This will be the first post in a series that will help you pass the mountain bike learning curve. I will begin with some posts on improving your skills, then I'll move to tips on keeping your bike running smoothly, then we'll be looking at how improving your physical conditioning will improve your riding.
When you first get hooked on mountain biking, it is easy to
become impatient with your progress as you strive to catch up with your fellow
riders. Mountain biking is such a great sport because it has so much to offer
at so many levels. As a beginner we find ourselves in a new world of awesome
dirt while we learn about how fun and rewarding the sport can be. As we
improve, we’ve found ourselves developing a new level of fitness and skill that
allows us to ride faster and enjoy ourselves even more. The advanced riders
among us find pleasure in mastering difficult techniques, riding highly
technical terrain and being able to ride at high speeds thanks to a solid
foundation of skill and fitness. In my experience that is shared with many
others, the deeper you get into the sport of mountain biking and the more you
develop as a rider, the more enjoyable it becomes. So if you’ve recently gotten
into this great pastime I’ve got some tips that should help you get through
that initial learning curve and have you riding faster and smoother in no time.
I’ve also got a few pointers regarding care for your bike that will hopefully
allow you to prevent learning things the hard way and reduce unnecessary
financial costs.
Skills
The main issue riders have when getting started is handling
the technical nature of the single track so I thought I’d better start with
some mountain bike skills that will open up a whole lot of terrain for
you.
A while ago I did a post that explains how playing around on
your bike can be valuable in improving your off road skills. I love playing on
my bike and still do it a lot. Messing around on your bike in a car park, you
backyard or wherever will improve the way you balance, transfer weight and
manuver the bike in obscure situations which really is the foundation of
mountain bike skills. When playing on your bike try and work on a few of the
things listed below:
- ·
The trackstand – balancing on your bike without
moving. Improving your trackstand will directly improve the way you handle
technical rock sections, narrow lines and technical climbs. The secret to a
trackstand is to gently rock the bike backwards and forwards; you’re not
actually completely still in a trackstand. Start out facing up a bit of a
gradient and stand up on the pedals while gently applying and removing pressure
on the front pedal. This will let you rock gently and help you keep your
balance. As you improve, move to a flatter area and try to minimize the amount
of backwards and forwards movement. When you think you’ve mastered that, take off
one arm or leg.
- ·
The wheelie – I’m not saying you need to be able
to pop a massive wheelie to be considered a good mountain biker, but the
ability for you to lift your front wheel on top of or over obstacles will open
up a lot of terrain for you. Practice throwing your weight backwards while
making a strong pedal stroke to lift up the front wheel. Be careful that you
don’t flip backwards – grass is a good place to practice. You also want to
practice pulling your front wheel up without peddling which requires you to
throw your weight backwards and pull up on the handlebars. Work on climbing up
a curb or ledge by lifting your front wheel on top and letting your back wheel
gently roll over. If you can get yourself to a point where you can start
getting some distance with your wheelies that’s awesome. Try to use the rear
brake to stop you from flipping backwards – this will be good for developing
brake control.
- ·
Endoes – aka. Nose stands, front wheelies etc.
This is a great exercise in brake control and improving your weight and balance
on the bike. To pull an endo you need to slowly roll forward and apply the
front brake to lift the front wheel. As you improve, you will be able to pull
an endo at higher speeds and travel some distance on your front wheel.
- ·
Lifting the back wheel – this is useful for
climbing or passing over obstacles like logs or big rocks smoothly. You can use
lines on the ground to begin practicing this. Work on lifting your front wheel
over a line and then lift your rear wheel over by preloading on the pedals and
springing up/forward while rolling your handlebars forward and maintaining
contact with the pedals. Many riders cheat by tapping the front brake to lift
the wheel over and obstacle or relying on their clipless pedals to pull the
bike up. The problem with the front break technique is that it is slower and
you run the risk of face planting if you jam the break or if your wheel gets
stuck on something. The problem with relying on pulling on clipless pedals is
when your shoes unexpectedly snap out of the pedals you might find yourself
leapfrogging the handlebars.
These are just a few skills that will improve your singletrack riding when practiced regularly. Stay tuned for more posts on improving more MTB skills coming very soon.
The tendency for many riders is to tense up while riding
rough terrain which results in a bumpy ride which is slow, can damage
components and can make you fall off the bike. When descending or riding at
speed, you want to keep your arms and legs relaxed to soak up all the bumps. No
matter how much suspension travel you bike has, you have much more in your arms
and legs. Your arms/legs/bike should be fairly active beneath you while your
torso remains relatively still and balanced. Riding relaxed is also more
efficient and will save you energy. 
