MTB Masterclass
Matt Ray is in the French Alps to experience the full-body benefits of downhill mountain biking
“Ride your bike, or it will ride you!”
Awarm rain spatters against the packed earth of a high bank as I throw my bike into the turn, carving a tyre track across the bowl as I push into the corner.
Letting o the brakes to accelerate,
I ride into the angled take-o from a tabletop jump. I crouch slightly, then use my legs to drive upwards, lifting body and bike into the air above the platform, before aiming my wheels at the landing, which rises up to meet the tyres with a satisfying thump.
When you get mountain biking right, it feels amazing. It taxes your brain and your body equally, and you’re so wrapped up in the moment that you don’t even realise you’re working hard until you reach the bottom, completely out of breath. It’s a workout as well as a mental release.
Once you skid to a halt at the bottom, the new breed of increasingly popular bike parks neatly solves the problem of getting you back to the top by spitting you out beside a chairlift – like this one in Les Gets – which takes you and your bike straight back where you came from.
Of course, when you can’t get to the Alps, bike parks all over the UK, such as in Wales’ Dy Valley, o er a Land Roverpowered alternative uplift service – just rack your bike on the trailer and get a lift back up the hill.
ATTACK, ATTACK!
So, why is mountain biking down a hill, rather than pedalling up it, such an e cient way to get tter, stronger and mentally healthier? After throwing myself down a couple of warm-up runs, I’m taking a lesson from Les Gets Bike School (MCF) instructor Tom Lebreton, to nd out.
e rst reason downhill mountain biking works so well is that you’re rarely sat passively on your saddle. e ‘attack position’ – used when not pedalling and entering fast, technical or unknown sections of trail
– is the rst thing you’re taught.
It involves being up, out of the saddle, feet level next to each other on the pedals, heels slightly dropped, knees slightly bent, elbows slightly bent and wide, head up and looking forwards. Oh, and always cover your powerful hydraulic brakes with one nger.
Lebreton is going to take this one step further. Before we even hit the trails, he asks me to do some turns on the at, leaning the bike over, but with open hands on the bars – I’m not allowed to close my ngers around them. Immediately, this recruits the muscles in my upper body, because I have to push into the bars and bring my weight above them to control the bike.
“I want you to remember that feeling,” says Lebreton. “Be aggressive and have your weight on the bars, because the harder and rougher the trail gets, the stronger you have to be to stay in control.”
HUMAN SUSPENSION
If you’re a tech head, the rst question you ask about a mountain bike is: how much suspension? e Nukeproof downhill bike I’m on today has 200mm, capable of absorbing big drops and large rocks. But here’s the thing: your body has more, in arm and leg exion, and overall body position.
However, to make the most out of this human suspension you need strong muscles with a full range of motion, and a rock-solid core, as I nd when I tackle my rst Blue run of the day (as in skiing, bike park runs are graded according to di culty).
I pedal down the single-track, picking up speed, and adopt the attack position to enter the rst in a sequence of high, banked turns (called berms). I hear Lebreton’s voice in my head telling me “Lean your bike!” into each corner, which is easier done if my outside foot is in the ‘down’ pedalling position.
With my upper body pushing into the handlebars, I can feel I have more grip in my tyres, as they slash through the dirt, high on the berm. “Ride your bike,” instructs Lebreton, “or it will ride you!”
As I enter the berm, I turn my head to look to the exit, helping to steer my bike to where I want it to go. is is where mountain biking works on your mental sharpness. “You have to look ahead down the trail, and anticipate,” says Lebreton. ere’s a lot of stu to hit in a bike park, and tree trunks are whizzing past my head as I enter a section of exposed roots down through a series of steep banks. I remember the rule: don’t look at the tree, or you’ll hit the tree! (I’m wearing body armour, just in case.)
It’s all about clocking upcoming obstacles and trusting yourself to handle them, while already looking ahead down the trail to the next one. is is all part of picking the best line. ere’s a gnarly clump of roots ahead of me, but rather than braking, or trying to steer around them, I opt to ride right at it, lift my front wheel and take the direct line to the next bank, which maintains the feel-good
ow and negates any wheel-eating holes.
TOTAL-BODY TEST
All of this happens within split seconds, while my arms and legs piston to absorb the hits, my brain frantically calculates speed and distance, and my heart attempts to keep up by pumping blood as fast as it can.
As I exit the roots, I put a few pedal strokes in to maintain momentum, and realise I am close to my anaerobic bu er.
is level of repeated training stimulus, punctuated by short rests on the chairlift, means that both my anaerobic capacity and my lactate threshold are being targeted.
AIR TIME
e other unforgettable feature of bike parks is jumps. Lots of jumps. Whatever your ability and ambition level, there will be the chance to experience launching yourself through the air on two wheels, whether o a cheeky little kicker at the exit of a berm, a at-topped tabletop with ramps each side, or a next-level gap jump. You just need to seek it out – and not bite o more than you can chew.
Lebreton stops ahead of me, at a jump leading out of a berm. “is one looks good. Keep up your speed going into it, compress just before by pushing down into the bike, and lift your front wheel slightly as you go o it,” he says. Local Les Gets rider omas Favre demonstrates how it should be done, popping high into the air like a hare in a farmer’s eld.
Looks easy! I line up, making sure there are no riders behind me, then pedal into the berm, bending my knees and exploding up,
ring my glutes to compress my suspension, which responds to drive my bike up into the air. I sightly mistime this bunny-hop motion, though, and drop o the kicker, rather than jumping away from it.
So, back to the top. is time I come in with more aggression, get my timing right and feel the bike take o underneath me, oating through the air before landing heavily into the next berm, where I have to put my skills and strength into riding out the extra momentum, my upper body pushing into the bars.
Using gravity to get airborne is tougher than it looks. And yet, the tired grin plastered across my face tells its own story. Downhill mountain biking is glorious, mud-splattered, strength-building, thrillgiving, stress-busting fun.
“Whatever your ability, there will be the chance to launch yourself through the air on two wheels”