majmt 

So, three rights really do make a left.

Comforting to hear that I’m not the only one with a “weak” side. I’ve thought about this off and on ever since I had a bad motorcycle wreck over twelve years ago when I lost it on a sharp downhill and decreasing radius curve to the right.

SJX426 

That will do it for quite a while! Gone down in both directions on gravel and ice. Loved the confidence before those experiences! Wish there was an instrument that would indicate how close to loosing traction in a turn in real time.

Paint on the pavement doesn't help nor does oily spots.

RobbieTunes

Left turn biased.
Likely due to the crankset.

A U-Turn from the left opens up freedom, hope and potential, while a U-Turn from the right removes free will.

Phil_gretz

I've never ridden a bike in the Southern Hemisphere, I just realized.

ldmataya 

This difference is quite noticeable in off-road riding, if you pay attention. All serious MTB riders know what kind of tight switchback they are going to struggle with. For me it is right hand turns, at any speed (off road). The cause is always body position, and having someone watch you really helps. Practicing turns with cones shows you very quickly what you suck at. Much easier to do at slower speed off road but we used to practice sharp turning for crits in small radius circles. I suspect I'm worse turning right because off road you have to load the left side of your body and punch it into the ground to get the bike to lean and the tires to bite - and I'm right handed.

Steel Charlie

Almost everyone turns more naturally to the left. Almost every, if not every, race track in the world has more left hand turns.
The common wiring.

DrIsotope

Don't tell Australia about this. They race clockwise (which is backwards to the rest of us) so even the ovals are four right turns. Tracks like Adelaide and Albert Park are double the number of rights compared to lefts.

On a bike, I am also more comfortable turning left (for U-turns as well as at speed,) despite being both right-handed and in the Northern Hemisphere.

viperocco

I thought it was just me but my left turns were way better than my right turns. I rectified this by doing figure 8s both ways in my driveway till i could confidently make low speed tight circles

Mr. Spadoni 

I have. I’m equally slow, both side of the equator.

jadocs

Interesting thread. Yeah I'm inclined to this as well. I never really thought about it until I read this. I'm right handed and if turning in a confined space, I will go left.

It would be interesting to know if people who lived on the other side of the pond are more comfortable turning right.

ltokuno

I found a very sharp, very narrow switchback that I practiced on till I was comfortable with both turning directions slow and at speed. At first I had a preference for turning left though. I was just smoother through left turns and so a little faster.

seypat

As Charles Shackleford alleged once stated,(I'm paraphrasing)

"I can go left. I can go right. I'm amphibious."

P!N20

I've never seen a right turn on a velodrome.

bikingshearer 

Coming back to this thread after posting a reply, above, I realize that there are two possible ways to interpret the question, and most of you took the one I didn't. So, I will amend my answer to cover both.

When descending or on a fast flat ("fast" being relative), I feel more confident in a tight right-hand corner than I do in a tight left-hand corner. I think it is because, if I overcook a right-hander, I have another lane and all is okay as long as there isn't oncoming traffic. But if I overcook a left-hander, I will run out of pavement, with varying degrees of back things resulting.

When doing a U-turn, I am significantly more comfortable going left than going right, not that I'm not particularly good or graceful at either. I assume the difference is as stated: far more practice because I am almost always starting the maneuver from a right-hand lane.

As a general proposition, my bike handling skills are mediocre at best from a flashy stunt riding standpoint, but pretty darn good riding in a group (holding a line, not surging and slowing, not making unnecessary movements, paying attention to what is going on around me, being predictable). My best bike handling skill is staying within my capabilities and not putting myself in positions where I need exceptional bike handling skills.

bikingshearer 

Just turn around and voila.

lasauge 

I'm better at tight left turns, probably because my right side is a little stronger (right hand dominant, used to pushing off from a stop with the right leg) and that translates to comfort when the bike is leaned over. In practice I've never found this to matter - maybe on a mountain bike, but when I'm on a mountain bike and especially wary about taking a right turn too tight that's more to do with worrying about bashing the rear derailer into things than comfort on the bike...

rhm

I'm continually surprised by how sensitive you guys are. I don't mean the guys who can distinguish between Reynolds and Colombus tubing by the way a bike rides and the like, which I kinda doubt, but it's clear to me a lot of riders have a level of self-awareness that i don't have. You guys speak knowingly about all kinds of stuff i never pay attention to. From this thread i learn it is probably easier for me to turn left than right. Interesting! I have never thought about it before now. I'll try to think about this when I'm on my bike tomorrow morning....

