Big Mountain Riding

Riding with others is safer, can push you to new heights … or can look a lot like what you went to the woods to escape

Story & Photos: Randy King

Riding at night is best with a group or at least with a buddy

For the first time in my mountain biking life I am part of a regular riding group. We meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, and sometimes ride together on weekends. Over the last year I have ridden with these guys in rain, summer’s heat, by blue light of LED’s and on a misbegotten adventure in the snow. The cast of characters shifts around one central figure, Scott, who recruits and bonds with the rest of us.

In the late ’90’s I came out for a few night group rides. They were things of pain and suffering, cut with only slightest companionship. So for years after most of my rides were just me and two wheels. I’ll cover solo riding in a different article, which has its own set of challenges and rewards.

Yet riding with others makes sense for most big mountain riding, both for safety’s sake, and for the companionship that forms when we share a big adventure. So, how to keep group rides at their best and minimize the downsides that can spoil everything?

Ingredients for good group rides:

-camaraderie – If it ain’t fun, why do it? The best groups get along well. Or at least well enough to stick together and have some fun times together.

-competition – If you can’t test yourself against somebody, why do it? Friendly competition at least is a vital part of mountain biking. It’s a lifestyle where every yard of trail may present a new challenge. So, it may not matter who gets back to the parking lot first, but sometimes great energy will be spent on who can master one log or that 20-foot long rocky section.

-patience – Group rides are group efforts. The odds of getting more than 2-3 riders at exactly the same skill level with the same tastes in trail preference are slim. Group rides are about compromise on both ends. The faster riders get to wait for the slower ones, and the slower ones should push themselves to ride faster than they would on their own. Downhill demons will hang out at the bottom for the mortals to descend; climbing freaks get a welcome break at the top while the lung-limited masses claw their way up. A good group adopts the Marine Corps mantra of never leave a buddy in the field.

-organization – So it’s about compromise. That being said, somebody has to line up the dots to pull the thing off. Especially if it’s an out-of-towner. Ideally the load of logistics will get spread around. And the rest of the group should comply by being on time for rides, bringing along their own food, common repair items, and adequate clothing, safety equipment, etc. On the trail someone has to pick the route – if you’re blessed with a trail system with more than one loop. Share the load, or keep the complaints to a minimum.

-variety – shake things up a bit. Go for out-of-towners, ride the same-old loop the other direction, mix in night rides. Invite new folks. Few mountain bikers enjoy doing the same lap every time. Have somebody else lead the ride if the normal leader is feeling burnt out. We don’t ride mountain bikes because we love predictability. If you’re getting burnt out on mountain biking, than I say drive somewhere – it doesn’t have to be far – and point your knobbies down a trail you haven’t rode. It will remind you of why you love this fat-tired fad. And, if you have a strong group that likes riding together, start planning your trip to a mountain biking Mecca. When my brother and I were in Moab in 2007, we shared our campground with a big group from CO. They were a Tuesday night ride group that had grown and bonded and now made multi-day trips to places like Moab to ride together. Those folks knew about camaraderie! Watching them jump their blazing bonfire to the tune of their own guitar music made me envious of such a tight-knit riding group.

Spoilers for group rides:

-selfishness - Group rides are not about stomping the rest of the group into submission or surrender. Nor are they about being the center of attention. They are about the group and everybody having a good time. Riders who are always dragging the group along at a lung-searing pace, or those who are dragging the end of the line all the time should consider finding another group. If you’re all friends then you should ride at a compromise pace. That’s what friends do.

-unfriendliness - Nobody likes a jerk. Just because someone’s the best rider doesn’t mean they have the right to rebuff the rest of the group. These are the people who may be carrying you out of the woods if something goes wrong. Save the attitude for race day. Be friendly, get others interested in our sport. Like we learned in grade school, it takes less effort to smile than to frown.

