Mountain Biking Skill Progression and Ability

A rider’s natural ability and the acquisition of mountain biking skills are fascinating concepts. Observing a rider’s progression, development and enhancement of techniques can be even more interesting.

Having basically ridden a bike since I was three years of age, I rarely gave thought to improving my technique – I’d just go for a ride if I wanted to. Living and working in Whistler however, I’ve really had time to consider mountain biking skills and how one progresses as a rider.

My wife didn’t ride a great deal back in Australia, so she was essentially a beginner to downhill mountain biking when we moved to Whistler. While this could be seen as a negative to some, I now realise that a “blank slate” allows skills to be developed with good form from the start, as opposed to developing bad habits over a lifetime of being on a bike without any sort of instruction or coaching. In essentially one season of riding in the Whistler Bike Park and with the help of some friends that are experienced coaches, Women’s Nights and the Trek Dirt Series, my wife is now clearing the majority of the jumps on Crank It Up, doing the middle GLC drop, riding “gnar trails” like Schleyer and Rock City, and even doing the fourth drop in the Joyride Jump Park!

[vimeo 25006882 640 360]

Working for the Whistler Bike Park as a Mountain Bike Instructor, I have seen people’s skills develop as a direct result of any amount of coaching, whether that be as short as a half day lesson or recurring sessions like those of the Women’s Nights. Some are new riders learning quality skills for the first time, while others are experienced mountain bikers who want to correct and improve their skills to better their riding. At the end of the day, everyone has something that they can improve on.

Even as an observer, without providing any coaching input, I find it fascinating to see the progression and development that some riders are capable of. I learnt early on that it was best to “outsource” my wife’s skills coaching (this notion has since been confirmed by plenty of other couples that we have met on bikes), however just witnessing her development without too much of my own “coaching” involvement has been great to see. I have the opportunity to ride with Jess every few days at the moment, and every time I ride with her I catch subtle improvements in how she rides. Then of course there are friends that I won’t ride with anywhere near as often as I’d like – it’s not uncommon to ride with someone that you haven’t seen for a while and all of a sudden they are railing corners like a pro!

“If you are braking into the corners, you shouldn’t be pedalling on the straights”.

Observing other rider’s progression has made me think a lot more about my own skill development and abilities on a bike. While you can look at a downhill run simply as the time it takes you to make it from the start to the finish, you can also break it down into many different skill sets. Taking the big lines on the trail seems kind of pointless if you’re braking off all of your speed in the corners. A colleague last year told me, “If you are braking into the corners, you shouldn’t be pedalling on the straights”. Granted his point isn’t relevant in a race run or on a so called “downhill” race track at home (they are all flat), but when training in the hugely gravity assisted bike park, it couldn’t be more right.

If you are keen to improve, working on your skills should always be a part of your riding. Maybe it is just that one corner on a trail that throws you off of your game, or a rock garden that slows you down. Last year I was really working on my jump ability and riding the roots. This year it has been a little on my drop technique, and more importantly my cornering ability, especially at high speed.

Using training areas within bike parks, pump tracks, skills areas, or even practising your riding on the street is all very worthwhile. Learning and practising riding skills will help you to develop the muscle memory to ride how you want when you don’t have the time to think about technique.

“On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, ‘Okay, this is the limit’. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.”

– F1 Legend Ayrton Senna

If you really want to see what you are capable of, you need to challenge yourself. Ride on!

Big thanks to Logan Swayze of Whistler Bike Park Photos for the photo in this post. You can purchase Trail Side and Bike Camp photos that he has taken in the Whistler Bike Park at http://www.bikeparkphotos.com.