This is Home: Richie Rude - Video

 mhm, most people who buy 5k+ bikes do not have time for both road and the gym. We have to be realistic here. Richie puts at least 20 hours in the saddle a week, that is hard to do for a person with a job or school. He also surely sleeps hell of a lot to regenerate. Spring high intensity cardio with loose weights and then intervals/sprints is enough to mess most of us up to the point where we don't even want to see a road bike. Without that High Intensity don't even think of volume. If do you have some time left though and respond well to volume, low intensity training on road, and you feel that you really suck on the endurance aspect of your riding, and you actually do enjoy road rides, then yea, why not.

What I appreciate in this video is that he rides in a fullface helmet in the park. Listen kids* with attitude, do as your idols are doing, if you are riding stuff you were riding in full body armor on DH bike 10 years ago, then wear a god damn full face helmet. Those trees and rocks are not teenage girls, the don't get softer because you think that you look so self-confident.

*I meant 30-50 year old kids.

 @WAKIdesigns: well i agree on the time factor but it also obviously depends on your level of commitment to both a race and therefore a training schedule. If your semi serious about your racing then you have to periodize your training to be in the best competition shape you can for your season ahead. A proper training program starts off with base work then moves into pre intensity then into event specific intensity and finally into competition phase and finishes with a transition into the following seasons base work. During both the base and pre intensity phases is when the road bike is a must for preparation AND muscular specific training. In the competion phase the road bike can be used for active recovery work. In the transition stage its a case of mixing totally non related lowish intensity physical activity with very easy sport specific work and the road bike again can be used here. The key to and therefore the practicality of road riding is that its very easy to vary and control the intensity. As opposed to even basic xc riding which inevitably becomes mid to high intensity along with mid to long duration equalling greater recovery requirements. Recovery is the most important factor in any training program and the need for recovery is obviously proportionate to intensity and this is where the road bike is an invaluable training tool. Obviously it can also be used for very high intensity interval lactic training too. If atall possible road training can double up as commuting to work/study etc and therefore become time efficient in the process.

 Then you have to factor-in core skills training to develop patterns of movement. Balance, bunny hops, manuals, pumping, cornering, jumping - if you haven't learned it by the time you were 20 then sorty, you are off for some long sessions on the parking lot and on the pump track to develop quality neuro-highways between you brain and muscles. After starting to practice in a quality way thanks to RLC and LLB, I cringe at skill coaches who tell people to find a corner in the woods and ride it 20 times. What about monitoring of results. An art on it's own with some serious money to spend. Amount of ingredients in the quality dish is beyond capability of vast majority of mountain bikers out there. I have a big dose of compassion for Joeys. Most of us look at these "day in life" videos of pros and then behave like a wasp caught in the jar, bouncing of it's walls trying to get away andconquer the world

 @WAKIdesigns: haha i love the analogy of the ear hair and kids growing up fast enough! Classic! .......and totally relatable!
I also agree on the time management thing too. Most mtbers, particularly the trail/enduro/dh segment are in it for the fun and yes it comes down to "do i spend 3hrs dodging cars or punching runs" but IF ( big if) you can fit in some road commuting for instance then it will increase your fitness on ANY bike and increased bike specific fitness equals more fun for longer when your out on the trails. Some guys/girls even enjoy road riding. So if your a " ride with the boys/girls" rider or a "log every training session racer" then the road bike will be of some benefit.
As far as heavy weight training is concerned then again its obviously goal specific. Power in any athletic endeavor can and will be increased through a structured weight program. Power is defined as the ability to move a heavy object fast. Specifically for dh/enduro this is related to trail obstacles (rocks roots g-outs) etc and power through the pedals. Just look at Rude overtaking Oton. The most important part of weight training is safety. Safety in preparation conditioning, good form and in recovery. Preparation conditioning is getting your body ready for heavy loads over a lengthy period of time. Obviously you dont just jump into 2/3 times body weight exercises. Connective tissue, neuro muscular, etc need to be ready for that kind of work. Unfortunately ego plays too much of a role in the gym. Slow and steady. Good form comes with time and practice with very much sub maximal loads and is therefore tied in directly with the preparation conditioning time. Obviously you need to learn the mechanics of good form too and thats where a coach etc is important. Recovery is very important in injury prevention/safety. Common sense tells us that an overtrained body is much more prone to injury. One of the other benefits from heavy weight work is bone density and staving off conditions like osteoporosis. Some have suggested that bone density, and therefore calcium production, are directly related to an increase in red blood cell production and therefore increased hemoglobin, O2 carrying ability to muscles during aerobic respiration.

