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Don't pull a Gene! Balance is the key to a happy life, but it is a constant battle for most of us. We become nearly obsessed with one or two things (a hobby and/or our career) and neglect important areas of our lives. I see this a lot with mountain bikers, especially those who race. [...]
This is Andy's take on something that is plaguing mountain biking, bad advice by self appointed experts. O.k, this may seem a bit harsh, but I’m ready to go to war with ignorant, “industry experts” such as bike shop employees, shop owners, especially “professional bike fitters”, (AND husbands and boyfriends of female students who “…know what’s best for my girl’ ‘cause I’ve been riding for twenty years and used to race!” – I love that one!) that refuse to wake up, educate themselves, and understand what equipment is necessary in order to most effectively ride an MTB -- both up and down an incline -- in technically challenging terrain, and, therefore, continue to give riders advice and recommendations on equipment that are just plain wrong.
To make themselves feel comfortable and confident, top competitors in many different sports utilize a personalized pre-race (or pre-game) routine to help them perform at their best. Routines are not the same as rituals, a routine is a structured plan designed to help you reach your optimum performance while a ritual relies on superstition to control your performance (things like not washing your “lucky” socks or stepping on a crack). In other words a routine helps you take control of your performance while rituals assume fate (not you) will control your ride/race. This was originally written for a downhill mtb team I coached but works equally well for all mountain bike riding and xc racing. A big key goal is to eliminate thoughts that will distract you and put youself in the poper mind state to ride with confidence! I have added a night before the ride/race routine to eliminate most causes of worry and allow you to get some sleep. Your pre-race routine should make you comfortable in strange/new surroundings, build your confidence, eliminate stress, and prepare you to do your best. I have listed many common practices to get you started but you must experiment and find out what works best for you. Use this as a rough outline adding what works and getting rid of what doesn’t through experimentation. A well thought out routine will make you confident at the start while your competition worries about their run and wonders why you are so confident.
