Everything to help you ride stronger and better.
This year’s Ranchstyle event in Grand Junction, CO is stepping it up in every way. Skills clinics Friday. Slopestyle Saturday. Slalom Sunday.
My skills clinic rocks Friday, May 6, 11 a.m. into the evening. Cost is $100. Last year’s session sold out, and it was rad. I’m stronger and smarter now, so be ready for some turbo kung fu. Sign up at BikeReg.com.
Keep reading for more info:
Hi Lee, I have recently completed my own pump track based on your great Pump Track Nation handbook!
Anyway, to my question: I seem to be able to carry reasonable speed on the roller straights but struggle to carry speed through the corners. Once in the corner I have a desire to sit down on my saddle and find that I need to pedal to help keep momentum.
How much of this is my poor technique vs. my poor trail building skills…
Appreciate any help!
Cheers, Russell (from New Zealand)
Hi Lee,
Great book, great website! I’d heard good things about MMBS (and conveniently you released v2 at just the right time) but I’ve learnt more and been far more amused by the writing than I expected. Still a ton to learn, I’ll update you in a couple of decades if I have everything nailed by then.
Anyway, exactly three months ago I broke my ankle on the bike (no rad tale, just a bad mix of ice and eventual complacency), had to be pinned back together and started riding again last week. I still have restricted movement and strength in the ankle (quite a lot of healing to do yet) so I’m having to ride all the downhills much more slowly and avoid any drops higher than about 8″ as it can’t handle the dynamic loading. However I have found an upside of great awesomeness — the combination of riding slower (=more thinking time) and having to avoid shocks means that I’ve finally started to pump the trail effectively. It’s quite amazing how pumping smooths out the trail, as the complaints from the ankle prove when I get out of sync with the terrain. I can’t wait to get back to full speed armed with this new weapon in my flow armoury!
Braaap regards,
Alex
P.S. I’ve started trying to get some local momentum to build a pump track – I think it’s going to take a while…
Fun hike/DH session today at Left Hand Canyon with Young Skywalker.
Featuring: Finding your optimal arousal level.
Plus: Bike vs moto AND first ride on Specialized Butcher tires!
Brandan Fairclough, Curtis Keene and Brad Benedict rock S-Works Enduros in the loamy lovenest that is Santa Cruz.
I’m riding Captain America on technical trail tomorrow. Stoked! Expect a full report.
In the spirit of pinning a hardtail on natural terrain, behold this video of a hardtail being WRUNG OUT in Whistler.
Bonus: Essay writing contest.
Lee,
Lately I’ve been focusing on tweaking my skills, reviewing your book, and your site for things I can implement.
One of the things I reassessed was my attack position. I always thought I had a pretty good one, but after reviewing it I realized I was a bit lazy with my elbow position. By getting them a bit farther out with more bend, pushing my hips a bit farther back, and getting my head a bit lower it was like opening up a whole new can of braaap on the trail. This little tweak was far better than any doodad/improvement I’ve added to my bike.
I think I was also helped by really focusing on strengthening my core, increasing my flexibility and learning to use my hips more.
Speaking of hips, I love the cornering tip about imagining there is a flashlight in your belly button. My cornering technique increased ten fold with that one. I am a huge fan of those little physical clues/triggers to get your body to execute. I think they are a really effective way to learn, as they focus less on a step by step mechanical breakdown, which can bog me down, and more on the feel of the movement. Keeping your chin up and forward is another good one at getting yourself to scan farther down the trail. Love to hear more of these “physical trigger” tips.
Thank you so much.
MAX
Hello!
Being a happy owner of the “Mastering Mountain Bike Skills” book, I have recently bought a second edition of it. After flicking through it, I see that there generally are a lot of things that were not in the first version – like your “attack position”, dual-slalom racing cues, “avoid injures” chapter and better explanation of pumping. And that’s great!
But I’ve also noticed that there is only one gate-start method briefly described in the second edition. Why is that? In the previous edition there was a pretty detailed description of a traditional start, random start and a “slingshot” technique (I’m not sure if I translated it well). Is there something wrong with those?
Your faithfully,
Kuba
Here’s a success story from one of last summer’s coaching clients. Jeff came from Kansas lookin’ for some braaap.
He found it.
In a miraculous turn of events, I got a babysitter and went to spend Saturday at the Colorado Indoor BMX in Greeley, CO.
Plus: How does Captain America work for BMX?
MBAction honch Sean McCoy posted a series of stories about our Jan. 21-23 SoCal pump track raising. They fully capture the weekend’s radness.
My two-week California building/teaching trip was awesome, but I’m strangely happy to be back on the trainer. I think they call it Stockholm syndrome.
Next time you’re on the trainer, try this action: