Left Turns? Right Turns? Which are Better?

Twisty RoadIn a perfect world, none of us would ever enter a turn too hot. But given the perils such may present, should you be more concerned about riding a twisting road that is curving to the right as opposed to one that is curving to the left?

“Yes.”

Practically speaking, if you enter a turn over your head, all else being equal, you have better odds of surviving bad corner exits when you are turning left. (At least in the United States and other countries that drive on the right side of the road).

If you are entering a left turn too hot and you run wide, you may find yourself skating too close to the white line marking the edge of your road, or in a worse scenario, low siding your bike past the white line, ideally sustaining nothing more than some broken plastic and scraped riding apparel.

However, if you take a right turn too hot and drift wide enough to cross that double yellow line, you may luck out with no opposing traffic…but…what if that opposing lane you crossed into isn’t empty?

Poor rider control through a right turn is more problematic than left ones. Even getting too close to that double-yellow, when you are still on your own side, is problematic around any twisting road (how many times have you seen some SUV coming around a turn with their closest fender in your lane?).

Ideally, we would be so competent and alert that we wouldn’t ever enter corners hotter than we can readily handle. But given the potential perils, its wise to be even more alert when leaning into right turns.

And of course, just reverse the right-level equation if you are in a country that drives on the left side of the road.

Safe riding!

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