 Thanks for the clinic. Seriously. "Kids" wanna be fast on a mountain bike they better buy some semi-slicks or a cheap spare bike and put in the base miles. Weights (or some type of upper body/core regime) also essential over the long term.

The surest way to hit a wall in your fitness progression is to focus all the time on high intensity/physical mountain biking. The base/volume must come first.

 @slowrider73: As long as he doesn't get hit by car!
I live in an area where road biking is huge, and I've seen some nasty car/ road bike accidents. For me is't not worth it. I ride to get away from people and cars! I grew up in CT. also so I 've been watching Richie's career for a while. Not too many world champs rolling outta CT.!

 @mountaincross: that's against almost everything you can read about training for time-pressed people. That includes all sorts of sports, not just MTB, including endurance sports like distance running. Even body building and fat burning jump on it. Intervals and HI is in fashion

 @mountaincross: I just recently bought some bike courier bike (not sure if it's called like that) for something like 35 euro.You know those simple bikes without break levels,shifters on steel frame and all and boy do i have a blast on it.Was kinda strange to get used to no gears and breaking with crank but damn this bike is fun.Doing 30-40km on weekend is damn fun (since yeah job and all that stuff).I woudl bike some road bike (like canyon bikes) but yeah i can't afford them but maybe some day i will buy it.But as for now it paid off doing more miles and riding bit harder.

 @WAKIdesigns: I'm time pressed.. But I so huge commutes to and from work 3 to 4 days a week.. I then lift weights at my work as I work at the fire dept... Then ride my bike home.. It was a huge load at first but the body accommodates accordingly over time.. Keep in mind this only works if my sleep is on point.. At least 9 hrs a night.. I then use my 3 day weekends to solely ride mountain.. This is the only way it can be done for a full time worker in my perspective.. Also bearing in mind I'm kidless helps..

 @WAKIdesigns: Sure, but nobody intelligent is advocating HIIT over volume based training for endurance athletes. The science is very much against it. Massive aerobic fitness is built on a massive low-intensity base.

Now for those people who can't commit enough time to even get close to making the volume they would need to see gains, HIIT is better than nothing. People have differing priorities and there is nothing wrong with that, but make no mistake, trying to make endurance gains using HIIT is salvage work.

 I'm willing to bet that he hasn't been road training that long at all. I would say the BMX track had a lot more to do with his success, and would benefit most riders more than road training.

Sure, when you're skills are at the level of a Pro MTB or BMX racer, then get yourself a road bike if you want to train. That's like the last 10% of becoming a World Champ.

 @WAKIdesigns:

 So all that some people got from that video was a moment where Richie rides a road bike ( which we all know most pro cyclists do across all disciplines)... Did anyone else notice the rad riding that dude is doing. His skills on the bike is outrageous and no wonder he is leading the points on the EWS! Go Richie!

 @slowrider73: Couldn't agree more about safety in weight training, recovery, and connective tissue health.

Just to add a couple of things to what you've been saying, a quality post recovery diet and stretching are both huge helps.

 @tinfoil: yes, Yes, YESSS!!!! The ideal is to create a solid low intensity base then do HIIT on top of that!

 @Endurahbrah:

10%? No. Athertons, Stevie, Hart, etc. and a ton of the of the top EWS guys ride (rode, RIP Stevie) road. This season Hart himself has been saying he's not been on his DH bike a ton but working very hard off the bike. Graves races Aussie XC nats in the EWS off-season. Hard to beat road for building base fitness and building endurance especially when focusing on specific HR zones. BMX/4X is awesome for skills and power (sprints), but it won't get you far for a two-day Enduro at high-altitude. Combine them all and you have a very strong rider in terms of endurance and skills. Don't underestimate what a few road rides/commutes per week can do especially in the early season.

 My general point was that 99% of us are not Richie Rude. So perhaps we miss a bit more than Endurance factor for Enduro racing... Sleeping quite right, eating quite right, hydrating quite right, riding quite right, cornering quite right, jumping quite right, pedalling quite right, braking quite right, looking ahead quite right, keeping body in wuite right position on the bike, keeping body weight quite right, keeping body position at work quite right, exercise on the gym in quite right form, having a quite right training program, having a quiet well setup bike, being quite good at racing, having quite good mental game for training and for racing, pacing yourself quite right and attackng in quitegood moments. If you
get all that quite right and want to step it up to Good or very good then come back to me with your volume training on the road bike. Then maybe you can try to be excellent at all those things, and you can get top 50 in EWS.

