Assume the Position

Today I've had the best day. After years of coming close to crashing on every corner (or so it seems) I finally got around to taking some mountain bike lessons.

Gabby and Dodzy were our instructors and we broke in to 2 groups of 7. The first hour was setting our bike up properly, with the rest of the morning simply looking at body positions. In the afternoon we went out into the tracks.

Lessons leaned ...
1. It's all about body position and balance. This might seem obvious, but it's harder than it sounds
2. Light hands (or heavy feet) - weight centred over the pedals, not pulling back, nor leaning on the bars
3. Braced feet. It's actually natural for your feet to tilt forward, it's imperative to tilt your feet backwards and "brace" against forward movement, especially braking
4. Arms wide - keep them wide on the bars, and get those elbows out wide into your peripheral vision
5. Low body - pivot your body forward at the waist but push your bum out to keep the centre of gravity.

The end result, a low centre of gravity, with a stable body position, and most importantly your feet bracing against forward action. It works, it's amazing. All those years riding and not doing it well.

After the course KD and I went straight to the bike shop. We have nearly $10 000 worth of bikes on demo for the day tomorrow. A GT Sanction and a Force.

That's tomorrows blip ;-)

Here's Gabby assuming the position, awesome rider (and instructor) that she is!