- #Tips for starting a successful mtb ride full#
- #Tips for starting a successful mtb ride registration#
Quite often it goes wrong and leads to tumbles or traction-spitting errors. It doesn’t really save you any time or offer you any significant advantage though. This is all well and good if you can do it consistently really well. Don’t trackstand if you can’t trackstandĪt the start gate of a race – or timed stages in enduro events – you’ll see some riders balancing on their bike with both feet on the pedals (trackstanding). If you must, save your redline sprinting for the finish line. Hard sprinting into hard braking is not going to be as fast overall as simply staying smooth and consistent.
#Tips for starting a successful mtb ride full#
Ride slowĮh? The name of the game is to go as fast as possible isn’t it? Well, yes but a common racing mistake is to go full pelt at everything only to then have to brake hard, over-correct and regain your speed back up. Similarly, you don’t want to assume there’ll be plentiful refuelling points and just head out with a single water bottle for a full day in the saddle. You might not need to load up with a full three litres of water (AKA 3kg of weight) from the get-go. This way you can plot how much water storage you need to take. This will make the rest of the race prepping much more relaxed.
#Tips for starting a successful mtb ride registration#
Get all the time-sucking registration stuff done first. Take your bike with you if you’re worried about someone nabbing it, but don’t do any in depth bike fettling or clothes dressing etc. Get to the venue as early as possible and head straight to the sign-on tent. And if you try to keep your phone in your shorts pocket you’ll either crash on it (pain and £££) or it’ll bounce out somewhere never to be seen again (£££). It can also cause you to miss your allocated start time on the timed stages of an enduro, for example. This can cause rushing and panic at the start. It’s all too easy to lose track of time before and during a race. Just make sure you get the versions with the stronger sidewalls. And the Specialized Slaughter is something of a cult bargain. There aren’t that many of these sort of tyres around but a few brands do have some good options. Not having your eyeballs being buffeted by wind will result in clearer vision, calmer riding and faster times.īasically you want a tyre that rolls fast but doesn’t puncture very easily. It’s more to do with preventing your eyes from watering during race stages.
This is not (just) to keep mud out of your eyes. Try some softer and/or larger grips and you’ll be impressed by the reduction in arm pump and hand-clench. Treat yourself to a fresh new pair of the best mountain bike grips you can afford. You’ll be amazed – and possibly a bit ashamed – of how lovely your parts feel after you’ve made them moist again. Some appropriate suspension fluid is the only thing you should track down. It really is amazingly easy to do a quick lube job on your suspension. We have several great suggestions for the best waterproof mountain bike jackets. So take a jacket for that, not purely for riding in. The only times you’ll want to be wearing a jacket is during rest stops and in the queues for the stages. Don’t wear too many layers or thick layers.
Underdress but take a hefty jacketĭuring a race you’ll be riding and working harder than your usual Sunday casual ride. A packed lunch of some sort is also a wise thing to take, as is some hydration tablets that you can drop into fresh water mid-race. You definitely do not want a heavy pack when you’re racing, so this is always going to be a balance, but we’d recommend taking a well equipped Allen key with a chain breaker, a quick link for the chain, an inner tube or tubeless repair kit, and a pump (or we’d recommend going with CO2 canisters for racing). You’ll be surprised what junk you’ve been carrying around in there for the past 18 months. Tip out your regular ride backpack and re-pack it with an eye on essentials. If done sensibly, a rider on a cheap bike with a well-thought-out backpack can be lighter than the overladen rider on a bling carbon bike. “Don’t look at the tree!” Be ruthless with what you take
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