| DOWNHILL! The utterance of the word | | | | have tremendous stopping power. Do you |
| conjures images of tattooed youth flying | | | | know how to get the most out of them? If |
| recklessly down steep inclines in | | | | not experiment on familiar trails to |
| pursuit of scant seconds and adrenaline | | | | find the point of optimal braking. |
| charged victory. They ride exotic | | | | Secondly....NEVER apply the brakes in a |
| machines, show complete disdain for the | | | | corner! This is the most common mistake |
| beauty of suffering that is cross | | | | made by riders. Set your corner speed |
| country, and rip around the country side | | | | before you get there. If your braking in |
| on motorcycles in the off-season. | | | | a corner you are loosing time and |
| What do you care about DH'ers? You're a | | | | loosing control. You also want to |
| died in the wool cross country machine! | | | | practice sliding the front and rear |
| You watch your body fat, eat lots of | | | | wheels in corners. Your bike will "hook |
| carbs and protein, and max your mileage | | | | up" differently under hard braking and |
| in pursuit of lactate tolerance. | | | | it's important to find the limits of |
| Besides, you say, I'm already fast | | | | traction and control before you get into |
| downhill! Yea, I thought so too...then I | | | | trouble. |
| started riding with a pro DH'er and I | | | | The last word on braking for |
| learned a lot! | | | | today....When In Doubt Let Er Rip!!!! |
| Downhill techniques can be broken into | | | | Staying off the brakes is an acquired |
| several components, each of which will | | | | skill that will pay huge rewards in the |
| help you become faster and give you the | | | | end, plus cleaning a tough section with |
| edge necessary to win in any situation | | | | no brakes feels awesome! |
| The single most important element of | | | | Downhilling requires intense |
| going fast downhill is vision. Where you | | | | concentration and focus. Like all |
| look, what you process and how you react | | | | aspects of sport the psychological |
| are all vitally important. First, get | | | | component is as important as the |
| your head up! If your like most riders | | | | physical one. When you get to the top of |
| you tend to keep you eyes glued to the | | | | the climb, take a deep breath and reset |
| trail directly in front of you hoping to | | | | your head for the downhill. |
| spot and avoid any impending disasters. | | | | I'll often have riders repeat a phrase |
| Instead try raising your head and | | | | that they associate with a fun training |
| looking further down the trail. | | | | ride...."Catch em", "Go" or even "OK, |
| Depending on speed and conditions you | | | | lets have fun!" work great for keeping a |
| want to focus 40-80 feet in front of | | | | rider in the right place mentally. You |
| your bike. From this base you can then | | | | want to push yourself, but in order to |
| use your peripheral vision to briefly | | | | win the race you need to finish the |
| scan the trail to spot potential | | | | race! By finding the right focus you |
| hazards. If your looking far enough | | | | will increase your performance and |
| ahead you should see any major problems | | | | enjoyment while decreasing the risk of |
| far enough in advance to make | | | | accident and injury. Absently flying |
| corrections. | | | | down a trail is a sure fire way to end |
| Most XC riders are far too passive in | | | | up with a spectacular "Get Off" story |
| their approach to DH technique. They | | | | for your friends. Instead look at the |
| keep their weight back and hope for the | | | | experience as one of fun and |
| best. My DH guru is a huge proponent of | | | | accomplishment. I guarantee that if you |
| keeping your weight neutral, or slightly | | | | are having fun, clicking off turns and |
| forward on the bike, and being the one | | | | finding the fastest way down will be |
| in control. By consciously bending your | | | | much easier. |
| elbows and sliding forward slightly you | | | | This is really an extension of vision. |
| adopt a more aggressive and controlled | | | | Being able to "see" the best way through |
| stance on the bike. At the same time you | | | | a challenging section is hard to define. |
| want to elevate your head and shoulders | | | | If you have the opportunity to pre-ride |
| so that you can see what's going on | | | | the course that will help your line |
| around you better. | | | | selection tremendously. During your |
| Pedal position is another area that | | | | pre-ride stop and examine difficult |
| riders struggle with. Having your feet | | | | sections, ride them with different lines |
| at 9 O'clock and 3 o'clock is the most | | | | and see what works best. |
| common and most controllable position to | | | | Many times carrying speed through a |
| be in. For corners you want the inside | | | | corner requires you to change a |
| leg up, the outside leg weighted and | | | | traditional outside-inside-outside line |
| straight. If you normally ride with your | | | | to something more agressive. Try lines |
| right foot forward (i.e. at 3 o'clock) | | | | that are completely different from the |
| on descents then try riding with your | | | | established ones. Perhaps there is an |
| left foot forward sometimes. It's the | | | | advantage to be found that your cross |
| same theory as dribbling a basketball | | | | country brethren have missed with their |
| with both hands. The more comfortable | | | | limited vision! |
| and balanced you are on both sides the | | | | Work with these techniques to improve |
| better your technique and speed will be. | | | | your downhilling. If you have the |
| Braking is a love/hate relationship. | | | | opportunity to ride with some local |
| Love because they set your speed for | | | | DH'ers, give it a shot. They are |
| corners and, inevitably, save your butt | | | | actually nice, fun loving folks who are |
| during a ride. Hate because they scrub | | | | happy to teach you, and learn from you |
| off speed, cause handling errors if | | | | too. Who knows you may find that you |
| applied incorrectly and sometimes spit | | | | want to give downhill racing a try |
| you off the bike real hard! | | | | sometime. It's a great way to develop |
| My first recommendation is spend time | | | | into a complete rider and have a gas at |
| getting comfortable with how hard your | | | | the same time! |
| front brake stops. V-Brakes and Discs | | | | |