrow, winding, gravelly, potholed roads are horrible for descending which is why it's better to go up them and descend on wide, smooth roads with a good view where you can let go. If there are woods at the side of the road there is the added danger of animals running out in front of you. Generally though, when descending try to keep your arms loose and relaxed and don't grip the bars too tight, especially if there are crosswinds. Braking should be gentle to control the speed and build confidence, easing off the brakes fully on bends..

I don't think I would disagree with any of the advice above. The main thing is descending in a way that makes you feel comfortable. If you react under base instincts (rather those gained through experience) you'll end up over your bars.

I learnt a lot by watching others on the bike. And while you do not need to follow them, watch what they do and see how they successfully descend quicker. That can be hard on the white knuckle ride, but you'll get a good sense for when then are braking and when they don't. Try to follow them (brake at the same point they are braking, not at the same time). That can be hard but once you start trusting their approach you'll improve your speed tolerances and feel safer.

The tendency is to sit high and move back from the speed, it's something that affects skiers too, but just like skiing if you put your weight forward and get low you'll have more control. Get on the drops and this will improve your ability to brake. After doing Pyrenean descents you need that control in the braking, your hands would die if your tried to do it on the hoods.

As one poster indicates with his story of Ditchling Rise, be careful on unknown sections of road, and also make sure you're happy with surface/contrast of light. On mountain descents you often get run off which creates wet patches and cracks in the road, these are not a problem unless you're cornering and trying to apply directional force over a looser surface. I did the RAB a few years ago and down the straighter, more open descents I was usually the fastest, but come tighter twistier descents I was more cautious. At one point holes were being filled with sand along one of the tracks, although no one I knew came down I was certainly happy that I had taken more caution in the approach and all of us felt certain that someone would have a nasty fall on this particular downhill descent with a sandy bend.

One more thing to add to all the very good advice is possible try another bike. I loved the way Planet X Pro Carbon climbed and convinced myself I was absolutely pants at downhill. Anything above 20mph was brown streak inducing. Got myself another bike last year and was clocking up 40+ a bit too often.

Some people are natural descenders just like some are natural climbers.

Charlie practice on gentle descents with good visibility through corners. Try to let the bike and gravity do the work, just freewheel at first weighting the inside pedal when necessary. Find a hill with bends that you can flow through without braking so not too steep, hands in the drops. Relax your upper body, allow the bars to track the road don't fight them with a death grip. Try not to upset the bikes nature balance. Keep your breathing relaxed and don't hold your breath in corners. Look through the corner, scan for gravel, understand how the sides of the road close down as a corner radius decreases and opens up again when you can get back on the power if you choose to.

Front rear weight distribution is important and when you hit that front brake you transfer a lot of weight over the front wheel so stay as 'neutral' as you can. I used to practice riding a motor bike no hands down a mountain I lived next too, just using the rear (foot) brake. Eventually I could do it standing up, it's just practice, technique and confidence. Definitely very little talent here.

Fwiw I went from motorcycles to road bikes. Descending in Lycra on 23mm tyres on wet gravelly Surrey hills is more terrifying than anything I've experienced riding and racing motorbikes. However my winter bike with discs and lower pressure 28mm tyres descends way better (faster and safer) than my lighter bike on 23 or 25 mm tyres. So try a wider tyre if possible at a lower pressure. Good luck, descending with confidence is a real pleasure.

JaseCD - fantastic post, couldn't put it better myself. I don't want to think of myself as good or fast at descending but I tend to be the first of all my mates. Look quite a long way ahead, you're going faster than usual so you need to be picking your lines and dodging potholes obstacles lumps of rock etc earlier. Watch the white lines and catseyes - at speed they can catch you out, especially if wet.
Remember the front brake is the powerful one, so don't use it too hard if you're cornering. The back one can be brilliant at changing your line and if you lock it up let it go and grab it again. I rode down an Italian mountain road on a bike with a dodgy back brake, God the hairpins were hard! Locking the back wheel doesn't have to end in disaster but locking the front is almost guaranteed to have you gravel rashing.
I got one of the corners badly wrong on Ditchling Beacon not long ago, approaching way too fast and the corner was shaded so the road was damp. I couldn't slow enough for the corner locked the back wheel and at one point the bike was drifting left with the road going right. Ended up rubbing my left shoulder and side on the muddy bank to slow before hitting the deck at a manageble speed. It goes to show no matter how much you think you know the road, you need to have some room to manoeuvre or make a plan B.

Get yourself to the back of the group at the start of the descent so that you don't have all your mates trying to overtake you and then go at your own pace with the option of following their line if you so desire. You'll soon catch them at the bottom anyway so no need to get uncomfortable if you're just out to do something you enjoy.

asked a very similar question here several months ago. I wouldn't say i'm cured but well on the way the cure is practice, practice, and more practice.
Just got back back from Gran Caneria which has pretty much cured my fear with over 22000 feet of accenting and descending. The first ride i was so nervous my fingers were hurting from braking to much by the end of the 4 days i rode i was letting the bike run and really started to enjoy it. I'm still rubbish compared to most though just not fearing death.

