Lynette Deacon knows that learning the track is key. PC Jamie FoxThere’s a lot to think about when it comes to your next DH or Enduro race. You’ve been training for months and your bike is in perfect working order, but you still have all the things you need to consider on the day of the race.
Line choice, nutrition, logistics, spares/replacement parts, clothing/protection and final setup tweaks all still need to be considered on race day. Even the basics such as getting between the venue and your accommodation are rumbling around your head on race day. And don’t forget - did you bring your lucky undies? Are your knee pads still smelly from last weekend?
You have a LOT on your plate, but as with most things, the cream rises to the top in racing. Racing rewards those who are organized, prepared and fully focused on doing the right things at the right time. Those racers go into their race runs knowing what they need to do, and they execute these things flawlessly.
We all strive for race weekends like this where the pressure is off and the performance is peaked!
But with all the ins and outs of racing, how can we race at our best week in and week out?
Simplfy race weekend by removing doubts from your mind! PC New Zealand Mountain BikingRisk:Reward Ratio – Make Your Downhill Pre-Ride CountWhen you arrive at the race venue you only have a limited time to check out the course you will race. In enduro, you might get as little as one full run on each track. In downhill, you might get all day to practice one trail, but you need to be careful that you don’t get too fatigued by over-practicing. It’s your last chance to make any setup changes to your bike, so you’ll probably also be thinking about that too.
In a nutshell, you have limited time and a scattered focus when it comes to your pre-ride, but it is incredibly important to make the pre-ride count.
Pre-rdiing is crazy important. We already know that as we learn a trail, we learn how to brake more efficiently since we can already anticipate what’s coming up on the trail and we’re planning for the next section before we even get to it.
But with limited pre-ride time, how can you deliver on what you came here for - to ride the track as fast as you can?
Big risks for marginal gains don't make sense - focus on big gains first.The Biggest Pre-Riding MistakeOne of the greatest mistakes racers make is focusing too much of their energy on marginal gains while overlooking their biggest weaknesses.
The worst examples of this are racers practicing risky lines over and over when the potential risk:reward ratio is too high – there simply isn’t enough time to gain in these sections (the reward) when the risk of crashing or making a mistake is so high.
Focusing on marginal gains like these during your pre-ride will result in you either leaving time out on the track in your race run or getting injured. This is especially true as you get tired over the weekend.
You should instead focus your energy on riding slightly better where you are losing the most time.
By doing this, you could gain a big reward for a low risk. This is exactly what you should be aiming for!
Sam Blenkinsop pre-riding with his BrakeAceHow to Simplify Downhill & Enduro Race Pre-Ride RoutinesMTB is incredibly complex, but racing as fast as you can is all about doing the little things right. Appropriate body position, good line of sight, good bike setup, good pacing, etc. all come in to play.
Braking is what you do to control your bike considering all the other elements of MTB at play. Poor body position will result in poor braking, while overpacing will result in overbraking later on down the track.
Read on brakeace.com