Read for a wordy cross post? Something slightly related to MTB skills that I have been stewing for a few seasons riding with a lot of mixed skill groups. It's posted in "Passion".
Warning....it's long.
"Do we consider ourselves experts?
Do we say with confidence that we, “Could ride anything.”?
Do we hit all the jumps on the flow trails and all those gnarly 6 footers at the over-ridden town bike park?
Well, we must be an expert then. All those trails are marked expert, and our friends who have been riding for at least 5 years still can’t find the trigger when they eye up Gnar-Rock while we’ve been hitting it “Forever”. Pat ourselves on the back, we have arrived, but let’s don’t break our arms doing it, that plateau in skill we have worked so hard to ascend to is likely the land of the terminal intermediate.
Relax. This is not an insult. It’s a compliment. We’ve already won by not quitting the sport of “Mountain Biking” (whatever that is these days) and now poses the basics that could, if we remain open-minded, and obsessed, serve as the foundation for true expert abilities one day. It’s likely that it could take some time so settle in and be prepared for a long grind….oh and injuries.
First things first. Expert. Intermediate. Poser. These are subjective by nature so let us set the bar high. Let us not consider being the best rider in our group, or the best at the Killington race last weekend, not even some coaching credentials we may have attained to validate our ability, as those accolades are irrelevant. Let us instead compare ourselves to the folks who have truly achieved mastery of skill on a bicycle. You know….the best riders in the world. They are experts. Going forward, let us consider these the standard we are trying to achieve. Why? Because humility, and an openness to accept our short-comings is the only perspective that will allow us to continually improve our skillset, mindset, and fitness and keep us progressing towards true mastery.
So at this point a large group of MTBers reading this just rolled their eyes. Sadly for them, they are a lost cause. For the rest of us, putting ourselves in the same realm as MacAskill, or Gwynn may stoke that fire a bit as we roll into Spring. Even if we are the bottom-dwellers of that realm, it’s a place to start and we just raised our ceiling by affirming to ourselves that we suck at riding and have a long hill to climb before someone of true genius might consider us experts, and not in our small ponds, but out in the big, wide world. It’s easy for us to be consumed by that fire when we accept that we are “beginners”. Every endeavor in an activity we approach as learners yields a better understanding of the physics, the psychology, and the tactics of that activity.
Conversely, any time we go out and ride that trail we’ve ridden so many times on the same line we’ve chosen so many times, as if we have it all figured out, we essentially learn nothing, or close to it. We need to seek out adversity to grow, not flow trails and more suspension, or that dropper post. While these things are nice, and can offer an easier path or easy thrills through engineering, those of us truly driven to realize our full potential will, many times, shun these amenities for a more raw, and humbling experience.
So how do we smash down barriers that are holding us back? Assuming we are competent trail riders, the next step is easy, and counter-intuitive. Quit trail riding. Go to the hardware store, buy ourselves a good flat shovel, and go to the local DJs. Spend the majority of our time there for the next 3 years or so. An even better exercise would be to dig you own jumps from scratch as you will train your eye to the physics of jumping more completely then just showing up and having someone show you the proper speed for DJ lines. Break the lines down jump at a time. Dial in the first jump without hitting the second many times. Get used to committing to dropping the front tire. Make sure we are landing at the top of the transition. Then link 2, same process. Then 3. If we case or over-jump pull out. Reread that last sentence to ourselves about 1000 times. This is how we don’t get hurt. Inevitably, we will forget this lesson while caught up in a session full of progress and fun. We will case, or over-jump and try and make the next set. In the downtime you have while your collarbone heals, dig.
Trials is the other discipline we need to incorporate into our skillset. This is essentially low speed balance while standing on our pedals. Just like at the DJs, this is not done sitting on your seat like a bar stool. Even if our seat is up at a position conducive to spinning, we can still be up, standing on our feet for technical section. Riding these sections seated, particularly on full suspension bikes will not teach us to control our front AND rear tires. Instead we will develop a habit of driving our front tire while letting our rear tire meet features while weighted, with the suspension allowing this poor technique to be overlooked or even embraced. Fore-aft balance and weight shifting is the key here and we have to feel what the bike is doing through your feet, not our butts to learn to jump, absorb, and boost or pop on our J-hops.
Most of us will not achieve expert status in our lifetimes. We should aim for that level though. If we, as trail riders, learn to DJ at an intermediate level, and learn even the most basic of trials skills and bring those abilities, and the eye for new ridable lines and features back to the single tracks we should still not consider ourselves experts. Those quantifications are best left for others to bestow upon us. For ourselves, we should always consider ourselves as students of the bicycle and realize that we can always learn something from anybody, whether that be attitude or technique. Positive or negative, lessons are everywhere and can come from anyone if we put our egos aside, and be confident without closing the door to personal progression. Now repeat after me, “I suck at Mountain Biking!” Now go ride your Bike! Happy Spring! "
