Mountain Bike Race Training Tips
Mountain Bike Race Training Tips are Here.
Article by Brooke Bell
Are You Ready to Race OTH?
With Over The Hump about 3 months out we wanted to check in with our riders, friends, and families. Are you ready for this year’s racing season? More importantly what are you doing to prepare? We hope that you have taken the time to rest, recover, and restore. We’re eager to get back out there, so we put together some tips to help get race ready. We want to see everyone healthy, strong, and ready to ride!
Build Endurance
Maybe this is your first year at Over the Hump, so this would be a great place to start. You want to make sure that you are working on and building your endurance. If this isn’t new to you, or you’re a veteran mountain biker, you know that endurance is one of the most import asset you can possess on any trail.
So how can you build endurance? A great way to build endurance is to combine longer rides with technical mountain bike trails. This will help improve your cardio and endurance strength in no time. Don’t be afraid to join your local cycling group to work on your endurance level. Our community is full of riders that our eager to get out there, get stronger, faster, and better together.
Train Indoors
It’s okay to take a day off your bike and train inside as well. As we all know, our schedules, short days, work schedule, and weather sometimes has other plans. When you aim for greatness in any sport, consistent training is a must. The best way to accomplish this is by jumping on a stationary bike and work out at home or at the gym. When you give yourself some options, you limit your excuses. Get out there and make it happen!
Strengthen Your Legs
Had to mention it! A lot of mountain bike power comes from our legs. Legs are so important when we are climbing those hills, which will surprise you how those seemingly little hills will sneak up on your legs mid-lap at OTH. You can work on strengthening your legs by doing hill repeats. Even though you may hate it in the moment, you’ll thank yourself come May.
Work on Posture – Get a Bike Fit
This is a common mistake for beginner mountain bike riders. You want to start by making sure your mountain bike is the proper size and fit.All of our featured shops can help with sizing and fit, as you fine tune your body and bike for May. Mountain bikes require completely different riding positions than traditional road racing. If you have improper posture, you will not only get tired easier, but your risk of injury will also increase. Get it right and you avoid pain. Wrong and among other things, back pain can develop over time if you don’t make sure to exercise proper posture.
Bike fits come in a number of different sizes and shapes. Rock N Road Cyclery, and Incycle have the BG Bike Fit, the Cyclery has the Guru Bike Fit, Pure Ride Cycles has their own master fitter Kristen, and the list goes on check out the sponsor page here, to find the shop nearest you.
Core Strength
The core is one of the most important parts of the body to strengthen, especially if you want excellent balance when mountain biking. Strong abdominals mean more resistance and better performance. You can find many core exercises online!
That’s all we got for now. The countdown is on… Are you ready?
Helpful links: 2020 Season’s schedule PLUS find which race class is right for you. We can’t wait to see you HERE!!