A Little Technique, Goes A Long Way

A Little Technique, Goes A Long Way

by Jan D. Axtell

“Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!” “Keep your elbows out and your chin over the handle bars.” “Pedal! Pedal! Pedal! “You got this!” Katie encouraged.

Dana and Kyle watched from the top side of the switchback.

I had already been stymied two times trying to ride through the switch backs on Lodge Spur. This was my 3rd time to repeat this particularly technical switch. I hadn’t made it through without falling over while my classmate Kim Winslow had made it through cleanly on her 2nd attempt.

There is nothing as humbling as failing to execute directions, and flailing like fish out of water, in front of what I have come to refer to as TFL’s “Single Track Brain Trust”. Thus far I had not ridden any switchback with any semblance of technique while all three of them seemed to have accelerated up the serpentine climb with little effort.

Then again, there is nothing like getting a clinic on the finer points and basic techniques of riding single track from them either. So when the opportunity arose to tag along on a dry run of their instruction syllabus I swallowed my pride and grabbed a bike from their shop in the basement of the Outdoor Center.

“Instead of coming into the switchback on the lower chain ring shift up to the middle ring, and rise up out your seat as you start to climb. It will give you more torque on the pedals, help maintain your momentum as you start to climb, and you won’t spin out as you have been- in that lower front ring- when you do lose momentum in 2nd half of the switch.” Dana commented with his Vermont accent.

In my head I went through the mental check list I had garnered from the instruction. “Middle chain ring, chin over handle bars, carry some momentum into the turn, pedal….got it.” The first pedal strokes where a bit awkward as I shifted up onto the appropriate chain ring, but once there I felt a little more control and as I rounded the switchback. As I started to pedal I felt myself actually accelerate up the second half of the turn instead of spinning the pedals inefficiently and tipping over. The torque of the middle chain ring provided a solid platform from which I could maintain my momentum and neutralized the balance issues I had been struggling with on my previous attempts in the low ring.

I won’t lie to you, as I can up over the switch and past the “brain trust”, I felt pretty good. I rode each successive switchback a little cleaner until, at the top of the Luce Hill, I actually felt like I had the hang of it.

More thoughtful tips and techniques followed as we headed back to the Lodge. Kyle encouraged me through a whole new set of skills that were important while descending single track and riding the, relatively speaking, flat rolling sections of trail:

“Pump the bike over the tops of the rollers to gain momentum just like when you ski.”

“ The best suspension is your elbows and knees.”

“When you descend through the switchbacks shift your weight back over the rear tire and lean into the inside of the turn.”

“You will be more stable if you stay on the pedals, don’t put your foot down.”

By the end of the ride my mental checklist had gotten significantly longer, I felt like I had improved dramatically, and was riding in a much more fluid and technically clean manner than when I had begun. It was great. Moreover, I had a general base of knowledge and skills that, if practiced and applied regularly, would facilitate and cultivate continuous improvement.

Trapp Family Lodge offers daily group and/or private mountain bike instructions. Beginning, intermediate, and advanced riders can all benefit greatly from these clinics. The Lodge’s hiking and cycling trails provide the perfect platform to learn the basic techniques in a safe, controlled, and unintimidating atmosphere.

In addition, the expanding single track network is the venue to refine your technique, and discover the high art and science of mountain biking under the encouraging tutelage of Dana, Katie, and Kyle.

Whether you simply want to cruise the trails with the grand kids, or free-ride the single track, the TFL bike shop, and the “Single Track Brain Trust”, has what you need in the way of equipment and instruction. Give it a try; I think you will be surprised at what you are capable of, because a little technique goes a long way.