Riding techniques/skills

  • Previous Page
  • Next Page
Author Message
flag cfrench1988
Posted: Apr 13, 2014 at 14:18 Quote
Hi everyone,

This is my first post.

I am new to the mountain biking scene. I ride 4 days a week, mainly freeriding and participating in local XC races. I have noticed that when I am with a large group of people I seem to do more things (bigger drop offs, jumps, take corners faster...) and I was wondering to get better at mountain biking (generally faster on the decent side of things, where I generally chicken out on stuff or don't dare go fast enough), do my skills have to improve or should I just go for things rather than hesitating?

What are your recommendations for progressing, and getting better (is it a case of just going for it and see my skills improve this way, or should I improve my skills and fear will go away)?

Thanks
Chris
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: Apr 13, 2014 at 21:49 Quote
That's how things roll In a big group. As foot getting faster goes. It takes time, I'm a person who can't go fast Until I learn the trail a bit or know there isn't anything in the trail. After ridding a bit with faster people, you figure it out.

But mainly keep your head up eyes straight, head up. Scan the trail,not look at your front tire(it's hard trust me, just tell your self eyes up)
Stand proud on the bike. Lay off the brakes(I still have a problem, I've had some injurys so a little voice in my head yells some times). It really takes time and you will get it.

Riding with fast people helps a lot. I'm still slow, but I find myself hanging not too far from the group anymore.

I recommend getting a copy of "the mountain bike skills manual" by Clive forth. He made it so you can skip around sections. It's helped a lot.
flag parkourfan
Posted: Apr 14, 2014 at 7:52 Quote
It's perfectly natural to push yourself more when you're riding in a group. Easiest way to improve your skills are to ask lots of questions and pay attention to the form of the faster people in the group. Also, there are plenty of skill books out there, but mastering mountain bike skills by lee Mcormack and brian lopes is pretty much the bible of bike skills.
flag mikemcmouss
Posted: Apr 15, 2014 at 9:22 Quote
Well! Its very personnal in fact. The important thing is to progress safely and not pick up bad riding habits or techniques. What I would do , train and pick up the correct and perfect technique for different stuff, like really be sure to have the good habits like body positioning, specific jumping techniques, braking, manualing, bunny hoping etc... And when you are sure or more comfortable on the bike, start pushing yourself! Really go from the small features to the bigger ones. Not too much, but I mean start hitting bigger stuff. Important thing when you ride, is really to commit, if you want to hit a drop or jump, last thing to do is to brake last second because you change your mind. Thats why its important to take up good habits that will then become second nature and you'll be relaxed on the bike! You can look up on internet tutorial vids, or watch the pros ridding stuff, thats a good way to see how to ride correctly. If you have specific questions about specific techniques send me a pm and I can answer them Wink
flag brianl
Posted: Apr 15, 2014 at 12:46 Quote
one way to learn fast is to take a skills camp
flag mikemcmouss
Posted: Apr 15, 2014 at 12:59 Quote
brianl wrote:
one way to learn fast is to take a skills camp
Approved! Taking lessons or a skill camp is an amazing way! +1 teaches you the right technique and makes you progress quickly!
flag cfrench1988
Posted: Apr 17, 2014 at 9:44 Quote
Cheers for all the advice! Im the skills book and the camp are something I'm going to look at! Thank all of you for the info.
  • Previous Page
  • Next Page

 


Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv56 0.009843
Mobile Version of Website