Brendan Fairclough’s Secrets of Better Riding: Movement on the bike
Learning to shift your body weight according to the terrain will boost your speed and flow and make you a more confident and adaptive rider
Movement on the bike is critical when it comes to finding grip, staying balanced, and maximising your body’s ability to absorb shocks.
Over the course of a ride you will find yourself adopting a variety of dynamic positions, and the faster you go, the more extreme and exaggerated those positions will naturally become.
Picking the right position that allows you to stay relaxed on the bike, while also letting it move freely beneath you, will improve your control as well as your confidence. By taking some time out to explore the extremes of body position, and how they affect bike handling, you can really begin to revel in those moments when it all goes a bit wild.
The aim this month is to build your confidence by exploring the full range of possible movement on the bike, and learning how it can help you stay in control when things get rowdy.
Finding the limits now, in a controlled environment, will give you a good idea of just how far you can push your position in the heat of the moment.
Once again, we’ve enlisted the considerable skills of Brendan Fairclough to show you how it’s done and pass on some valuable pointers along the way. You’re in good hands — if you’ve ever watched a video of Brendan ride, you’ll know he’s one of the loosest and most relaxed riders on the planet.
For a more in-depth look at this crucial skill, see the April issue of MBR, on sale from Wednesday, March 4.
About this series
Behind every great rider is an understanding and appreciation of the foundations of good technique. Over the next few months, with the help of World Cup downhill racer Brendan Fairclough, we’ll be taking a look at these fundamentals, and to help ingrain them into your subconscious, we’ve devised a number of skills drills to go away and practise on your local trails.