There are very few people who get it all right: Kanye, Muhammed Ali and Facebook pages of coaches full of pictures with motivational captions...

So as someonepointed out, there's much more to learn from that vid than just the fact that Richie rides a road bike. He also hucks some big things in there. You may not want to try it...

 I do commute on a bike to work. But my training focus with that is staying as much time on the backwheel as possible I go out on asphalt to spin fast only if I have exceptionally sore quads.

 @Beez177: I've been hit by a car twice doing short 30 minute road rides, both by big white American steel diesel trucks, both mild hits (if you can believe an F250 mirror smacking you to the ground is mild). I've pretty much given up on road riding, and I live rural as heck.

Ironically, the guy I rode with has ridden mostly road his whole life...never been hit once. He's 60.

 @CaptainSnappy: Yes, 10% of Becoming a World Champ. Key word is Becoming.

Depending on what discipline we're talking. For DH I would say it is not that necessary. EWS, more so. XC, you are basically a roadie turned MTB'er.

Once you are at the top level of EWS or even DH, you absolutely need to ride road for training. And that part of the game is probably what separates the top guys from the also-rans.

 @WAKIdesigns: it's all in the Genes. . . . . . .

 @WAKIdesigns Thanks for the book If you can't explain something simply, you don't know what you're talking about

 @sevensixtwo: I know exactly what I am talking about. I am easily in top20, without trying hard in local pedally Strava segments. If I do try hard, do my best, I get top 10 and analysis shows pedal harder than most guys. Without riding a road bike. Now there is a dude who rides an XC bike and he kicks my arse in corners or on technical sections. He has Nobby Nics at best, I have a Minion DHF in Maxx Grip. On the local Enduro competition the top dude kicked my butt by 30 seconds on a 2 minute track. There was one climb on that track, no more than 150 meters. I did that climb 5 seconds faster. He fkd me by 35 seconds on descents alone. Do I need to say more? Should I jump on the road bike for 3h a week or maybe spend 3 hours learning how to corner? Because with my best effort I cannot break into top20 for downhill stages. Do you catch my drill now?

So here's my simple explanation: until you win local DH races, stay off the road bike, you have some other work to do if you want to win Enduro races. Those that you are SO serious about, baby, yet you still come in the pack fill. I saw Richie in Hafjell some good 5 or 6 years ago. I bet that already by then he would smash every single smart coach on the planet in an Enduro race. They have all the knowledge in the world but still, in the end... Pack fill. You or me, or any coach on the planet (and most of them know that ndaaaa) have nothing in common with physique of top athletes. Even if you saw details of Richies training program it would be absolutely worthless to you and any of us. Just like his shim stack. Know your place and you may learn something useful within your own capability. People posting comments here about DHillers like Hart going for road, definitely don't know their place. Once you can win by 14 seconds in Champery in total wet under World Champs pressure, you are fully allowed to explore other possibilities for growth. Until then... know your place.

Am I clear enough here?

 @WAKIdesigns: yep, time pressed people hit a fitness wall because they don't have sufficient base. I'm speaking from personal experience. I went out and hammered on my mountain bike 3-4 days a week for years...in a fitness plateau. Stepped it up with some quality winter/spring base training but its tough to get those rides in once the dirt is thawed.

 @Calek: nice!

 @WAKIdesigns: 35s spread in such a short stage – there could be any number of things happening there besides your cornering

 @Endurahbrah: I am not as fan of road riding at all. Getting run over sucks!

At least where I am, there are miles of greenways and parks with roads just for bikes and foot traffic. I ride 6 to 15 miles in the morning (I like to mix it up) on a 160mm rig and never have to worry about a car.

 @WAKIdesigns: Also, not very clear. You're comparing a 30s Beginner-class ass whooping to a 14s lead in Pro DH. And then something about nobby nic, and your max traction, something or other. The point is this: get fit and you can destroy enduro on a beach cruiser.

 @WAKIdesigns: PB paying you by the word?

 @mountaincross: I don't think you need to rack up huge miles, but you do need to do some longer rides, not just 40 min sescions on the trainer.

 I think that since Enduro is a gravity discipline we could all first learn to ride pumptrack like Richie does. If my kid was 15 and would tell me he wants to be the best in the world at Enduro, aside of his trail bike, I'd buy him a BMX and DH bike, not a road bike. I'd make sure he can manual 2-4 pump track rollers in a row, double each single set available. Then I'd make sure he looks far ahead on the trail, brakes right. I'd fix him skill coach and strength coach. I cannot simply express how far would I put the road bike on the list of priorities...

