How To Ride Any New Trail Faster

Riding new trails can often feel daunting compared to those local laps. Yes, Ferg. We've all been there. You head to a bike park for the very first time, but the new laps that you do can be a bit scary, a bit slow sometimes. In today's video, Rich and I are going to run through our top three tips on how to ride any new trail faster. The biggest issue with new trails is the unknown. Unknown trail conditions, but also unknown features. This can lead to overly cautious riding and also overbraking causing you to ride slower. Irrespective of pace, the tips in this video should allow you to ride with more confidence and in turn, a little bit more pace regardless of the trail you're riding. Now, Rich, you and I both raced the EWS where we allowed just one practice run before we raced. Yes, wild times. Now, when it came to doing those practice laps, if you like, it was crucial to focus on getting up to speed, being comfortable and confident with the runs you were doing when it came to race time. I had three key pointers which I always used to use down any trail, which allowed me to hit any trail with confidence and also faster. Yes, so today we are here in Bike Park Wales where we're going to ride some existing trails. I'm going to ride a new trail for me and implement those three things. Right, so our first top tip is what we like to call heads-up riding. It's looking ahead at where you're going. Sounds simple, right? A little bit more to it than that, I promise. Now, if we're looking right down at our front wheel, right down at the ground, we're not able to see the trail and process what's coming up. You want to try and look as far ahead as possible given the speed you're going. Now, this will adapt over time. If you are going faster, you'll look further ahead. If you're going a little bit slower, you'll look slightly more in front of you. It also changes depending upon the type of track that you're running or riding, I should say. If we've got this big, long, fairly open track that we have behind us, you're going to end up looking further because the speed is going to be higher. Because the speed is higher, you're hitting things quicker. They're coming at you quicker. That further distance, if you like, gives you more time to process all the different obstacles coming at you. However, if the trail gets a little bit more technical or multiple line choice constantly or rocks and roots and a loose surface, much like we do have here at Bike Park Wales, then you're going to focus more so maybe two, three, four bike lengths ahead as opposed to six, seven, eight. That way, you're assessing the ground. You're looking at the lines, not just the line that you're on, but you're looking at where you need to be for the next line ahead. Without consciously knowing it, subconsciously, you're processing all of that information to make, hopefully, the right choices of where you need to go, what your body needs to do, what your bike needs to do, and really just tackle the trail as best as possible. Keeping that head up and obviously those eyes up also encourages you to keep your body fairly centralized. Now, when the trail does get going, this is obviously really beneficial because it allows you to move around and about the bike much more simpler and keep that weight driven down through the bike for grip as well. Anyway, what about another tip? Well, for that, over to you, Ferg. Having a good posture and maintaining a good body position is the key to going fast. When people ride trails for the first time, they have a tendency to ride a little bit stiff, you straighten your arms. By having a more active body position and keeping those arms nice and bent, you're ready to take on new obstacles you don't know about and the body is just more prepared for what's coming up. Keeping a strong and active body position with good bend in your arms and a little bit of bend in your legs just allows you to be super active and ready to react to whatever the trail might throw at you. When riding new trails, keeping relaxed is easier said than done, but keeping your legs and arms mobile allows you to be a lot more dynamic in your reactions to different trail inputs. This is particularly important if trail conditions are slippery as you can react to even the most sudden movements the bike makes. Be sure to keep your elbows out with a small bend in your knees to keep everything engaged. Another key to body position is dropping our heels. Now, the way I like to think about it is trying to straighten my leg. This helps to drive your heels down and drive the bike down into the ground. This gives us a super stable basis with which to hinge our hips, keeping the weight off of our arms and allowing us to react to the trail faster and steer quicker. Rich, I've got something special for you. We're here at Le Bum Sang, a trail you've not ridden and we've got some pretty spicy conditions to go with it. I've avoided it so far, I know. I'm looking forward to this, Ferg, because this is obviously line choice. This is something I've never ridden, so it's like looking at it with fresh eyes. Should we get on down? Yes, let's do it. All right. Line choice has become a buzzword amongst many World Cup races with many of the teams now having line spotters on course, but it can be super helpful when we're riding a trail for the first time. Yes. Now, obviously, we're not going to have line spotters when we do go somewhere new, but it's really easy to get really focused on the main line. You're almost hyper-focused, especially if you are riding a trail for the first time. Actually, if we touch on that looking up that we spoke about earlier on in the video, you then start to notice all these little peel-offs or straight lines or opening up turns. We've got a great section for it just here. Then this segment ahead of me, well, it's got multiple lines to it and multiple corners. There are some that are faster and then, well, there are some that are smoother. Isn't that right, Ferg? Yes. We have the main line that Rich is on. You can come in faster, but on the exit, you have to do quite a bit of braking and it's just not really the most ideal line. However, if you'd use the heads up, you could see that you can come in wider, straighten the track, and carry more exit speed down the trail. What that's going to do then is, in turn, give you more speed and set up time and the ability to focus on the features coming up. Right now, Ferg, we're at the next section. It's a really long section actually. The nuances between line choice coming in are very subtle, but they are there nonetheless. Actually, on the exit or longer through the section is where there's a much bigger difference, right? Yes. If you came in on the main line, you'd be naturally drawn down this right-hand side, which on the surface looks great, but as you can see down the end, it just goes into a big left-hander and just kills all your speed. It's just so horrible. If you use the heads up and the active body position, you could come in, open up this turn, and you could see that this left line is available. It really is much easier once you get onto it. You can just be off the brakes and straight all the way through down the trail. It is worth noting though sometimes that the faster line is sometimes definitely the harder line, right? Because the level of risk involved of cutting it tight off camber to the street, especially over the roots, so it's more of a marginal gain sometimes. Especially on today's conditions, it's definitely slick. It's definitely worth considering as you come down making a judgment call, especially on skill level as to which line you choose. There you have it, guys. Three top tips on how to ride any new trail faster. Don't forget, you can practice those tips on any trail almost any time and even with your friends, but did we leave anything out? Let us know in the comments down below. Don't forget, a like and subscribe goes a long way. We do love to hear from you. Thanks for watching. From myself and Ferg, we'll see you later.