- What is this?
What the, oh my.
This is how to deal with super steep
and super scary downhills.
(relaxing music)
(logo booming)
Right, I'm here in Squamish.
Home of all the steepest, and the slabbiest rocks
you've ever seen in any mountain bike video and magazine.
And let's start with quite a small one,
but this is perfect for learning how to deal
with the steeper rock slabs.
So let's start with body position.
(relaxing music)
You've got a really nice roll into this section here,
nice and flat and open,
so you've got time to set yourself up.
So you'll be coming in, central ready position,
middle of the bike, and really looking at what's coming up.
And then obviously soon as you start getting into this,
it's really important to start bringing
your weight to the back of the bike.
Actually, what you're doing is keeping
your weight middle of the bike,
but just because it's so steep your front wheel
is dropping in, if you stay in the middle of the bike
you're really getting over the bars then.
So you need to address that balance,
and the real way to do this, the key to do this,
is actually just by dropping your heels.
If you do that nicely, that's gonna bring your hips
right down and back to the rear wheel.
I talk about that arc of movement,
and I'm really talking about your hips there.
On a flat piece of trail, in that ready position,
your hips will be above the saddle.
Going a climb you can slide to the front of the saddle,
but you know the opposite, going down a steep hill,
you really need your hips right to the back of the bike.
Think about a plumb line coming off your hips,
and that will still probably be over the bottom bracket,
but it's all about heels down, hips back, head up.
(relaxing music)
There's two important C's when it comes
to this sort of stuff.
It's commitment, and confidence.
And that really comes from making sure
you know you can do this, and I'd really recommend
stopping, getting off, and taking a look at it first.
Because then you want to commit to doing it,
you don't wanna be undecided.
But also, if you roll in too slow,
you're gonna start maybe losing your balance,
so you wanna keep those wheels turning a little bit.
Obviously don't wanna go too fast
because that could cause you trouble on this.
You don't want to start jumping off this
because it's a really horrible landing,
so you wanna roll down it, but really slow and you'll find,
obviously, that gyroscopic effect disappears,
and you then might lose your balance,
and then you're in trouble.
And then confidence just comes from doing it
over and over, riding steep stuff you'll get used to it.
This does look really intimidating,
but actually these rock slabs are really predictable.
If you know this trail, this is never gonna change,
there's never gonna be a bit of mud digging out
or a new root, it's always gonna be the same.
So hopefully that's gonna build your confidence.
(relaxing music)
Moving on from that commitment that you need as well,
there's also trying to stay relaxed,
and that can be easier said than done.
This is a really scary section.
It's completely blind, it's wet,
it's muddy, and of course it's completely vertical.
So you've got to keep yourself breathing, staying relaxed.
Soon as you start panicking, it's really common
to see people hold their breath,
and the first thing that'll happen is
you'll go really stiff on your bike,
and that can really lead to problems.
You need to be nice and relaxed, moving around,
get to the back of your bike, and when you come off this,
obviously then need to move back forward
to the middle of the bike.
And actually, you've got to keep following
the same old rules of riding.
So you need to be looking where you're going.
It's really easy to start concentrating on this,
and actually falling off on this section
probably isn't as consequential as actually
getting through this section and then crashing,
because down there you've got a really steep bank
and all sorts of horrible things to fall onto.
Stay relaxed, keep your head up.
You need to ride the trail,
not just ride this scary obstacle.
This section is steep, it's rough,
it's rooty, there's rocks everywhere.
Something like this, what I want to do
is get off again and look at it,
and actually try and visualise what I'm gonna do.
So my line, and that really is gonna be important here
because if I go too far that way,
I'm trying to turn across roots.
So I've decided I'm gonna come to this bit of dirt here,
and also think I'm gonna have to unweight
over that horrible root, then I've got a wheel sized hole
and a rock, so it's really a case of visualising
exactly what I'm gonna try and do, and then doing it.
So line choice, down there, big of an unweight,
bit of a hope, and then get back behind the bike.
And if you can't visualise yourself doing it,
you probably can't do it.
(relaxing music)
Don't forget that you don't always have to do it.
There might be an easier route.
Yeah, just don't really feel up to it today.
Going this way.
(relaxing music)
The terrain here in Squamish is pretty amazing really.
I've never ridden anything like it.
But it's really important to get your braking
done in the right spots here, because you're so far
over the back of the bike on sections like this,
super steep, you are really relying
on that rear tyre to do a lot of the stopping.
So a good rear tire's gonna help,
but really modulate that rear tyre,
and be careful with the front.
Obviously, any sort of slide on the front tyre
can get you into trouble pretty quickly here.
So I'm definitely easing off the front more than the rear,
relying on that rear tyre as the anchor.
But definitely bike setup is gonna be important
here as well, so think about decent tyre pressures,
maybe lowering them slightly for these rock sections
so you can get a good amount of rubber on there.
Also, making sure you've got a dropper post,
or getting your seat out of the way as much as you can
to get far back on the bike.
Also, in this section you're dealing with different types
of surface, the trail, so the rock is super grippy granite.
So I'm doing lots of hard braking there,
but this dirt is pretty wet, and it's on top of rock
as well, so that's super slippy.
So easing off the brakes, getting back on
when I get onto that rock slab again.
(relaxing music)
Riding that steep, scary stuff,
definitely take your time with it.
Try and progress in slow, easy steps,
rather than big ones and then crashing,
and going back a whole load.
So take your time, build the confidence.
If you wanna see another video
to get some more descending tips,
click that link over there, hit the glove to subscribe.
Give us a thumbs up.