Mountain Bike Technique
Dare - Double Dare - The Psychological Challenge
In part 2 of our session instalment, we take a glimpse into rider psychology and our mental approach to practising sections of trail. Working on our mental game is a fast track way to improve what happens on the bike. Neglect the mental training, and all that hard work on the bike is as good as worthless. I have mentioned…
Looks Like a Session
Practice makes permanent Skills on demand and the ability to make the bike dance down the trail are not so much about perfecting things, it's more a matter of embedding subconscious memory (connections in the brain) and muscle memory within ourselves, making a permanent connection so that we can make the correct shapes at the correct times. With the core…
Nothing New Never Normal
So we are back! And boy have we missed sharing our secrets of the trade with you. For obvious reasons we took a wee break but now as the globe gets a grip with the ‘whack a mole’ pain in the butt that is COVID we have rounded up the troops and got the show back on the road. So…
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The Art of Fast
You're fit (or fit-ish), your bike is the same calibre as your buddy's, but you just can’t seem to carry the same speed that they do. How is it that some riders seem to accelerate away from you with comparative ease, all with seemingly less effort? This issue we look at some key pointers as to how to carry more…
The Golden Thread
Much has been written about ‘line choice’ as an important aspect of taming the trail that lies ahead. This issue we put our usual spin on the subject with the ultimate goal of making you a better, faster rider. Line choice is indeed an important skill to develop, but from experience we know that when you are out on the…
The Workman's Tools
All too often what you are riding is seen as the biggest limiting factor to the trails you can tame and the speed you can carry. Magazines and videos are filled with highly skilled riders on super pimped steeds riding super technical terrain, descending at speeds only previously considered achievable with the aid of a zip wire. Technology clearly plays…
Manual Labour
Lifting Without Shifting Manuals and ‘proper’ manual bunny hops are closely knit companions in your skill arsenal, alongside dropping and jumping they are often considered as the ‘holy grail’ skills. When we look at them performed effortlessly by the likes of Danny (that guy that hops around Edinburgh and Glasgow) MacAskill and other notable mountain bike celebrities it can become…
Lost in Translation
Whether you are taking advice from a better rider, a friend, an instructor or coach (qualified or not), an article or a book there is a danger that the written or spoken word can be misinterpreted, misapplied or was simply bad advice from the start. In an attempt to keep things simple, sound advice can often be reduced to soundbites.…
All The Necessary Skills
It is true that I questioned to a reasonable degree what I was doing heading North at the crack of dawn, from my house in the Surrey Hills, home of some truly fantastic trails. After a month of 60+ hour weeks, averaging 5 hours sleep a night, the prospect of the two and a half hour drive ahead of me…