Living in the sweet spot
As you might know, fun happens at the intersection of challenge and skill. Today I found the sweet spot on the Whale Tail at Valmont Bike Park.
Everything to help you ride stronger and better.
Certifying high school coaches to teach the Lee Likes Bikes Training Method
When I started this whole adventure 10 years ago, I envisioned a community of bicycle skills instructors teaching a shared curriculum — just like “real” sports. This has taken some time, but it’s happening.
In June, NICA executive director Austin McInerny and I certified a half dozen instructors to teach the Lee Like Bikes Training Method to high school coaches, who will then teach the Method to high school riders all over the United States.
This was a huge moment! I only cried once.
Training for Red Bull Crashed Ice
If you’ve seen any of the Red Bull Crashed Ice events — imagine 4X on hockey skates down an ice track of doom — you’ve probably thought 1) rad! and 2) how do they train for this?
Well, it turns out pump tracks and bike parks are perfect. Pump is pump. Ripping is ripping. Kung fu is kung fu.
303Cycling loves the MTB kung fu
Very kind article from Cheri Felix at 303cycling.com:
>>> Lee Likes Bikes and I Like Lee And Bikes Too
“Lee is one of those guys that knows what he’s talking about, and he gives you the information you need without being judgy or impatient. It’s like for those three hours each one of us was his best friend. He has this quality of teaching with so much excitement that you feel like it is his first time. But you know it isn’t. He’s too good.”
That’s funny: I’ve taught hundreds of these lessons, but every one does feel like my first. I feel the same nervousness, excitement and stoke. Pretty rad.
The “perfect” bike for the trainer?
Lee,
I started your Pump Up the Base program a couple of weeks ago. Initially, I put a slick on an old mountain bike and mounted the bike on a trainer. However, the gearing on the mountain bike is too low to get to the speeds needed to create enough resistance on the trainer for some of your exercises. So, I am looking to buy a road bike for training purposes.
It appears that there are a couple of main categories of road bikes: bikes oriented to racing that have aggressive geometries and stiff frames and bikes oriented to endurance riding that have more relaxed geometries and somewhat less rigid frames. Considering that the bike will primarily be used for your training program, is one of these categories of bikes preferable over the other?
Ron
Doing long intervals on the pump track
Chris in Australia is doing the Pump Up the Base training program, and he’s working in some pump track action, but he wants to know how he can maintain pump for the long intervals.
Pumping flat ground in the real world
Hey Lee,
I’ve been following your career for awhile now, and am always impressed by your pump track advocacy and advice. I have the book you wrote with Lopes on my kindle. I’ve built my own stuff on private land.
Here’s my question: tons of people talk about good cornering technique, and then I saw your video about pumping on flat ground. It’s awesome! I’ve been practicing it the past couple of days, as I’ve always been nervous in corners, and I’ve found that I can go from a track-stand to around 10mph uphill and down. Now my question is this: How practical is this drill for trail riding? It seems super practical, easy and fun to me, but I’ve never seen it before and not many people seem into it. Is it because the same rules don’t apply as much at higher speeds?
Thanks for taking time to read this!
Philip
Not maximum. Optimum.
I dig Dirt’s recent interview with Fabien Barel about Flow (capital F), and I got to use his wisdom today while working with DH champ Alex Willie.
PUTB or P2PI for a SoCal ripper?
Lee,
I was looking at your fitness books: Pump up the Base and Prepare to Pin It. It appears that one should start with Pump Up the Base during the off-season. Then, move to Prepare to Pin It. What about those of us that live in Southern California? We do not have an off-season. Is it still worthwhile to use the Pump up the base program considering that I am not going to stop my regular mountain bike rides, or should I go straight to the Prepare to Pin It program?
Ron
P2PI week 9 power testing
During the winter it was pretty easy to follow the Pump Up the Base and Prepare to Pin It training programs to the letter, and I saw some big power gains.
Now that I’m coaching most days and traveling many weeks — not to mention other work and Life — it’s getting harder to follow P2PI precisely. But I’m following its spirit: fitting in the key workouts, sticking to my weight work and resting when I can.
And the power numbers are still improving:
Public skills classes at Lyons Bike Park May 20-22
Lyons Bike Park is a great place to work on the essential MTB kung fu skills — and it’s the best place around here to learn how to ride up and down rocks.
I’m offering three classes through the Town of Lyons: one for kids, one for teens and one for adults.
Check ’em out:
A gentlemanly pump track riding critique
When I moved to the East San Francisco Bay area in 1993, Gregory was the first person to befriend me and take me riding. Let’s see if I can return the favor.
These tips will apply for most pump track riders.