Speed Tips
* Try this next time you want a surge in speed: Shift to an easier gear and increase your pedal cadence. Just before you spin out (pedal as fast as you can), shift to a harder gear. Repeat this until you're at top speed. This isn't the ideal method. (You probably won’t need to shift to the easier gear once you get the feel. And if you're super-strong, you can forget this and just jam.) But it's an easy and clear way for novices to learn the relation between spinning and speeding.
* At high speed, smaller obstacles mean almost nothing. You don't want to steer too much because you'll slow down and risk losing control of the bike. Just ride over most stuff, floating on top of the bike. Remember: The bike wants to keep going. Be a good cat and let it.
* Remember: The faster you go, the smaller your movements need to be to affect the bike’s line. In other words, it’s harder to bunny-hop from a standstill than at 50 mph. It's smarter, too, but that's a whole other subject.
* When you get comfortable riding at high speed, you’ll become super-confident at 90 percent of that speed.
* A faster bike is a more stable bike.
* Inertia is as much a cycling tool as balance or fitness. It'll get you through a lot of things. If there's a section you're having trouble with, maybe you're going too slow. Grit your teeth and try going just one or two miles per hour faster. Momentum does other cool stuff too, like turning marginal bunny-hops into cloud-banging flights.
* We all have a pace we maintain most of the time an average speed. (It's possible to go faster, but this is where we mostly ride.) Any tiny gain in average speed takes tons of practice and dedication. So it could take years to go from a ~O-mph rider to a 12.5-mph rider. But at some point you hit the Magic Speed Barrier (which is slightly different for everyone). If you get past this, amazing speed increases are possible. The Barrier is where loads of finesse and finagling are replaced by sheer speed and momentum. You don't need to miss stuff because you ride right over it.
* Go out and watch birds. When they fly slow they make big, sweeping movements with their wings to change direction. But when they swoop or dive, they accomplish the same amount of directional change just by twitching a single feather. Be a bird. As your speed increases, your bike and body adjustments should become smaller. It's easy to get pumped and overreact in even a simple turn, or yank the bike way the heck up in the air when that's not at all a good thing. When speeding, be spare and graceful. Demolition-derby drivers flail. Formula One racers caress.
* You need to develop a kick whether it's to win a race at the line or zip over a short but steep hill. One way is simply to honk on the pedals and get your power up. This works, but it can blow your legs. Spinning faster is more efficient than putting more force into your pedal strokes.
* At high speed, smaller obstacles mean almost nothing. You don't want to steer too much because you'll slow down and risk losing control of the bike. Just ride over most stuff, floating on top of the bike. Remember: The bike wants to keep going. Be a good cat and let it.
* Remember: The faster you go, the smaller your movements need to be to affect the bike’s line. In other words, it’s harder to bunny-hop from a standstill than at 50 mph. It's smarter, too, but that's a whole other subject.
* When you get comfortable riding at high speed, you’ll become super-confident at 90 percent of that speed.
* A faster bike is a more stable bike.
* Inertia is as much a cycling tool as balance or fitness. It'll get you through a lot of things. If there's a section you're having trouble with, maybe you're going too slow. Grit your teeth and try going just one or two miles per hour faster. Momentum does other cool stuff too, like turning marginal bunny-hops into cloud-banging flights.
* We all have a pace we maintain most of the time an average speed. (It's possible to go faster, but this is where we mostly ride.) Any tiny gain in average speed takes tons of practice and dedication. So it could take years to go from a ~O-mph rider to a 12.5-mph rider. But at some point you hit the Magic Speed Barrier (which is slightly different for everyone). If you get past this, amazing speed increases are possible. The Barrier is where loads of finesse and finagling are replaced by sheer speed and momentum. You don't need to miss stuff because you ride right over it.
* Go out and watch birds. When they fly slow they make big, sweeping movements with their wings to change direction. But when they swoop or dive, they accomplish the same amount of directional change just by twitching a single feather. Be a bird. As your speed increases, your bike and body adjustments should become smaller. It's easy to get pumped and overreact in even a simple turn, or yank the bike way the heck up in the air when that's not at all a good thing. When speeding, be spare and graceful. Demolition-derby drivers flail. Formula One racers caress.
* You need to develop a kick whether it's to win a race at the line or zip over a short but steep hill. One way is simply to honk on the pedals and get your power up. This works, but it can blow your legs. Spinning faster is more efficient than putting more force into your pedal strokes.
Labels: mountain bike, speed tips
posted by Norm at 11:29 AM
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