1)   Problem: You feel like you are going to die on a climb.

Solution: Tweak your form.  Lighten your grip on the bars. Open your upper body, for better breathing.  Spin in smooth circles, utilizing the top of the stroke (throwing forward) if wearing clipless, and avoid the jerky train chugging type of movements. Smooth!  Get in better shape.  5 lbs off of your belly is better than that 20 gm on your chainring.

2)   Problem: Your rear tire skids too easily.

Solution: Shift your weight back to the rear tire.  Use less rear brake.  Get a more aggressive tire.

3)   Problem: Your suspension feels great over the first bump, but gets unforgiving over subsequent bumps.

Solution: Decrease the rebound dampening of your shock.

4)   Problem: You get hung-up on certain obstacles on an otherwise flowing trail.

Solution: Keep looking forward as you ride.  Getting caught on an obstacle is typically a result of focusing on it, and thus getting nervous and twitchy.  Look ahead and keep your eyes flowing along the path and let your instincts carry you through.

5)   Problem: You feel like your fillings might come out over rough trails and you are getting stuck (maybe even having to unclip).

Solution: Go faster to prevent stop and loosen your grip and relax your upper body.  Also, lift off the seat a little bit and absorb the impact with your legs.

A: To rail any corner, there are essentially four steps involved in the turn.  They are:

1)   Set-up the turn: Picking the best line is crucial to any turn and begins well before the turn.  Look at the lines that already exist, and quickly assess if you will take the same or another line.  While still proceeding to turn, judge your speed and do any necessary braking prior to the turn so you can carve the turn and exit at maximum speed.  Think brake hard and late so as not to waste any momentum.

2)   Enter the turn: You’re not still on the brakes, are you?  At the very least, let go of the front brakes.  No fear.  Next, focus on leaning the bike into the turn as opposed to steering the bike into the turn.  Steered tires slide, leaned tires rail.  Don’t be the guy in the forums talking about how crappy your front tire is because you over steered and didn’t lean.  You love your front tire.  Be sure to flow with your eyes, throughout the turn, instead of fixating on every little obstacle.

3)   Make the turn: Body posture time.  You have now set the bike on its course through your desired line.  At this stage, it is up to you to help the bike “do its thing.”  Keep your arms and legs loose.  Point your head and torso in the direction you want to go.  Lower your center of gravity by dropping your head and/or butt down and distribute your weight appropriately.  What do I mean by “appropriately”?  If your front is sliding out, lean more forward to give it weight (let the tires do their job).  If your rear tire slides, shift back to give it more weight.  If the rear tire goes, lean forward to keep the front tire tracking.  Pushing down on the bike is another great tip.  Downhill skiers push down on moguls, for traction, and the same principle can be applied to bikes.

4)   Exit the turn: Exiting the turn is all dependent on how well you did the previous three steps.  Fine tune steps 1-3 and soon you will be shooting out like a rocket, ready to nail it into the straights.

A: Do you brake for no reason?  Have you done a panic stop, or lost all of your momentum because of an assumed threat?  Fear is the biggest culprit of SLS (Speed Loss Syndrome), which is an acronym I just made up for this article.  Learning to brake—and how hard to brake—is a key mountain biking skill to master.

1)   Resist unnecessary fear.  Nobody has ever been blamed for not braking enough.  Be like Lance, and learn to loathe your brake.

2)   On fast sections of trail or tame descents, keep your fingers off of the brake levers.  If you are looking far enough ahead, you will have more than enough time to brake should the need arise.

3)   On steep drops, or highly technical descents, keep your finger over the rear brake lever only and your front-brake finger on the grips.  Squeezing the front brake, in these types of situations, could be disastrous.

4)   Don’t ride your brakes; instead you should brake hard to slow down, and then get back to coasting and controlling the bike.

5)   When approaching “brake bumps” (areas now forming ruts from everyone braking), try braking before the ruts and then coasting through them or even taking a different line (going around them).

Poorly timed braking can wreak havoc on your bike’s handling.  For starters, braking causes you move back in the cockpit, changing your balance.  Braking also makes it harder to traverse bumpy terrain as you are now smashing into it, instead of letting speed glide you over it.  Harsh braking also affects your suspension, thus wasting the many hours or research and high dollar expenditure on which fork was the best – you just blew its benefit with bad braking.  Next time on the trail, try braking less (safely, of course) and see how much better of a rider you are.  The buck stops here!

A: Constantly honing your riding skills is an often overlooked part of mountain bike trail riding.  Riders tend to fixate on details (such as tires and bike weight) when they should be focusing on their skills.  Here are five tips to make you a better rider.

1. Breathing: It is all about the exhale.  Breathing is something we all take for granted, but mindful breathing will make you a better cyclist.  By focusing on stronger exhales, you automatically force deeper inhales.  Many riders also have a tendency to hold their breath during climbs, sudden descents, or jumps/bumps.  Holding your breath is a bad idea and makes you more tense.  Breathing correctly will give you more power.
2. Looking Ahead: Looking ahead is such an easy thing to do, yet it is something you can always improve on.  Line selection is critical for avoiding obstacles, riding at maximum speed, and better braking.  Set your site down the trail 30 or more feet instead of focusing on your front wheel and its immediate area.  Once you fine-tune this skill, you will be able to watch riders in front of you and see the lines they select and then make a best decision on taking a different line or following their line.
3. Elbows Out: If you have lifted weights, and preformed a bench press, you know all too well that you must keep your elbows out for maximum efficiency.  The same holds true for mountain biking.  Not only does this position give superior strength and control, it also opens up your chest for better breathing.
4. Better Climbing: It’s best to stay seated, whenever possible, on most climbs.  The second you get out of the saddle, your heart rate jumps up to compensate for the added exertion.  While standing may feel easier, it is actually less effective as it is harder to steer and more probable you will lose rear traction.  Find a good climb to practice on and try climbing it out of the saddle and then in the saddle and make note of the difference.  Be sure to slide up on the seat if there is a steep climb and to slide back on the saddle if you are shifting up while seated to maximize leg torque.  Focus on being in the correct gear, your breathing, and your cadence.  If you are clipped in, be sure not to waste the top portion of the pedal stroke — aiming to “throw” your foot forward on the top pedal stroke.  Practice, practice, practice.
5. Power Shifting: Assuming a three chainring set-up, you will ride in the middle chainring most of the time, and use all cog combinations to traverse the trails.  Utilize the five smallest cogs when you are in the largest chainring, and the five largest cogs for when you are in the smallest chainring (granny).  By mastering the “look ahead” tip, you will be able to quickly assess if the climb is a granny gear or not and then you can focus on the important (elbows out, cadence, breathing) cleaning climbs that you only dreamed of before.