-unsafe practices – I know, it’s an unsafe sport, so what is an “unsafe practice”? It’s relative, but riders who put others in danger don’t belong in a group ride. Danger comes in many different packages. Consistently riding beyond personal abilities, riding poorly-maintained equipment, not wearing a helmet, taking the group on trails that exceed the experience of group members, not waiting for the slow riders, bailing out without telling anybody, etc. A good group ride depends on the right people. If you’re in with the wrong folks, find yourself a new group. If you’re guilty of some the above, then now is the time to turn over a new leaf.

-poor planning – No big deal, right? And so it might be on a 1-2 hour friendly. However, it gets serious fast when somebody has a mechanical failure or breaks a bone several miles from the nearest road and nobody has any tools or a working cell phone, or has told anybody where they are or when the ride should wrap-up. When it comes to planning, the old proverb rings true: a stitch in time saves nine.

I definitely recommend riding with others as part of your time on two wheels. When you’re out with a bunch of amigos, remember to have fun and be safe. Patience, organization and variety are keys to making that happen. Happy Trails!

Group rides in Lynchburg, VA: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday @ Winngate Inn on Candler’s Mountain Road. Park in the lot to the right of the entrance. Usually a 2-2.5 hour ride, medium pace.

Group rides in Roanoke, VA: Roanoke Outside

©2010 Big Mountain Riding

Come up for some air and solitude - See the high country in a different guise

Story & Photos: Randy King

Winter is not a wonderland for most mountain bikers. The altitudes we love are prone to snow and wicked winds. Bicycles meet their match in crusty snow or on icy rocks. Fortunately, winter doesn’t have to mean we all transform into pudgy sofa pilots or pasty-skinned gym rats. Here are five activities that will keep your trail riding skills sharp when the weather turns cold and wet:

Alpine skiing – Hones your skills through speed, line selection, and leg strength. A day on the boards will work out your quads and sharpen your eyes for reading terrain. The speeds involved (up to and over 60 mph) exceed those of downhill mountain biking, and your friendly terrain park will give you more chances for air than any mountain bike trail. A true carved turn will haunt you with its beauty and flow. Tips: Spring for a lesson or two. It is worth it. If you fall for the sport, used equipment can help you save big. Downside: expensive both in equipment and pay per play.

Cross-country skiing – Builds muscle, endurance and cardio strength. Did you see the Nordic ski competitions at the Olympics? This ain’t your granddad’s way of getting to the one-room schoolhouse. Pain lovers can build phenomenal strength and endurance on the skinny’s. Buy a pair of skis and the special boots and find a snowy forest service road or field. You’re making the rules. No lift lines, no lift tickets, and you have to make it up every hill under your own power. Or get involved in local races if you need the competition. Tips: Packed down trails are easier for the beginner. The buddy system can save you (0r at least your toes) if something goes wrong far from home. Downside: Only practical where the snow stays on the ground for awhile, and it ain’t as glamorous [or easy] as it looks

Cyclocross – To paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s Dr. Buddy Rydell in the Adam Sandler masterpiece Anger Management: In Europe as many as a hundred men often race their skinny-tired bikes through the winter woods in a cyclocross event. Most of us would voice Sandler’s sentiment verbatim: “That’s why I’m proud to be an American.” However, this masochistic sport will get you outdoors on a bike in winter, and will force you to consider traction and bike carrying in a new light. Not for the faint of lung or legs. Tips: You can get the flavor of the sport using your current ride by racing a Mountain Cross event, or see if a cyclocross event will let your compete on your mountain bike. Downside: Hard to find local events, may mean buying another special-purpose bike.

Floating atop VA's Little Rocky Row Mountain

Snowshoeing – Like XC skiing, snowshoeing is easy enough to learn. A pair of big feet, some snow and you’re on your way. You push yourself as hard as you want. If you live in areas with deep snow, a pair of snowshoes will open up a whole world of exploration. A great way to seek out solitude. I’ll never forget ’shoeing down a gentle ridgeline atop two-feet of drifted powder, in the silence of a snowy day on a side trail. What a peaceful sensation. Downside: Need sufficient snow to make it worth the effort. ‘Shoes take up a lot of storage space.

