Front wheel lift

Learn the basics of a front-wheel lift. 

The front-wheel lift is used to get over small features in the trail. This is a foundational skill—you will use this movement to build up to other skills such as the manual. While this skill doesn't have a lot of stand-alone application on the trail, it is crucial to learn so that you can apply the principles later.

Front-Wheel Lift Technique

• Load-Explode
  

  • In one quick motion, load your front shock, and allow the energy to explode.

  • The load component is a compression of the center of the bike.

  • The explode component is a compression release. Allow the bike to come up a little, but do not pull up on your handlebars.

Tips to think about

• Imagine trying to make yourself weigh the most on a spring-loaded scale: you would push down in one quick motion.

• Think about using a diving board. At the end of the board, you would compress once and jump, allowing the energy release from the board decompression to shoot you into the air.

Parking lot drill: front-wheel lifts

• First, practice front-wheel lifts in the parking lot without any obstacles. Remember to load and explode in one quick motion.

• Next, practice your timing by doing front-wheel lifts over a line in the parking lot.

• When you feel ready, add a feature. Start with one small board, and then add more.

Tips for Mountain Biking in Moon Dust

What is moon dust?

July and August often bring dry and hot conditions to trails in arid regions like those found in Australia, the southwest, and the Rocky Mountains. Moon dust occurs when soil loses moisture and the top layer deteriorates into a fine, loose powder on top of a firmer surface. Dust exposes rocks, creates bumps and ruts, make conditions slippery and unpredictable, and can cause wheels to lose traction—potentially resulting in a crash. Below we’ll give you some tips for riding in moon dust.

Create more traction

Without the tacky surface of hero dirt, you will need to create more traction between your tire and the dirt. In general, you want to have light hands and heavy feet. Push your weight through your pedals and heels to create more grip. If you know you’re going to be riding in moon dust, you may want to reduce the pressure in your front tire by 1 or 2 psi to increase the surface area in contact with the ground. Make sure your tires have a good tread, and consider getting tires with longer spikes if you ride in dusty conditions regularly.

Look ahead!

Moon dust can lead to braking bumps, ruts, holes, and powdery, dust-covered rock slabs. Scan ahead for tricky spots so that you can be prepared. Read more about your vision when mountain biking here.

Protect your eyes while riding

We always recommend wearing eye protection while mountain biking, but it is especially important in dusty conditions to prevent dirt and grit from damaging your eyeballs. It’s hard to see with dirt in your eyes! You may also consider wearing mountain biking goggles or even clear safety glasses when riding in moon dust.

Increase your following distance

If you’re riding with friends, allow enough distance between riders for the dust to settle—not only to reduce breathing in dust, but also so that you can see the trail features clearly and ride much more safely.

Brake early

Avoid locking your brakes in dusty sections or over dust-covered rock slabs. Brake earlier than you normally would because you will have less grip.  

Corner with Care

Moon dust often is an added culprit to losing traction on your turns or when cornering. This can result in sliding out, meaning your tires slide out from underneath you. Practice and utilize your bike body separation skills. Specifically lean your bike not your body when cornering. Often we find ourselves leaning with our bikes on turns and in corners, especially on low g-force turns. When you lean with your bike then your center of mass is no longer over the bike’s center which is why you lose traction. When you lean just your bike and not your body your center of mass remains over the bike's center. This keeps your tires properly weighted, generates traction and prevents the dreaded sliding out. Learn more about how to properly corner and lean your bike and not your body in one of our clinics. Join an Intermediate Cornering Clinic this summer to corner through moon dust like a pro. Other important factors we cover in our cornering clinics are selecting the correct line, proper braking and utilizing your vision correctly.

Respect the trail!

Don’t widen trails by riding around tricky sections. If needed, walk your bike through deep moon dust or over slippery slabs. Always respect trail closure signs and do your best to follow Leave No Trace principles.

If you want to avoid moon dust, look for trails at higher altitudes or in cooler areas. If you don’t have a lot of options, be careful, have fun, and enjoy your dirt-tan lines!

The Mountain Bike Mastery Course is where we take your mountain bike skills to the next level and way beyond. Join from anywhere in the world for the most in-depth, personalized coaching possible. Make some magic on your bike with Coach Erica Tingey supporting you every pedal stroke of the way.