Hi, do it all in your own time, the general thread here seems to back how I feel, give me a nice road, that I know, and I'll fly down it, give me a road with a clear view and I'll descend Ok, give me a dappled country lane with poor views that I've not ridden before and I'll be a bit more cautious. Others on the club runs may fly past but they've probably ridden the descent a lot me that I have. Descending is like just about everything else in life, the more you do it, the more confident you'll be about it.

Also don't get too caught up on what other people are doing. A couple of years ago on a ride in the Lakes I was pretty surprised by how fast some people were going down very narrow, windy lanes with poor road surfaces and pretty much no visibility. I don't think they actually had much control over their situation. Sure they were going much quicker than me, but they were also much more likely to end up in the windscreen of an oncoming car. There's nothing wrong with being cautious on roads like that, although here in the Midlands we don't have many roads like that so I guess part of it was just my relative unfamiliarity with that sort of thing.

It's healthy to have some fear of such things, especially things which are not in your control. As long as you don't let it control you or stop you pushing yourself it's fine.

Do some cross/MTB to push/pull the bike around and improve your handling skills. Test the capacity of your brakes and know how they behave under load/stress, don't wait until an emergency to try it out. As for on road, as long as you move your weight correctly and get the most out of the tyre grip, the rest is picking sensible routes with decent road surfaces, free from emerging/hidden hazards.

At the point that you know the road well and are confident that the risks are reasonable, you can push it out and open the throttle/hold off the brakes.

For me personally, the roads around here are to risky and I tend to err on the side of caution, not because I'm afraid I'll lose control of the bike, but that someone will run out, a car will pull out, loose gravel, pot holes, oil/grease on the road. There's a few stretches where I'll push it in the highest gear if the roads a quiet in the morning, but it's not often.

It sounds like you are riding according to the conditions and/or the environment. There are no medals handed out to the first one to the bottom of a narrow twisty decent.

Stick me on a wide open B road descent with open views through the bends and i'll easily tip up towards the 45mph mark. However, when the road tightens up and gets twisty i'll happily hover not far above half that.

Being confident in your equipment plays a massive part so make sure that everything is working perfectly. Also make sure your position is sorted. Get in the drops to shift your weight on the bike. Stay relaxed too, being stiff on the bike amplifies your movement through the bike.

But after all this don't feel pressured to be fast. Descend in your comfort zone, stay upright, stay safe and ride again tomorrow.

I find when I go downhill that it helps if I stand very slightly out the saddle with knees flexed to take up the lumps and bumps on the road that are rougher at higher speeds. Then I concentrate on the road ahead and forget everything that is behind me.

That said I don't actually claim to be a fast descender and might also sit on the brakes a bit when I am doing that.

I think it is important not to let anyone else tell you to speed up and end up feeling unsafe, you are in charge of your own safety at the end of that day.

I do love descending but I'm not just going to tell you to get a grip.

Are you confident on how to approach descents? I take the whole lane as it's not going to be safe for an overtake if you're doing thirty plus. I also use the whole lane, moving to the outside or inside of the lane as appropriate and looking for apexes to cut corners in order carry as much speed through as possible. Follow the same logic as a racing car - brake before the corner whilst still travelling in a straight line, look for the apex and then accelerate through it and out the other side.

Position on the bike is important - sit back slightly so your is weight further over the back wheel and get lower to the bars, in the drops but covering the brakes. You want the bike to feel planted - if the rear wheel feels loose then sit further back and vice versa. Keep your pedals level on straights but on corners lower the outside pedal so your leg is straight and your inside leg is raised.

It's probably worth working specifically on this - I'd start on familiar roads of around -5% gradient before building up to steeper sections, where there is more chance of losing control. For me confidence is a big part of being/feeling safe so building confidence should be your aim

I would also add that I only really push on roads which I know well. There's no shame in holding back on unfamiliar descents or narrow roads where cars may be coming uphill.

This video of Cancellera chasing back on to the group shows you how to do it. Watch how he uses the whole road and how he flares out his knee to shift his balance for tighter corners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXqQqAc2pA

I only get "scared" when the road is narrow with poor visibility- or in damp. Give me a wide open descent and I'll spin my legs happily

Choose descents with good open views, not in residential areas and not with blind bends. Build up your confidence and remember coming off on tarmac at 30+ is going to strip your skin off so don't take unnecessary risks. Confidence will help a lot.

I am exactly the same, some of my starva segment times are embarrassing on downhill sections !

However it is about practice, I am getting better and braver. The one tip I found from a GCN vid was to gently keep braking downhill to take the worse of the speed off. Get on the drops, sit back and two fingers on each of the brakes, gently squeezing.

Now my times are improving, confidence is up.

I was the same after coming from a background of mountain biking where brakes are way more powerful and I was most likely lulled into feeling they had more grip.
I just gradually built up over a few months of descending on the road bike practicing slowing in a hurry with good brake modulation to avoid locking up so you know you can still stop safe when your speed increases. . Find a nice straight descent that you know is safe with nowhere cars may pull out of suddenly and practice there, your confidence will then grow to go for longer descents and with bends.