When Quinn the Eskimo gets here ...

Winter biking – When all else fails, get on your bike and ride. The roads are cleared first, so you can risk your life and limbs road riding on narrow roads. Or you can try to make your way on your local trails. Your success will depend a lot on the type of snow that covers your trails. Studded tires and tire chains may help with forward momentum and turning, but it’s not going to feel like the same thing as flowing a nice packed single track trail. Downside: wear and tear on your drive train, hard on you.

However you chose to do it, just do it. Get outdoors and stay active. You’ll be glad you did when you get back on the trails and begin prepping for the season or your next big adventure.

© 2010 Big Mountain Riding

Story: Randy King

Photos: from internet sources credited

We can agree that the best training for riding your bike is to ride your bike. And for big mountain riders, practicing for events that are often 80 to 100-miles in distance, and require more than 10-hours of saddle time, putting in many hours on the bike is a requirement. But for large swaths of the country, it’s no-go weather outside right now.  How do you stay fit and strong without burning out on riding in the cold, or when the weather and the early winter evenings refuse to comply with your plans for a two-wheeled workout?

If you have access to a gym or to free weights, you can not only stay in shape, but build muscles that will have your back on the big mountain rides of the warmer months coming. Here are a few of my favorite cross-training activities, and how they apply to mountain bike riding:

From Livestrong.com

Swimming

Swimming is a whole-body workout. If you think you get the munchies after a few hours of hard trail riding, wait till you swim a half-mile or more. You will be craving carb’s. The water can help you build cardio endurance with underwater swimming, exercise your whole body with different strokes, or burn fat with low-intensity laps. Using just your legs, you can isolate those pedaling muscles. When back floating, you can mimic the exact movement of spinning. I like swimming the length of the pool in one breath, and the crawl stroke – the first for building cardio and mental strength, the second for burning calories and a whole-body workout.

However, for cross-training I focus on muscle groups that may not get worked out every ride. These include my upper body and arms, and core muscles. For all of the following exercises, I go for higher reps with less weight, since I am aiming for more endurance and muscle tone than for bulk. I usually do three sets of 20 reps of each exercise.

Upper body

Many cyclists don’t dwell on upper body strength. However, those muscles that have probably embarrassed most of us the most over the years are important to technical riding and to big mountain riding, with its long hours and laissez faire trail conditions.
◊ Shrugs – using dumb bells or bar bells, stand up with your arms hanging straight down. Lift the weights by shrugging your shoulders. Try to lift with just the shoulder muscles, not your back. You can work your way up to more reps as you go, or to more weight. Works the trapezius muscles and is great for helping heave the bike over trail obstacles, or to snap the front end back on line during sketchy descents.
◊ Lat lifts – Your Latissimus Dorsi muscles or Lats, contribute to lofting that front wheel over an obstacle at speed, or to pumping your bike through the trail. You can work them out by using two dumb bells and raising your arms straight up from beside your thighs to shoulder height. My favorite though is to use a bar bell and, grasping it at handlebar width with arms extended, hold it just slightly lower than straight out from my chest. Then I pull back till the bar almost touches my chest near shoulder height.

Arms

Forearm curl: Pull up on those bars!

◊ Forearm curls – Your forearms are the nearest muscle of any size controlling your handlebars. They also are inline to take the shock of many crashes. Working with a dumb bell, curl your arm at the wrist, contracting and extending. Do reps in both directions – working the top and bottom of your forearm. See illustration.

◊ Bicep curls - The old standard. True, if you’re built like most mountain bikers, you’ll never have guns big enough to grab attention in public. But the biceps are key to controlling and powering the front end during rough downhills and through rock gardens, or when you need to lift the bike in one hand, etc. When the going gets rough, it’s time to put the guns to use, and you’ll be glad that you have paid attention to your biceps. This exercise can be done free-standing or with a curl bench to really isolate the biceps.

