DH Racer Training: Mixing in Trail Rides?

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DH Racer Training: Mixing in Trail Rides?
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flag jbravo
O+
Posted: May 11, 2021 at 14:04 Quote
My 15-year old son is a legitimately fast (not just the dad in me talking) DH racer. He insists, however, that he needs to be on his DH bike as much as possible with races coming up so he's "used to it" for race day. He has spent many hours on his DH bike already this year and I contend that a Tuesday trail rip is not going to hurt his Sunday DH race.

Does anyone know whether the top DH riders train exclusively on their DH bikes at some point in the season, or will they keep mixing in gravity-oriented trail rides as time and circumstances allow?
flag Senditcedee
O+
Posted: May 14, 2021 at 13:20 Quote
Some racers spend most of their time doing trail riding and dirt jumps i.e. Bernerd Kerr whereas others spend most of their time on a dh bike but still practice on trail bike sometimes such as Finn Iles. All downhillers generally ride trail bikes as much or more than their dh bike to keep fitness up. Hope this answers your question.
flag BenLow2019
Posted: May 14, 2021 at 13:42 Quote
Following Danny Hart on Strava. He definitely does not stay exclusively on his DH rig.
flag jbravo
O+
Posted: May 16, 2021 at 19:53 Quote
Great info, folks! And I like the tip to check out Strava. Now, the question is, will a 15 year old listen to anything coming from a parent? But I would never ask such a question expecting an answer!
flag TheSlayer99
FL
Posted: May 17, 2021 at 3:54 Quote
Pro dh racers do end up riding trail bikes for training, but for the most part they are setup to feel as similarly as possible to their race bike so that they don’t have to adjust when swapping between the two. However, some end up doing things like outdoor intervals on their dh rigs. During the season though it seems they only really use the dh bikes.

In the grand scheme of things though, if your son is legitimately fast and has results to prove it, what he does for training to get the results is his choice and what works for him is the most important thing. There’s a difference between training optimally for oneself and following what’s “right” just because it seems like what other people are doing. With the season coming up/already started in some places I wouldn’t push your son to do anything differently until the off-season, or a month or two break in racing. If at the end of the season, he ends up having poor results on longer, flatter tracks that need more pedaling maybe bring it up then but otherwise what he’s doing seems to be working and that’s most important.
flag shwinn8
O+
Posted: May 17, 2021 at 19:51 Quote
wiseman once told me, to be a really competitive at DH one should be able to Sprint (on foot or on bike) almost flat out for up to 3min straight. I could only get myself up to about 45seconds.. any top athlete also spends time in the gym.
flag CheeseburgerBandit
Posted: May 19, 2021 at 10:13 Quote
I'm a former bmx racer and now parent of two.This 10% bike (funding) and 90% parenting (allowed seat time). You provide the funding for equipment and travel. He provides seat time. Please don't become the entitled parent that says "I'm paying for this, so you ride the way I want!" Of course cross training will make him faster now, but it may also burn him out.
IMO If he only wants to ride DH then letting him control is destiny will prolong his longevity in the sport. He is trying to tell you that's where he has the most fun riding! You heard him, time to start listening.
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