Prowler 

^^^^^^^ OK rhm , try this one. When you stop pedaling, coast along, maybe slowing to a stop, are your crank arms level, one front one back? Which pedal is forward? For many people it's naturally the right foot. I had to pay attention to this when I learned to track stand. Right foot for me which I had to retrain to left foot forward due to the crown in the roads. Weird huh?

Is it always right foot for right hand people and left for left handed?

When you're climbing out of the saddle and have to scratch your .........................

jadocs

I'm right handed and right side dominant, when I coast to a stop my right pedal is down with left pedal up because I unclip my left foot at the top of the stroke. I keep my right foot clipped in because it is my dominant leg and that is what I use to start pedaling.

AlanO

Yep. I slow down on right turns. No idea why. I also ballroom dance and right turns are harder.

5teveraleigh

Yes, I'm the same, only I turn to the right easier but not so much the left.
Whether I'm riding, skating or running and when I've tried skiing, it's the same feeling. Right seems natural and left is very awkward.
I even feel it to some point driving a car, so I'm wondering if it's psychological, though I expect it's a trained physical thing.

BTW, I'm naturally left handed but was forced to write with my right in early days of school. Now I'm ambidextrous.
I don't know if that has any influence?

I feel your pain. Glad to know it's not just me.

jskash

I am much more comfortable turning left than turning right, especially if I had to do a U turn.

tiger1964 

Turn? TURN? I've been spending way too much time on the nearby rail-to-trail, perfectly straight. Just a single 180 at the far end (oh, I guess I usually do it to the left).

xiaoman1 

UPS and FedX have found right turns easier and faster.
Best, Ben

cyccommute 

Gotta agree with you...at east on the “kinda doubt” bit

This might explain a whole lot of what I’ve observed over time in bike path racing, however. I have noticed that most people can’t corner worth a crap. They will be gaining on me on the straights but as soon as the trail starts to have bends, they drop further and further behind. There one corner on a local path that has a 90° turn to the right followed by a 90° turn to the left in about 10 feet. It doesn’t matter which direction I’m heading but I can usually gain distance on most any rider on those corners. I gain much more on the downhill side...maybe as much as 40 or 50 feet.

I have no problem with turning in either direction but I’ve also taught myself too be a little bit ambidextrous. My father and grandmother were left handed...and ambidextrous because they were forced to be...and perhaps it rubbed off. I can throw a yo-yo with my left hand as well as right handed. I’ve learned how to cast flies left handed...handy in close, bushy situations. I even bowled left handed at a holiday party in solidarity with a coworker who had broken her right hand. The first game was horrible but by the third game I had actually managed to throw 2 or 3 strikes. My score was close to what I get with my right hand...I’m a crap bowler. The worst part of bowling like that was that my left hip hurt afterward.

I do wonder if part of the problem people have is because of the way they ride. Many people don’t look much further down the road then their front tire. When teaching new mountain bikers, one of the first things that has to be addressed is to get them to look further down the trail. They tend to get affixed on a target and ride right into it. When I go into a corner...on trail or on road...I look at the exit and beyond. I’ve already gauged the corner for ice, sand, water, dogs, kids, people, etc before entering the corner and know that wheels will carry me through. I don’t need to watch the corner for all that stuff because I’ve already noted it.

On U-turns (and switchbacks), one way I deal with them is to “pin” the corner. I look at the center of the corner as I go around it as if there is a pin in that corner. As I pass the center point of the corner, I lift my gaze and look towards the exit. This is an old mountain biker trick for switchbacks. Often a switchback is a problem because you are looking off a steep drop when you enter the corner. That’s usually disconcerting. “Pinning” the corner makes the rider look into the corner rather than off the edge.