Core

Because of its central location, it is important to properly develop your core both for overall strength to allow you to work the rest of your body, and for balance and control aboard your bike. It’s hard to overwork the core muscles.

It's even called a "bicycle" crunch - of course it's good for riders!

◊ Bicycle crunches – one of the best according to the American Council on Exercise’s study to determine the most effective ab exercises. A personal favorite.

1. Lie face up on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a ‘pedaling’ motion for 12-16 reps.

Prepare for pain! The Captain's Chair

◊ Captain’s Chair leg lifts – another great isolator of the ab muscles. As you gain strength and control, you can pump this exercise up with a medicine ball held between your feet or knees, or by slowing down your lift and extending the hold time. I try for a five-second hold at the top of the lift.

1. Stand on chair and grip handholds to stabilize your upper body.
2. Press your back against the pad and contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees towards your chest.
3. Don’t arch the back or swing the legs up.
4. Slowly lower back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

These are just a few of the many exercises that you can do at home or in the gym to improve your riding. Watch for a future article on mountain bike-specific calisthenics, or workouts without weights. Meanwhile, stay fit, get strong, and dream of dryer days when the trails flow and you have the endurance to ride all day and night!

© Big Mountain Riding

Get dressed for fitness at

Story & Photos: Randy King

A simple, shocking fact is that, all too many times, one second makes all the difference. Sickeningly, we are usually never aware which second is that second until it’s too late. We say we’d love to go back and relive whole chunks of our lives, so that we could make different choices. Yet really, if we could relive less than a minute or two of key seconds, we could change so much.

Cold creek crossing on Candler's Mountain

This was brought home yet again for me on Saturday’s friendly at Liberty University’s Liberty Mountain Trail System. Mid-ride, we headed back to Five Points for a rendezvous with a friend.

Our amigo Ricardo, ever searching for the perfect bike, immediately asked if he could try out her 29-er Specialized hard tail. He jumped on her bike and took off up Rogues Gallery trail while the rest of us chatted about where we’d head next.

A minute may have passed, and then Richard began yelling from around the bend in the trail. We were bemused. However, his tone grew more strident, and Scott said “We’d better go find out.”

Just as I approached the log crossing and saw the bike lying twisted on the other side, Scott rode back and reported, “He says he broke his arm.”

As indeed he had. Broke it in such a way that he needed surgery to ensure it would reset properly.

——————————————————–

In the late ’90s a friend and I were visiting family in the hilly suburbs of Knoxville, TN. We borrowed two mountain bikes and as we rolled them out of the garage, I thought to warn my friend of the powerful grab of the V-brakes, but then I remembered that she had a bike with V’s. We started off down the hill and within seconds she was lying on the ground, bleeding from deep cuts to the face and hands from a too-hard brake pull.

———————————————————

The summer following my senior of high school my dad and I were putting a new roof on a lake house and our boss left us in the evening with the instructions that we didn’t need to finish off the job that day. Dad kept on pushing, though, because a storm was rolling in and he wanted to get to a certain point before the rain. Tired, teen-aged and harassed by the onslaught of pre-rain mosquitoes, I badgered him for his stubbornness. Finally the rain arrived, and we struck the scene. I scrambled off the roof, and had to grab at the eaves as the ladder slid a bit on the slick deck below. Eager to depart, and angry that we had tarried so long, I didn’t offer a warning of the precarious ladder, and moments later I heard the crash and yell of pain. Broken ribs and bruised lungs resulted.

———————————————————

In both of these cases mere seconds made the difference. However, two things can help us better the outcomes of these crucial seconds. Read more…

“Even with speed it is essential that the mind does not stop.” Takuan Soho

“If a man strikes at [the beginner] with the sword, he simply meets the attack without anything in mind. As he studies … and is taught … where to put his mind, his mind stops in many places. … Later, as days pass and time piles up, in accordance with his practice, neither the postures [or ways] are weighed in his mind. His mind simply becomes as it was at the beginning.” Takuan Sōhō, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.