 @WAKIdesigns: Agreed! Fitness and no skills isn't going to get anyone anywhere.

 @WAKIdesigns: sure I'd also hold off on the road bike until well after my kid started to enjoy racing, (unless they requested one, in which case they'd get a Cyclocross bike since that's all I've got to pass along). That trail bike you listed would work well for base building anyway, just don't engage in any high intensity efforts during those long volume rides...find some easy rolling singletrack, double, or (do I dare say it?), a road.

Or just go out and hammer on whatever mtb you've got. It's the most fun, competition optional.

 @Endurahbrah: I would also argue that having a BMX background gives a strong advantage to a competitor in any gravity-related field. The numbers speak for themselves... Gwin, Rachel Atherton, Manon Carpenter, Jill Kintner, and many others came from BMX as youngsters to DH... it helps to build that foundation for learning technical skills.

I'm a big proponent for training on the road, but maybe that's because I came from road riding as a junior and didn't pick up a mountain bike until my 20s. My husband, though, who raced 4X/DH at the World Cup level said that the majority of his training during his most successful years was done on the road bike. 1-2 MTB sessions a week as compared to 3-4 on the road. Granted, his technical skills were already there from racing BMX since the age of 3. It's probably different for everyone, but having a strong base for tech skills and a strong cardio base are both important.

 @bizutch: at least your still alive!
Road cyclist are like squirrels around here, road pizza!

 @Beez177: True, I live in Berlin, nasty accidents all the time, I stopped riding my bike to work, the risk is just to freaking high, even though we have plenty of bike paths, sometimes you just have to ride next to the cars (the ones moving and the ones parked), too narrow.

 @javijavi: My family gives me crap for doing extreme sports. Meanwhile my bro in law rides TDF, crashes on weekly basis, has lost more skin tissue than me and all of my buddies combined, rides 100 km/h on road downhills with hairpins in a group of 100 riders, but his sport is widely considered as "classic". MTB on the other hand - "extreme".

 I have a background in BMX, and technical DH trails are definitely my strong suit. But I was always in the bottom/middle of the pack until I upped my fitness. When I added actual Base Training (and gulp, Intervals) I got pretty close to podium on a few big races (not WC ), and started earning way more cups in Strava. Which is hard to do in Northern California, where the top 10 is mostly sponsored riders. With the Base Training, it of course made climbing faster. But the biggest difference was on DH – the fitness gives you the ability to still pedal hard on the bottom half of a big DH, and stay focused enough to handle the bike.

 I was literally just about to ask if anyone else thinks he looks like Matt Damon, glad I'm not the only one.

 jason bourne

 David Webb

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnPWJOJYVKc

 Hahaha I thought the same... But then again... It's all bikes!

 Wheelies on the road bike make it okay.

 and in lycra, god forbid.

 ... and a specialized road bike at that! Get your pitch forks ready!

 No actually I think it's great he's riding road actually.. Cover all grounds!

 @cuban-b:

That's irrelevant to those who have the self-confidence and drive to be #1 on the EWS, two years running.

 @MrEtnie: Road wheels + tires = 26in in diameter so 26forlife should be fine with that...

 A road bike still beats using a car within the city and on not-too-long distances

 It must kill some of you hipster, roadie, pain cave, power meter guys to barely scratch the surface of mountain biking.......

 @AllMountin: Rude rides with a power meter on his Yeti...what is your point?

I am a huge fan of Rude, but 99.44% of road riders wouldn't know who he is. I would guess quite a larger proportion of mountain Bikers know who Chris Froome is.

Regardless, who cares. They're all bikes.

 My point was to mock the original post with a little turnabout. Chris Froome is irrelevant to mountain biking, no matter who knows his name. I share no commonality or kinship with roadies, as the experiences are dissimilar more than they are similar. Those who view them as equivalencies are likely not invested enough into mountain biking to fully appreciate it, which saddens me. But... to each their own.

 @davidsimons sorry the 26" crew doesn't follow Enduro, Enduro is responsible for the diminishing of 26" and mass introduction of trail centre douche-baggery - so no, we don't care what he does - But this was a good video with some top riding, and he rode a 26" at the pump track anyhow

 @ReformedRoadie: Ah yes Chris Froome part of the peloton which ride km and km in the tour the France at insane speeds for days on end but without any drugs of course... Stopped watching junkies I mean roadies back in 1999 when Pantini got caught in the Giro d'Italia.

 looks like the Saugatuk reservoir on his road bike? anyways... CT represent.. so cool that me and the gang ride in the same woods as him!

