Mountain Bike Psychology

Lately I've been thinking about the power of the mind and how it can greatly effect our performance. Think about it - if you're feeling flat or depressed, your performance levels are nowhere near that if your motivated and excited. So why don't we spend more time strengthening our mind to drive us into better performance?

Today we will be looking at powerful mind technique which is commonly recognized as imagery or visualisation. Practicing imagery/visualisation has been known to strengthen the pathways between your brain and the rest of your body which can improve your coordination with certain techniques. I can recall numerous skills that I have achieved with imagery/visualisation being a key additive to the technique's success. Imagery/visualisation is a great exercise to improve your ability to ride lines, rail corners, clear jumps and win races.

How To Do It

You can strengthen your brain-body pathways at any opportunity where you are doing nothing; it might be on the bus, in the waiting room or on the loo - but the best time for brain training is probably when you just get into bed at night when it is dark and quiet. Basically all you have to do is visualise yourself doing stuff! Like any training method, you will need to progressively overload your sessions - start with around 5 minutes at a time and gradually build the duration. After a few sessions your imagination ability will improve and so will the quality of your visualisation. Visualise yourself riding tricky lines through single track, clearing jumps you can't yet hit and cornering with precision for starters; you will be able to think of areas you want to improve depending on where you are at with your riding (you may look at riding relaxed and smoothly - floating over the terrain, having good peddling form, riding in a tight bunch etc.). When visualising, make sure you are using good riding technique so it can be converted into reality. It is important that when you are visualising yourself ride, you are looking through your own eyes as if you were riding, not as if you ware watching yourself from a distance.

If you are new to mountain biking or you are unsure on how to tackle a technique, watch videos (youtube) and/or better riders who can execute the skill to see how it is done properly. We can learn a lot from our downhill/free ride brethren so don't rule them out when observing skills.

Imagery Training On-The-Go

One thing I do a fair bit of is picking lines on any remotely rideable thing. If I'm walking down a staircase I'll visualise myself riding down the stairs. If I see an open rock face I will plan the best route to the bottom. Even if it is unlikely that I will be facing any of these obstacles in a single track situation, similar hazards on a smaller scale are sure to arise and I am able to attack them with more confidence because I have already pre-planned a bigger stunt.


Stay tuned for more psychology techniques to improve your riding, coming soon...

2009 National MTB Championships

Last weekend (January 23/26) saw the 2009 MTBA National Mountain Bike Championships held at Mt. Stromlo, Canberra. I was unfortunate enough to miss competing myself but I was able to get a glimpse of the short-course racing that was held on Monday. The course was relatively long with the odd short-sharp climb accompanied by a few jumps and tight bermed corners. The riding was hot being held at the height of a 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 F) day. The track was broken in by the Sport Men division where a strong riding standard was set, followed by the massive swarm U19 Male competitors. The Women's short course was next where a strong lineup of riders made there presence felt. The elite men finished the series of racing off with a high-paced dust fight. Olympian Chris Jongewarrd took the whole-shot and gave himself a big 15 second buffer and rode alone for most of the race. After working well together, local rider Dylan Cooper and Victorian Daniel McConnel managed to pull Jongewarrd's lead back to a manageable distance for an exciting finish with Jongewarrd in 1st, Cooper in 2nd and McConnel in 3rd.




For more information on the event and venue visit http://www.mtbnationals.com.au/ and stromloforestpark.com.au

Which Gear?

Our drive train can handle whatever gear combination we plug in right? WRONG! It is imperative that we know how to work with our drive train to prevent unnecessary wear and expensive damage; not to mention performance advantages.



Don't Cross Your Chain



Your chain has been crossed when you are in the big chainring at the front and a big chainring at the back (eg. 3x1), or the small chainring at the front and a small chainring at the back (eg. 1x9). Riding in these sort of gear ratios puts extra strain on your chain which can lead to premature chain/cog wear and most likely a snapped chain.



When shifting you should always be wary of the ratio you are in. When you are in the middle ring upfront you can use most of the range in your rear cassette but your drive train may struggle with the smallest and biggest few cogs at the rear. When in the smallest (easiest) chainring upfront you don't want to exceed the inner half of the rear cassette which contains the larger (easier) cogs. The same principle applies when in the big (hardest) chainring upfront - stick to the smaller (harder) gears at the back. The straighter the line of your chain, the less strain it is under.