HILLS

Many things are happening at the same time. When initiating uphills or downhills, our advice for beginners is to let it roll and collect repetitions by hitting many smaller bumps or hills while staying relatively loose. Try to let the bike move underneath you.

Ride as much as you can, play on these hills, and develop a feeling for what exactly happens when the angle of your bike is changing beneath you.

Next to specific ones, you can also repeat all the basic drills (Suspension frequency, relaxed turns, peg loading...) we practice on flat ground on easy hills. This will speed up your progress and help you reach a comfortable feeling once it gets steeper.

You start to understand not only how to move, but also when to move.

By actively shooting forward with your body in the right moment, even technical hills with a short compression up front are no problem anymore.

Once basic movement patterns are learned, it’s the perfect time to work on brake control drills in downhill sections — especially for the front wheel brake — and clutch drills in uphill sections, so that you are ready to take off in any situation.

You’re getting comfortable in all the downhill and hill climb basics and start to ride faster hills, do turns in off-camber situations, and hit steep downhills where your body is all the way back, pushing the rear fender down.

This is where the fun begins!

Next to incorporating hills into section training, also include tempo work.

Start to play around with all the gears and tackle faster uphill and downhill sections that are still in your comfort zone, so you understand how your bike behaves at different speeds.

Once you leave your comfort zone, it is time for clear step-by-step approaches on how you can convince your body to stay relaxed while hitting that (down-)hill in front of you.

One full send is better than three half-hearted attempts.