Technique

I see a lot of new and improved bikes and components come out, all designed to make the riding experience better for us mountain bikers, which is great. But there is a downside to it, and this realization came from something one of my buddies said on a ride last year.

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I recently (well, in the spring) had my first true downhill mtb experience at Blue Mountain in Collingwood. I knew I would enjoy it, but didn't quite understand how much it would suck me in. It was me and my buddy, who decided to stick it out riding his Devinci Hucker dirt jump bike. I was lucky enough to have just gotten my Kona Dawg, so I at least had 5.5" of travel front and back. My legs and arms were killing me by the end of the day, and my buddy was pretty much useless for the rest of the weekend, being bounced around like the Plinko chip on The Price Is Right.

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I mostly go with the terrain. But start from home (downtown) and ride to outskirts through all-terrain and park areas before brief off road work and then back home. In someways its schizo.

Have you ever worked so hard at a trick that you thought its completion might never happen? Have you picked yourself up from multiple crashes with contempt and anger building for the next attempt? Is there a trick that is so hard to accomplish that doing so would land you a signature spot in the mountain bike hall of fame?

I'd like to share one of my trick-attempt stories. Hopefully, you'll read my story and develop the drive to write one like it.

It was one of those nights. I had been around to a few bars with my friends. We had a local riding crew and during the weekends we would ride around on our mountain bikes. Our objective was pretty much ride as many urban spots as we could. We stopped at a friends house for a snack. I knew I would have half an hour to kill, so I decided to try the 360 again.

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Last Saturday was a good ride. I'm writing this later because I'm busy with a side job at night to make a little extra cash (for MTB stuff of course!).

We had quite a ride because it was muddy. It had been raining all week. At least if it is really cold, then the mud is frozen, but not this week.

Even though I experienced a lot of muddy sections, I still managed to do well, since I had been working on shifting my weight to the back. It really works well to avoid spinning the back tire. This has made my climbing, even in muddy conditions, go amazingly well.

Today I really showed my stuff to the other guys. There were sections where I was surprised that I didn't have to get off and do some 'cross-training' as we like to call it. In fact, when the other guys headed for the road to go home, I went on to do a total of 40km. This includes about 12km from my home, to the trails and back.

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Here is my Blog.

Every day, or at least when I can, I will try to post an update to a daily peak into my life. I'm in the Army, and have been for about 17 years. I've been on two wheels for about 30 years.

These Posts will be about myself, my family, and the trials and tribulations of a man just trying to get another ride in. Thanks for checking it out.

Pedaling! What is this action really about? Is it all about pushing down the crank arms? Could we describe pedaling as turning sprockets? In truth correct pedaling is more akin to circular revolution. It is involves your entire leg, not just the quads.

Training for correct pedaling is as fun as dusting light bulbs. Sure, it is one of the things you should do, but my word does anyone actually make the time for it? However, proper pedal-training can quickly move you from back of the pack to après ride champion.

So what’s the deal – how does one properly prepare for perfect pedaling?

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This podcast is about the joys and the dangers of mountain biking far from civilization. I've got some advice for you. If you want to get our podcasts on your iPod or other mp3 player, make sure to subscribe to the podcast feed here.

(This also appeared on Lee Likes Bikes.)

Do you often find yourself in a gear that's too easy or too hard? Here are two simple solutions.

Q: When pedaling on a DH I'm often in the false (too light or heavy) gear so I thought about how pros do it. Do they plan their shifting, e.g. "before the 5th corner I have to shift to 4th gear?" Or how do they manage to be in the right gear?

A: Jonas, they do two things:

1. They plan ahead. Downshift before you enter the turn, so you're in the right gear when it's time to pedal. You want a gear that's easy to get spinning, but that you can spin for a while before you have shift. Which leads me to ...

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How dangerous are downhill and freeride? Well, that depends on which voice you listen to.
Q: How many serious injuries are there every year as a result of DH freeride etc. ... I mean compared to the amount of racers and at what level do the injuries increase????? I have been reading a lot about broken necks, comas and stuff lately in the mountain biking world. Is it just that the injuries stand out or is there a need to be concerned???? My wife bugs me about racing even though I race sport DH. I don't huck 30 foot cliffs but I love stuff under 15 with a great transition!!!! Should I listen to her or are the statistics on my side???? I know you can injure yourself doing all most anything, including bass fishing!!!!