On a recent group ride, I tackled a local legend – the eponymous feature on the Liberty Mountain Dam Trail. I had concluded that it was pretty straightforward from  one side at least. It required only full commitment. So I said to Scott as we bypassed the one end, headed up the ravine. The blue sky peered through the leafless canopy above. The 8″-wide concrete wall stretched across the ravine from trail to trail, reaching a maximum height of  4′ on the uphill side and maybe 5′-6′ on the other. Checking my head as we rolled closer, I slowed, turned onto the line and went for it.

This chutzpah stems from my new focus on the bike, wood work. Fortunately for my health and finances, I live in the Blue Ridge and not the Northwest. Yet the key to survival and success is the same on bridges, skinnies and “up-in-the-air” riding of all heights. Oh, I hear your skepticism. I remember reading about this free-climber (those who climb massive rock faces without ropes or attachment) saying that most people can walk across a 2X4 set up between two cinder blocks, ergo most of us could walk across the same board 100′ in the air. In both cases it’s a question of would not could; we have the necessary ability.

Focus on the end goal to ride elevated features

Look at the singletrack that you ride regularly. Do you often veer off the trail because you are unable to follow that thread of dirt? This is important, because I’m not suggesting a “Just Do It” or “No Fear” outlook. I am suggesting that if you’ve ridden singletrack for years, advancing your skills, then you have what it takes to ride contraptions and obstructions when you encounter one. They are just elevated editions of the challenges you ride on the ground.

“Technique and principle are just like the two wheels of a cart.” Takuan Sōhō, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.

Fear, that old fox

Right, you say, but I’m not riding onto that log or that bridge. Right, I say – the next time I rolled up to the Dam, I wouldn’t do it. Por que no? It may be that old fox, Fear. Sneaking around whispering vile lies about how you’ll never this, and who are you to try that?

“(Come in under the shadow of this red rock), and I will show you something different from either your shadow at morning striding behind you or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland

So, how do you defeat fear? You don’t. Fear is a natural reaction to things perceived different and dangerous. That gives us two points to with which to work.

1. Fear is not be feared – just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Think in cardio terms. Many people stop pushing themselves when they are out of breath or when their heart is hammering. Bikers know that we can keep pushing further. In fact, we will need to if we want to achieve our cycling goals. This applies to fear too. Accept the fear and ride through it. Following my backing away from it, I approached the dam on another ride and rode across it again, fearing the entire time that I would not make it. I rode through the fear.

2. Features are not different than technical trails – The technicality of features is not any different nor much more dangerous than a challenging singletrack section. It is only in our perception that they differ greatly. And in the level of commitment required – like a steep, sketchy downhill. Focus on the end of the feature and onto where you want your front wheel to go – not where it is currently.

“The gnarlier the line is, the more speed you need and the more you must commit. … When the going gets really steep and silly, braking screws up your bike’s handling, and you can’t really slow down anyway. You just have to surrender yourself to the hill.” Mastering Mountain Bike Skills.

I can tell you, from personal experience, that the reward of pushing your personally-set-limits is immensely satisfying. And once you succeed a few times you will begin to see the trails and places you ride in a new light. New options will appear to you and it will spice up your riding. As you continue practicing pushing yourself, you will move past methodically thinking it through, and like the warrior in the opening quote, you will find yourself riding these features without even having to think about it. Happy Trails, amigos.

Don’t miss – Of Zen and Mountain Biking Part I & Part III (Coming Soon)

For Stanley, Christa, Darren and Dig, who tolerated my early bike-borne Zen ravings.

© Big Mountain Riding

Se llama "flow," mis amigos

“When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see the others. When the eye is not set on any one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in  mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit.” Takuan Sōhō, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom.

