I lose a lot of time on single track and technical descents. Tahoe Trail “WAlternate” and Leadville “Powerline & Columbine” descents to name a few. I’m thinking I’m losing minutes on these descents compared to my colleagues who are similar fitness, and it’s gotta stop! I find myself yo-yo’ing with folks between climbs and descents…
This year I tried riding off-road for 1 hours/week (it’s hard to get on the trail), but riding the same trails has only had limited effectiveness as I’ve learned the features and lines and no longer getting surprised.
I am building up a trail bike and will get pads so I can hit more challenging terrain, but can’t help to think that isn’t entirely relevant to the skills needed for the XC racing I am doing.
Anyone go through this same thing? I think it’s a problem now that my fitness has eclipsed my skill. Thanks for your suggestions!
It’s not so much about surprise though. Have you tried sessioning features and trying to do them faster, less brakes, smoother, etc? Sometimes knowing the trails is the best thing for practice because you can focus on the fundamentals instead of worrying what’s around the next corner.
If you know the course by heart, and your fitness is really good, then it’s probably fundamentals, and possibly something with your setup. Suspension, tires, etc.
Do you have a coach that can watch and make suggestions?
I’m a relatively new mountain biker, but nothing has been as impactful in my progression as has riding with riders who are better than me. Even on terrain I’m familiar with, sitting behind them and just observing how they use the terrain is the most impactful thing I can do and has lead to a few quantum leaps in my ability. For me, being told what I’m doing wrong is helpful to a degree, but simply observing how it’s done right has been more fruitful.
I got a lot better this year at riding and cornering, no where near where I want to be though. Simply put, my fundamentals were bad. My ready position was centered too far back and I was too high. I’ve watched a lot of videos over the years and “knew” all the traditional cues, but I wasn’t actually executing them. What finally clicked was riding a trail I was very familiar at a 6/10 pace and with a focus on keeping momentum. The cue that really stuck was brining my chest really low to the bars which helped fix that ready position. I always felt like my weight was too far forward doing this but the reality was it centered the distribution more. I found a lot more traction, could feel a lot better when I was losing it, and when I did lose it or start to slide the bike moved it was free to recover on it’s own, where as before I would go down losing the front or rear tire. Getting lower also helped my vision in the sense that the trail seemed wider from me being smaller.
All that has put a lot more confidence in my downhills, and I’ve PR’d almost every twisty section or downhill segment this year by a pretty good margin. Of course, probably working on hour with a coach could’ve saved a few years frustration.
All the other cues clicked into place once the main position got better. Looking ahead is second nature so that you are in the right body position for the next feature, bike body separation to let it float underneath, more effective braking, etc.
That said… Experience, athleticism and fearlessness play a big role. If you have grown up doing this and are fairly athletic and are willing to put your body in harms way for the stoke of bombing down a hill then your probably pretty good. If you are missing any one of those you are going to bleed time on the downhills.
Yep. And even once you have the position nailed, it will take a lot of repetition building the muscle memory needed to execute to a high level. When I was first learning how to corner fast (especially on flat or loose corners) it took a lot of practice to get where I am now, and I’m not even that good! I think suspension and tires are also overlooked as well. Tires that just have the sharp edges worn off the tread won’t grip nearly as well as a pair of fresh tires. If your sag is too high or low, or the rebound & compression aren’t close, then you’ll also have trouble on more technical sections, and ride quality can suffer overall. Rebuilding your forks and shock annually is also a great idea to maintain peak suspension performance. There’s plenty of people that can go fast on a clapped out bike, but when things are dialed it makes it much easier.
You can still improve on trails you know well. For example, pick a suitable section and try riding it with no brakes. This can help you learn how to corner and hold your speed.
It absolutely helps. When you get used to riding technical trails, it’s a lot easier to ride faster on non technical single track. This is from a mix of skills you pick up, plus mentally - you feel a lot more comfortable riding fast given the non tech nature of the trails.
The most important thing is repetition, and time in the saddle on trails. 1hr per week isn’t a lot of time. If that’s all you have, you probably need to make a specific effort to focus that hr on skills practice, and not “just ride”. A coach may be able to help you design a skills program you can do in that hr.
I highly recommend watching Ben Cathro’s How to Bike series (3 seasons) This is by far the best series of coaching videos I have seen for MTB.
He also has a few videos on How Not to Bike. Not organized into seasons, but pretty easy to find on YouTube. Example:
Riding my enduro bike and going to the bike park a few times a month has made me an overall mtb rider and the skills 100% translate to xc riding/racing. Nothing beats repetition. Once summer really hits, I’m barely on my road or gravel bike and am doing all of my workouts and riding on my epic evo. I’m also very fortunate to have long climbs and descents right next to each other in Colorado.
This is all really helpful information . You guys rock.
Jonathan, Amber and Eliot Jackson shared some really useful insights in this podcast clip below. I think you’ll find their advice helpful.
I am also relatively new to mountain biking. I’ve been getting such a thrill from learning a new skill and testing my body beyond the ususal “suffering as much as possoble” that we endurance athletes are used to.
Here are some things I’ve learned during this process- just my 2 cents .
I’ve found it important to meet myself where I am and avoid being so hard on myself. This is an exciting place to start because there is a lot of potential on the table. I try to avoid letting my frustration get in the way.
I have some experienced friends who are great hype people and can offer a few pointers very occasionally. I have learned to set myself a challenge and congratulate myself as I make progress. Sounds simple and childish but the positive self- talk really helps me maintian compusure and gradually gain confidence as I slowly push the envelope of my own capabilities.
This leads me to my next point; it’s a step-wise process. I’ve learned to trust my intuition about what is in realm of my current capabilities and what is a few too many steps ahead.
This might mean falling but it should anything masssively out of your control. This has helped avoid that flight or fight feeling which I have found to be the single most significant deterent to my progress.
Finally, I have learned that I need to feel fresh and alert when I’m pushing myself in this realm. Not only is this key to learning, but it’s key to safety.
I’m excited for you! I have found this process of learning/developing a new skill to be very rewarding and a lot of fun!
Another vote for the Cathro series, his video on cornering is (imo) the best one there is, it’s helped me a ton.
One mistake tons of people make, myself included, is to gain speed at the expense of control. This results in panic braking when you are way past your comfort zone, rather than braking in logical parts of the trail. The key to speed is smoothing out the trail. And I find this requires getting good at knowing where to brake, where not to brake, and where to pedal. Good Enduro racers are incredibly good at this!
The most productive training i have done is by riding a trail I know really well, and identifying all the areas where I should be braking, where to be off the brakes, and where to pedal to get some speed. It’s a little tedious at first, but it really makes you better at reading the trail.
And the single tip that has helped me the most: don’t look at your tires; look down the trail. Riding a trail you really know well is a really good way to practice this, as since you know it well you’ll have a pretty good idea what’s underneath you.
If I took a stab, the most common failure I see in successful riders in XCO and XCM is not understanding that a bike requires lean angle to turn at pace. The first thing you learn when you first ride a motorcycle is counter steering, but I know whole seas of people who ride bikes daily who don’t know how to properly initiate a turn, and who just ride at warp speed into a corner, slam on the brakes, wobble around and then accelerate again. If you gave me a close second it would be general body position when riding.
. You guys rock.
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