Light hands, heavy feet!

Big drops, steep descends, tricky switchbacks. I’ll have to learn how to ride them all  in a relatively short amount of time. I turned to the book Mastering Mountainbike Skills – which in my house has now obtained the status of The Guide Towards Total World Domination – to learn about the theory behind these skills and came to the conclusion that before actually riding big drops, steep descends and tricky switchbacks, I have to rebuild my foundation. My position on the bike is all wrong.

I’m leaning into my handlebar. Your not supposed to do that. All the weight should push down through your feet into the pedals at all time. Light hands, heavy feet!, writers Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack say. They provided a check list for the perfect attack position.

It seems easy to remember but I’ve been practicing this position a lot last week and I can tell you this: it’s hard to shake bad habits. On the upside I can tell you that it does drastically improve your riding. Since paying attention to my position I’ve been riding on the trails much smoother. Especially riding through corners has become much easier. So from now on, whenever I’m out riding my bike, I’ll keep telling myself ‘light hands, heavy feet!’ Until it becomes a habit.