By: Randy King

Photos: Doug King & Randy King

Yesterday I experienced one of those signature moments in a mountain biking year. Descending LU’s ruff-n-tuff Pscycle Pathe in duo, I rode the rough line most of the way. Bouncing over exposed bedrock and dicing through eroded leftovers, I railed the thing. This alone is a great sensation. However, as I hit the run-out at the bottom, my rear wheel struck a loose rock at high speed. The back end vaulted up, swung right and came forward fast. In the split second interval before a spectacular crash, I realized what had happened, evaluated what was to come, and changed my fate. Slamming my chest down to the handlebars, I twisted the grips to the left slightly and leaned into the carving front wheel. The back wheel landed almost perpendicular to my front wheel and miraculously, the bike straightened out and I rode it out.  I shouted out a great “Whoa!” and heard my companion yell “nice save.”

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” Newton’s third law of motion.

Bridge work

At the bottom, waiting for our third amigo, I basked in the thudding-heart glow of having created art-in-motion – a glimpse of greatness. A glimpse of the Zen state No-Thought-No-Mind.

I believe it is why we, grown adults, ride bikes in the woods. It is for moments like these, and for the spontaneous mash-up of skills, luck and improbable execution that can carry the day when all seems lost.

“When you elevate your gaze, you literally elevate your perception of the trail. Instead of noticing individual objects – little round rock, big pointy rock, huge wet rock – you sense the overall flow of the trail – left, right, up and down.” Brian Lopes, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills

Don’t miss – Of Zen and Mountain Biking Part II & Part III (Coming Soon)

For Stanley, Christa, Darren and Dig, who tolerated my early bike-borne Zen ravings.

© Big Mountain Riding

“Single speeds make you work smarter. Even if you’re a geared rider at heart, riding a single-speed occasionally makes you a better, more efficient rider. Being efficient is key to single-speed and why I’ve been able to compete with geared riders.”

- Fuzzy Mylne, Single Speed champion

Setting up for Single Speed Success

- Excerpts from the Mountain Bike Action interview with 29er’s John “Fuzzy” Mylne

Vic Armijo interviews Fuzzy Milne, a single-speed racer who has been posting some impressive finishes out west in the epic race scene. Taking 6th place overall at the 2008 Sierra-Tahoe 100 pitted him against such epic race champions as Jeremiah Bishop, Chris Eatough, Tinker Juarez and Josh Tostado. The man knows a few things about racing single-speeds, and he shares his top tips to help you become a better rider.

Fuzzy rides single-speeds fast ... So can you!

1. Work your way up to being a single-speed maestro. “Take it easy in the beginning and avoid steep or long hills until you get the rhythm of it and learn how to climb without overdoing yourself every time,” advised Fuzzy. This will help you prevent the much-discussed strain on your knees that can come along with single-speeding.

2. Get the most out of your guns. “Strong arms and overall upper body strength is a definite advantage for getting a little extra power for getting up a hill by working the bike back and forth like a sprinter out of the seat, but in slow motion. Wide riser bars will give you more leverage for working the bike. And I’m big on bar-ends—just pull on those as hard as you can to help leverage the cranks around.”

3. Keep the front end weighted. Yanking on the bars and lunging with each pedal stroke while climbing can make it challenging to keep the front wheel planted. Fuzzy counteracts that by using a lower front end, “I put fewer headset spacers and a flatter stem to help me to keep my weight forward when I’m climbing and standing.”

4. Momentum is your amigo. With gears, many riders make speed by powering into corners, scrub speed late and forcefully, roll the corner and then put the power down to speed out of the corner. However, Fuzzy observes, “On a single-speed you might find that your gear is too low to really accelerate out, so instead keep your speed up and stay off the brakes.” He adds, “Momentum’s key for a single-speeder in other ways; keep your momentum on the rolling hills, especially the short steep ones. And truly I’m only working half the time compared to the geared guys. I work on climbs, but every where else I’m drafting off of them and recovering.”

