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Mountain biking drills
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: April 23, 2018
Okay, you’re finally ready to get out on the trails with that fancy new mountain biking rig you bought over the winter…BUT…deep down you’re pretty concerned your skill level is way less prepared than your fitness level. And if there’s one thing in mountain biking that can really nip a rider in the butt, it’s when fitness supersedes skill.
So before you go out there to get a little air or crush your way through a tight cambered turn, you’d darned well better become proficient with some basic skills - which brings me to this primer.
Trail riding often requires a wide range of body movements, a plethora of which you’ll definitely have to burn into your neuromuscular system in order to meld bike and body into one. And that requires balance.
Here are some on and off bike balance drills to help you become better balanced.
1) Kneeling on a balance ball: Place knees and hands on top of the ball, and lean slightly forward until your feet leave the floor. When you feel a sense of balance, slowly roll your shins up onto the ball, then raise your upper body such that you can release your hands. Finally, square your shoulders and kneel tall. Maintain this position as long as you can. Once dialed in, practice side-to-side and front-to-rear rocking.
2) Trackstanding: Perform in an open grassy area without feet clipped into the pedals. Standing up and pedaling very slowly, come to a gradual stop, bend the legs slightly and make sure your forward facing foot won’t hit the back of the front tire. Gently but sharply turn the front wheel to one side and weight your forward facing pedal enough to hold that stationary position. When necessary, perform an occasional light feathering action on the brakes. You don't have to be perfectly still, and I’d recommend moving that forward facing foot up a few degrees, or even circle back around to the three o’clock position as you readjust balance. Begin with quickie trackstands, then gradually try to balance longer with a little side-to-side “english” before stepping off. As you gain confidence, you'll be able to hold the stand for minutes instead of seconds.
3) Floating: On a flowy section of trail, stand up on the pedals and allow your bike and body to move in unison while compensating for the gradient changes. Goal here is to let the bike float beneath you as the trail rises and falls.
I often tell riders they don’t use their front brake enough. That’s because a majority of the bike’s stopping power IS the front brake. Yet many riders have this innate fear of grabbing too much front brake. To gain confidence in all facets of braking, try these exercises on a short, lightly sloping hill.
1) At the bottom apply rear brake only, making a point to stand up, slightly crouched, with your hips back to get weight over rear wheel.
2) At the bottom apply the front brake only by constantly feathering. This action allows the wheel to keep rolling and helps to maintain traction and control. Don’t let the front wheel twist as you’re braking.
3) Use both brakes together, coordinating the braking with various changes in body weight distributions - .without locking the wheels up.
Working on these three scenarios will give you confidence on longer, steeper, hairier descents.
Turning skills can be developed just like balance and braking slkills, so perform them ad infinitum on the same turn until you feel confident.
1) Coasting through the turn pedals parallel: This position is nice when stability and traction are a given. It also works well on rough terrain when you have to be out of the saddle a lot.
2) Coasting through the turn with outside foot weighted: Focus all your weight on the outside pedal at the bottom of the stroke while squaring your upper body to the outside of the turn.
3) Coasting through the turn with outside foot weighted while dabbing with inside foot: Same as above but unclip the inside foot to “dab” down on the road surface to keep from sliding out. You can actually take a tighter line when you unclip and dab that inside foot.
Remember: Practice does indeed help to make those happy trails SAFE trails.