 He's probably banned from the local gyms for breaking all their equipment.

 Nice change for all the pencil type riders

 I'm quite happy to see some other beefy guy riding bikes.I'm 187 cm (6,13") and i weight around 100 kg so i can guess that Richie is around 90 kg.It's fun to see guys like that since most people are skinny as hell.

 @Calek: I know that feel bro... 185cm and around 100kg... when they see me rollin', they yellin' "Look at that juggernaut on a 26" hahahaha

 No kidding, hes built like Hurambe #RIP

 Man's built like a bull.

 He actually gives bigger dudes some inspiration that we don't all have to be pencil thin and 150lbs in order to compete. I wonder how Rude does in XC events?

 Welcome to the internet. We used to refer to it as Ridemonkey. But Pinkbike had money to pay folks and a shinier format.
ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10385341/p5pb10385341.jpg

 or they could try making it in carbon, it might get popular in road cycling

 YES!!!!! I want that road kit (for XC racing) and would love to see Yeti do a road bike in carbon. Anyone know if that kit is available? Not on their website.

 It would be cool to see a new "Road Project" from yeti

 at least a carbon cyclocross bike from Yeti would be super dope. i think people would be into it.

 Spesh makes some damn fine road bikes!

 @bohns1: Logic will not be tolerated here.

 You know damn well Graves got him the hookup on that bike. At least him and Graves still have a awesome relationship going.

 @CaptainSnappy: yes! I sometimes forget, this is the pb crowd after all.

 @nyrdrms: It's actually a kit that Jared designed and had made for himself a few years ago, so, unless you and a bunch of buddies want to ask Champ Sys (company that made the kit) if they can re-do a run of it, you'll never see this kit available. He gave richie the kits that were too big for himself.

 Paging John Pentecost to the white courtesy phone. John P, your party is waiting.
Oh wait... #sleepnowridelater is in effect.

 I know right. Don't worry, us lads down under are bringing 4x back with a vengeance and it's going to be sick.

 Can we make an online petition so @yeticycles consider this???
I've always wanted one of these frames so bad!!!

 I was going to say the same thing!

 i also want one of these!

 No market, realistically.

 @CaptainSnappy: Small market for sure, but here in Denver alone there are enough DJ parks to sell a bit. I am sure the frame jigs are still there so it isn't quite a huge investment. Not sure about the rest of the country , but seems DJ/Slope Style Park scene is growing across several markets. Really a comment on Yeti for completely ditching all USA production and aluminum bikes no matter XC/Road/DH/DJ...etc.

 @bman33: Brew Racing. Remember them?

 @bizutch: Yep, I remember Steve Garn and Brew. Brew sponsored the Kovachi BMX team for a few years. I still have one of their Brew BMX cruiser frames.

 And thanks to @shimano as well. It is not often they spend money in things like this. But as usual, everything they do they do it right!

 @danielfox: @shimano probably know they have something special with mr rude here.

 im saying

 Do you know the model? Cause I can't find it on Giro site.

 Looks like it might have a removable chin bar... I like the D ring too. Plastic snaps seem sketchy to me.

 It looks like the new Switchblade. www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/2016-Sea-Otter-Classic-Pit-Bits,10021/Giros-Switchblade-Helmet-Making-a-Comeback,104044/bturman,109

 I want

 I am no fan of that helmet. Looks suitable for an astronaut. Lol, it would look sick if not the ear covering part, makes it look like ear muffs

 @briceps: I'm with ya, man. Speed Racer would be my immediate association. No bueno.

 cross training is so good for cyclists. road riding makes those long fire road climbs super easy. mtn biking gives you excellent bike handling skills out on the open road, which is way more important than anyone thinks.

 @cuban-b: agree, zooming 45 mph down the harshest curves western pa paved roads can offer, I'm glad for my mountain biking center of gravity bermless turning skills.

 Doesn't mean you need a road bike to achieve that type of training. Just putting in steady miles of pedalling is key. That can be on a hardtail or even full-suspension bike. Many people train on road just simply because you can do it all season, rain or shine, right from the front door, but not all of us hindered by that.

 I ride way better baked!

 @bfrich keeps him humble too.

 It's so cool seeing beefy guys (like me) doing so well. A testament that you don't need to be rail thin in order to compete.

 I've seen that too....something is not right.

 Mountain Creek, NJ - nice spot