4 Common Mistakes We See on the Trail

Bad habits in mountain biking are easy to pick up, especially for those of us who are self-taught. Skills clinics haven’t always been accessible like they are now, and many of us were left to our own devices in learning how to ride. Regardless of how we began, all of us can undo bad habits, learn correct fundamental skills, and improve our overall riding on the trail. Below are some tips to move beyond common mistakes we see on the trail:

Vision 
It is instinctive for riders (especially new riders) to look down at our front tire as we ride, focusing on the obstacles and trail directly beneath us. Instead, we want to be looking ahead and further down the trail at the upcoming terrain. As we look ahead we can prepare with correct body position, proper speed, line choice, techniques, etc. We don’t want any surprises on the trail. We can use our peripheral vision to scan down when needed, yet mostly we keep our vision focused and looking ahead. While some of us stay focused and looking ahead most of the time, it is easy  to become distracted with an upcoming rock or trail obstacle. As we approach a rock, for example, we can fixate on the rock as it rolls underneath us, instead of preparing for what is next. We can be more intentional with our vision, taking note of when we are looking down or not focusing on the terrain ahead. With correct vision we can find ourselves able to travel at faster speeds and with greater control. For more information about vision, please read this Tech Tuesday Article or better yet join us for a clinic to better understand your vision when riding through rocky terrain, cornering and everyday singletrack.

Tense Grip
When we ride, are we gripping so tight that our shoulders, arms and hands are stiff after the ride? If so, it’s time to loosen up that grip. A tight grip on our handlebars keeps us in a more rigid position. Then as we ride, our bike is harder to maneuver underneath us. Our bikes are meant to handle the terrain, our  legs are meant to absorb the extra jolts and movement (when using the correct ready position) and our arms and hands are meant to lightly grip our handlebars to brake, steer and lean the bike. Think of it as heavy feet (weight in our pedals) and light hands. This simple technique will greatly improve dynamic riding skills. 

Lean Your Bike, Not Your Body 
Learning how to properly execute bike-body separation techniques will greatly improve our dynamic riding and allows us to ride faster and more difficult terrain. Often riders will lean their bodies with their bikes, instead of properly leaning their bike while staying upright, centered and balanced on the bike. Staying upright and balanced not only keeps us stable on our bike, but generates traction in our tires so we don’t slide out. Learn how to properly lean your bike and not your body in one of our Cornering Clinics. 

Hand and Finger Placement 
Hydraulic disc brakes and wider handlebars have really changed our stance as riders, giving us more leverage and control over the bikes we ride. Older brakes or non hydraulic disc brakes often needed more force for braking which ultimately took away from how many fingers could wrap around our handlebars. However, modern mountain bike brakes are designed to be used with 1 finger only - our index finger.  If we position our hands towards the end of our handlebar grips (utilize the full length of our handlebars) our index finger should line up with the slight bend towards the end of our brake levers. Minor adjustments  to our brake levers may need to be made to ensure proper positioning for our index finger. This Tech Tuesday Article goes into further detail.

When our brake levers are in the correct position, our index finger can rest on our brakes. Then, our remaining  fingers can wrap around our handlebars, which includes our thumbs being below the bar. This grasp gives us more control  as we lean, maneuver and steer, compared to the grasp we have when 2 fingers or more do the braking. This full grasp should not be confused with using a tight grasp. We still apply the principles of light hands, yet utilize the rest of our fingers and place our thumbs beneath our bars for a full grasp. 

Identifying bad habits on our own is difficult. Sign up for one of our skill’s clinics and let one of our professional coaches help  identify areas of needed improvement. Even slight changes have big results on the trail, whether we are just starting out, or have been biking for many years! 

Top 5 trail ready prompts

If you can remeber these 5 prompts, you will be safe and enjoy the ride!

• Stay centered on the bike (heavy feet, light hands)

• Safe braking (ease the squeeze, no grabbing)

• Look ahead (be goal oriented in your vision)

• Level pedals (no flamingos!)

• Smile (that’s how I know you are breathing AND having fun!)

If that is all you do, you will be safe!

Before and after, jumping edition

Can you spot the difference between these photos?

In the top photo, I am “cheating” by pulling up with my feet. In the bottom photo, my feet are level with the ground. I am firmly connected the the bike in a way I never have been before and that has really boosted my riding confidence. “Heavy feet, light hands” has taken on a whole new level of understanding for me this year.

The first photo was taken in the spring of 2018, the second one was taken a week ago, which is 2.5 years later. The biggest difference? My feet! During 2018 and 2019, I thought the photo on the top was rad! Then when I was looking for a photo to advertise one of our jumping clinics this summer, I noticed my feet and didn’t use it! I switched to flat pedals just a few months ago. In addition to increasing my riding confidence, I have been forced to practice my dynamic skills (such as jumps and drops) with the proper technique. “Heavy feet, light hands” has taken on a whole new level of understanding for me this year. For more information about flat pedals, take a look at this video I made and see if you are ready to make the switch!