There is an obscene amount of money spent on bicycles, bicycle equipment, training aids, clothing and other related paraphernalia every year, and while most of it probably proves at least pleasurable to the splasher outer, it almost certainly doesn’t make them a better cyclist. As touched upon in a previous post, there are very few cycling experiences more popular that hammering past a fully paid up member of MAMIL.CC on one’s old boneshaker. Similarly, a trail centre day out on an ageing fully rigid mountain bike (perhaps a Pace R200, replete with bendy, purple anodised cantis and a Girvin Flexstem) spent systematically overtaking Lapierre Zestys and their podgy owners would be just magic.

Yes, fancy kit is nice, but riding your bike better is nicer, and that’s what we all should be working on. Well, except Chris Akrigg and Mark Cavendish who are getting on just fine as they are.

There are various elements involved in such a plan. The first is bike fit. I’ve been riding around on road bikes for 15 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been sitting in exactly the right place. Well, until last Wednesday…

Adrian Timmis runs Cadence Sport from his house in Barton-under-Needwood. Adrian (pictured below) has pretty much done everything in cycling – finished the Tour, ridden the Olympics, road, track, cyclocross and mountain biking, all at national level. A pretty impressive CV I think you’ll agree. His bike fit service is very popular by all accounts, and very reasonable value. For £100 you get a pair of custom footbeds and a big enough chunk of Adrian’s time to ensure that you and your bike end up in a mutually efficient and comfortable position.

My own position had been the result of various adjustments over time, and whilst sometimes an element of it felt better, it was never quite right. Most friends who have had fittings done have ended up with their saddles much higher than before. My saddle was actually about 25mm too high, and too far forward on a zero layback post. As such, my legs were overextending, I wasn’t getting much help from either glutes or calves, and generally I wasn’t doing myself a lot of favours. Over a couple of hours Adrian adjusted cleat position, cleat float, saddle height, saddle setback, stem length, bar angle and hood position. By the end of it, I was in a better position power-wise, with much less pressure on my wrists and generally a lot more comfortable. I wish I’d done something similar years ago, and I would recommend his services to anyone. I would also go so far as to say that the purchase of a fancy new bike would be a total waste of money until you know for sure what position you need to be in. If I’d based my English on my old position and then found all this out later I’d probably go beserk…

As far as mountain biking is concerned, I am going to experiment with a slightly less extreme but similar seat position on my Whyte 19, and then tweak it from there. I think for a more trail / AM position on a full-suspension bike there are other things that come into play, especially a stable position for descending, so I will probably work on the setup for that bike as and when.

However, what I am going to get some help with is my technique. There are countless mountain bikers (myself included) who are convinced that they know what they’re doing, and are happy to attack rough rocky and root-infested trails at high speed without a care in the world. It sometimes works, but usually in spite of technique rather than because of it. However, when I see someone who is gifted with truly impressive technical skills, a little voice starts telling me that maybe it’s time to seek out some instruction. The two things that I tried to work on last year were jumping and fast flat cornering, and I think I will revisit them this year.

As far as jumping is concerned, I most recently put my money where my mouth is and called in the help of Tom Dowie (pictured above). Tom is a 4X racer and rider most frequently to be found at Chicksands. I spent a day up there last July for a session of private coaching. Chicksands is a fantastic venue, and there are plenty of jumps, drops and trails which make it ideal for learning and progressing new techniques. My own jumping ability was largely the result of the application of various experimental techniques that, over the years, have caused lots of crashes, a few broken bones and, very infrequently, the intended result. A common problem of mine is basically a catalogue of bad technique – approach fast, brake too late, absorb rather than pump the run-in, pull up jerkily on take off, and then land in the worst possible place. Often hooked up on the front side of the landing.

Tom’s instruction rapidly erased such behaviour, instead concentrating on a controlled run in, with a pump to gather momentum, followed by a smooth controlled take off (with no yanking on the bars), a balanced position in the air and then a soft landing. The particular jump he chose was also being ridden from time to time by a couple of blokes on DH bikes – at first my efforts looked pretty pathetic in comparison – but after an hour or so I was flying ever further and by the end of the day me and my lil’ hardtail weren’t giving anything away. The application of the technique learned on that jump was a little trickier to master in the context of a more complicated situation – the 4x course for example, or a loose off-camber bend just before the take off. But I did take away a lot of useful stuff that I want to build on this year. Tom – I will be back for more!

I remember seeing a rider at some local trails last summer who effortlessly pumped the terrain on a flowy section of singletrack, achieving an amazing turn of speed without pedalling. It’s skills like these, along with a re-evaluation of cornering technique that I also want to work on in 2011. Astounding Adventures offer various skills courses in the Surrey Hills which I think I’m going to try out. Also, I am hoping to venture further north for some instruction from Ed Oxley @ Great Rock (pic below, courtesy of Henry Iddon) – guardian of the most impressive beard in mountain biking. Ed has a reputation as one of the most patient and thoughtful mountain bike skills guru in the business, and also organises coaching sessions with all round bike legend Nigel Page.

If these guys can’t get me riding a little faster and harder and steeper and flying higher and further with a bit more style then there’s no hope for me at all…

(Of course, coaching for road riding is another big subject, and one that I will probably return to before long. As Tom Copeland pointed out on his blog the other day, most road riders who make a point of spending cash on fancy frames and components to shed weight and increase stiffness (either on the bike or when they’re admiring it locked away in their garage) would be far better off spending a fraction of that amount on a coach who would help them lose weight, get fitter and massively increase their SYKE (sic). I do think this is a route worth taking, especially if you have some specific goals. Personally, I have a number of things I want to achieve on the bikes this year, and they’re not exactly run-of-the-mill – how about enduro mountain biking, short distance time trialling and L’Eroica (pictured below)? Anyone up for the Eroica by the way? Furthermore, I’ve also managed to train (for the first time in my life) in a pretty dedicated and organised fashion for the last 6 months, and it would be nice to see how this year works out, so that the comparison with a coached year in the future might make more sense.)

Chris Akrigg
Cadence Sport
Tom Dowie
Chicksands
Astounding Adventures
Ed Oxley @ Great Rock
Henry Iddon
Tom Copeland
L’Eroica

Well, I got nowhere near the Rapha Festive 500. Many congratulations to all of those who braved wind, rain and snow to log the miles. I reckon my own festive kms totalled a measly 150. They were not entirely uneventful though, with copious refreshment on this first (thanks to brimming hipflask and a welcome Shepherd Neame stop at the halfway point), ice and masochism on the second (not to mention a back wheel that flew out halfway up Doleham Hill), and multiple puncturing on the third. Our Christmas plans precluded any more time on the bike than that, and a bloody good time was had by all, etc.

Anyhow, 2011 is here and it’s looking good so far. Multiple bike projects – the English, the Lo-Pro, a new trail bike hopefully, something tougher for the big mountains too. La Marmotte, biking in Verbier, biking on Snowdon, biking all over the place. Lots of food projects (hopefully), a bit of vintage car rallying along the way. Oh, and a baby arriving in April. Fingers crossed…

And I leave you with the news that the infamous Serbian warlord and tiger breeder Arkan is apparently not dead, and instead now living under an assumed name in Crundale, Kent.