5. Spin more, bonk less. Many elite SS riders push big gears, but Fuzzy, a former roadie, chooses lower ones comparably. “I like to keep a higher cadence. You’ve got to put the miles in at a high cadence for your body to get used to that.” And he gears down even more for real epics, “I want to be able to sit and climb as much as I can to save energy.” He generally makes his gearing variations on the rear, “I use the same chain-ring, a 32 tooth on my 29er, and I used 34 when I was riding 26-inch wheels, then use anything from 17 tooth cog to maybe a 21 or even a 22 if the course is really, really steep.”

Read the whole interview with Fuzzy Mylne at Mountain Bike Action online.

© 2009 Big Mountain Riding

Countin' Coup

Why do we like all mountain riding? Because there’s something simple and pleasing about trying to ride everything the mountain throws at us. Flow doesn’t come naturally in big mountain riding; the skilled all mountain rider has to make it himself. Here are 5 tips for turning common adverse trail conditions into a challenge and the opportunity for creating big mountain riding flow.

1. Count Coup on fallen trees or low hanging branches. Often the all mountain rider comes across partially-downed trees hanging over the trail. Remember that you have a wide range of motion aboard your bike, so practice this move to clear low overhangs. I call it Counting Coup, because my inspiration was the horseback warriors of old who would lean down beside their saddles at full gallop to count coup on their enemies. Start slowly – miscalculating this move will hurt more if you are moving fast. Move forward, in front of the saddle. Then swing your body down beside the bike, moving your center of gravity back beside the saddle as you do. Now, as you approach the overhang, make a call on your clearance. If the overhang is too low for the bike to pass through while vertical, lean the bike over away from your body, using your center of gravity as a counterbalance. On the other side of the overhang, swing back into pedaling position, and hit the gas to the next challenge.

2. Keep the front end light in sketchy conditions. Here’s how to have more success dropping steep sketchy sections and riding in shifty surfaces. Say you are dropping an eroded steep laced with roots and maybe even stair steps. Lighten up your front wheel by shifting your weight back to the back of the saddle or even further back. The last thing you want in these conditions is for the front wheel to plant against a root or a rut and stop. Let the front end float loosely and keep the rear end tracking. The steeper the section, or the bigger the obstacles, the further back you should place your weight.

3. Hit logs / roots head-on. If you’re riding deep in the woods and the trail is crossed by roots or a downed log, use the space you have to line up and come at the log at a 90-degree angle. Especially when wet, this makes for a much higher rate of successful crossings than just approaching the obstacle at whatever angle it crosses the trail. Additionally, try lifting the front wheel and lightening the back wheel as much as you can as it crosses the obstacle. “It’s almost like a bunny hop, but you’re not really taking off. You’re just going light,” says pro Steve Peat in BriLo’s Mastering Mountain Bike Skills.

4. Look where you want to go. I love the simplicity of this tip. However, it makes a big difference in rider confidence and success. Not only will you know where to focus when you’re flying down a singletrack descent, but as you gain confidence, you can eliminate much of the other “noise” from your field of vision. Basically, it’s a simple principle that you will tend to go where you are looking. Think of learning to drive a car, or when you started riding. So, look at the line you want to flow, largely ignoring all else. The more you practice this, the less you will let anything distract you from the eternal line. This really pays off on technical features, like log rides and bridges, and on extremely narrow, hillside singletrack.

5. Use gravity to flow over big obstacles. Overgrown and unmaintained trails can throw sudden surprises at the rider like downed trees, big rocks/drops, or bridges and log crossings with missing approach ramps. If you encounter these obstacles while descending, remember your old friend gravity. The little bit of extra momentum supplied by the earth’s pull can get you over that unexpected bigger-than-you-thought-it-was surprise.

As always, these tricks and tips require practice and some good karma to work every time. But oh the satisfaction when you ride something none of your riding buddies can!

©BigMountainRiding