wrote:
I had an unpleasant crash this winter: a wet spot followed by a left
hairpin turn. Once I started leaning into the turn, it felt like I was
riding on ice. It's been 6 months and the bruises are still pretty
spectacular. But the worst bruise is on my mind. I feel extremely
uncomfortable leaning into turns since then, even if the pavemen is
totally dry. I just don't know how far I can safely lean w/o going into
a skid.

If you are pedaling it is usually clearance limited.

Are there special tires that are stickier than others? I crashed on
Michelin Carbons (red stripes) which are supposedly designed for wet
weather - did not help.

There are tires for just about anything, including ice racing tires with
nail type studs sticking out.

I guess I can only feel comfortable once I know exactly what to do if I
get into a skid. How does one train for that? Sounds like a tough way
to train - either you leave flesh on the pavement, or you don't.

You are better to just lay it down and skid rather than try to recover
and go over the handlebars.

There was an article in Velonews by a guy who won a famous descent race
in LA. He says he lifts his bike when it strats to skid...

Lifts it how?

By comparison, I think I am good in descending on nordic skis, to a
point where some people consider me nuts. I guess, it's because I know
exactly what to do if anything goes wrong. But on a bike - I am totally
clueless. I am used to going 50+ mph on straight downhills, just by
letting it go and hoping that nothing bad happens.

If there is nothing to hit then the worst that can reasonably happen is
you will do a lot of bouncing and rolling, and yes, losing skin. Better
than hitting a tree or a car though but you could get really unlucky and
break something like, ummm, your neck.

But I have no idea
what to do in an emergency.

Stay down and skid or you chance a flip. Get away from the bicycle if
you can and let it go it's own way since you have your own trajectory to
worry about.
If by any chance you can get your hands on a small motorcycle of the
dirt bike variety and find a dirt oval you can practice breaking the
rear loose at about 15 - 20 MPH. Just wear armor since you will likely
go down more than once. It is good practice and hard to get hurt at low
speed, also fun. The hard part is finding a beater 100cc bike to ride.
Have fun,
Bill Baka