Skills and Tips #2

Basics Of Better Balance
Get your balance into top form.

Think of the most challenging part of your favorite trail, something you'd describe as technical, sketchy or loose. Now think about tackling that same section confidently--and making it look easy. You can. The skill you need to work on? Balance.

Balance is at the heart of everything you do when you ride (short of crashing, that is). Unfortunately, many of us haven't focused on improving our balance since the day we ditched our training wheels. And our riding suffers because of it.

"When your balance is in top form, you're more comfortable on the bike, which improves your efficiency," says expert. "It makes everything else easier and more enjoyable."

Fortunately, building better balance is something that's best done on the bike. Set time aside on each ride to practice the following exercises from Golich to boost your stability big time.

The Warm-UpAt the start of each ride, take a few minutes to move around the cockpit: Get your weight back as far as you can, above the rear wheel, then move your weight forward, then to the sides, then low on the bike. By exploring these extremes in a controlled setting, you'll be more comfortable with them in the heat of the moment.

Slow RideRide as slowly as you possibly can--get right to that "I'm going to topple over" point and focus on moving around to stay upright. When you're comfortable with this, pick a line (a piece of curbing in the parking lot, a log or board on the trail) and ride along it, as slowly as possible. Then do it again, and go even slower.

Stand StillWhen you stop on the trail (to wait for your buddies, take a breather, etc.), don't put a foot down. Instead, practice your trackstand--stay upright and still, keeping pressure on the pedals with the brakes applied to control movement. Hint: All of these drills are easier with flat pedals.