Mountain biking is a sport that demands application of a wide range of skills that is unique and unlike any other sport.

In my experience teaching and learning to teach mountain bike (MTB) riders, I have discovered a few key insights. Although fitness levels and other factors like age, dexterity, and even the quality of equipment may vary, there is something crucial that stands out. Having frameworks to organise one’s approach to riding more skillfully can greatly accelerate the learning process. This, in turn, leads to significant improvement.

Having been taught to instruct according to the syllabus of the Professional Mountain Bike Instructors Association (PMBIA), I find myself employing the following coaching frameworks. These frameworks are not only useful for work but also contribute to my own personal development as a rider and occasional racer. ‘Frameworks’ are figurative structures that help organise the assessment of a rider’s ability, with the intent of helping them understand what they are facing with more clarity and objectivity.

The truth is, everyone—from novices to professional athletes—can benefit from working on their skills using frameworks in a systematic and purposeful manner. It’s more effective than being haphazard or resorting to a ‘trial by error’ approach. Here are a few of these frameworks that have served me well.

Minimising Terrain to Maximise Skill

For instance, it might mean developing great technique for riding berms on some gently banked turns, rather than on steep and deep ‘bowl’ berms. Novice riders I teach sometimes never leave the parking lot or the basketball court during a focused skills lesson. Likewise, advanced and expert riders may find themselves riding mostly blue-rated trails to hone the skills necessary for the double-black diamond features they have set their sights on.

Practice on an ‘easy’ feature or section of trail to the point that the technique becomes dialled and you can do the ‘3Cs’ (see below). Avoid simply trying to survive a gnarly section; seek to thrive instead on an easier version of that section and enjoy better learning outcomes.

The bottom line is: if you are acquiring a new skill and need a ‘safe space’ to develop and experiment with it, then you most definitely want an easier trail or smaller feature to do all that on. Save the hardest terrain for later, when you apply what you have already dialled on the easier stuff.

The ‘3 Cs’: Correct, Consistent, and Comfortable

When a rider applies a skill to a feature or section of trail, observe whether they exhibit the following three things: being ‘Correct’ (in deploying said skill), being ‘Consistent’ at it, and being ‘Comfortable’ while doing so.

The debate about what constitutes a ‘correct’ way of doing something can be summed up as comparing the advantage vs. disadvantages (or, pros vs. cons) of one method over another. For instance, it is neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’ to be using only the rear brake on steep descents so much as it is realising that the number of advantages in using both brakes far outweigh the low advantage count AND high disadvantage count afforded by the former method.

Now that we’ve cleared up the definition of ‘Correct’, being consistent at a riding skill indicates the rider will likely be able to perform said skill on-demand, possibly on another similar trail feature or section. When a rider happens to ‘clear’ a feature they are learning, it often pays to revisit the same feature for an immediate re-attempt to ‘double-confirm’ that they know what they are doing. ‘Triple- and quadruple-confirms’ are even better. This is why clocking mileage on a single feature is crucial. It helps square away a skill before moving on to other, possibly more challenging, features.

Layering the rider’s comfort—or ease in performing the skill—on top of that consistency, and it becomes even easier to predict a successful outcome for them. How (un)comfortable one feels when facing a challenge on the trail absolutely falls under the concept of athletic performance suffering from ‘mental blocks’, and should never be disregarded. If someone would be more comfortable riding on a mellower version of a feature, then that’s the level they should be practicing on first, rather than trying to do too much too soon on too intimidating a feature.

The ‘3 Ss’: Size, Shape, and Speed

Digging deeper into what constitutes trail features, this framework refers to the size and shape of a feature, and the speed at which it should be ridden. This is an invaluable tool that can be applied to anything on the trail you might be learning to ride on, through, around, or over. The classic cases where this is particularly applicable are drops and jumps.

The bigger the size of a feature, the more challenging it usually is. There are some exceptions to this rule, of course: a small jump with a ramp (the takeoff portion of the jump which points uphill) length less than a bike’s wheelbase is possibly harder to develop jumping technique on than a jump with a much longer ramp. A learner rider needs a jump with dimensions big enough such that they have enough time and space to acquire the required timing and coordination of proper jumping technique.

Sticking to the example of jumps, we can observe that the shape of a jump will dictate the technique used to successfully clear it. Some are ‘straight shots’ with takeoffs that launch you straight ahead, while others have more concavity to them, and therefore ‘kick’ with a larger vertical component. Others may have gradual or sharp transitions (where the flat portion of the approach joins the ramp), and still others may have gradual or sharp lips (the end of the ramp) or knuckles (the start of the receiver or landing, which usually angles downhill). Clearly, breaking down the anatomy of a jump—or any trail feature for that matter—with reference to their size and shape is worthy of a whole article by itself.

The variable which the rider can control, speed, must be applied safely and progressively. For sure, there will be some features where the minimum safe speed to clear it may be out of reach of a learning rider due to their lack of confidence with higher speeds… but it does not mean the rider is stuck in their learning. It means applying tactics that work the problem gradually. For instance: the rider could take some dry runs on the approach to a key feature to get a feel of what it feels like before going for a full attempt; they could be ‘towed in’ by a more experienced rider or an instructor, matching their speed into the key feature; or they could choose a version of the feature which is smaller in size or less aggressive in its shape to build more confidence (one of the 3 Cs, see above) before revisiting the key feature.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

This concept deals with the management of energy levels during a ride. Specifically, it applies to rides where a high demand is placed on the riders’ skills. If the purpose of the ride is to drive progression on challenging trails and trail features, the most progress will occur when the riders’ energy levels are optimised. That is to say, typically NOT at the beginning of the ride and NOT at the tail end of the ride.

Warming up to begin a ride is essential, even though physical energy levels may be at their highest. Establishing movement patterns for muscles and joints; getting accustomed to the dirt, the weather and environmental conditions; ensuring that the bikes and their components are working as intended; and raising one’s mental focus and clarity up and out of the ‘head fog’ that is common at the start of rides. That means starting off with lower speeds overall, completing easier trails first, and scoping out or scouting challenging features prior to hitting them.

As the ride progresses, you may encounter faster speeds, more challenging trails, and more complex or demanding features as your body and mind reach their peak performance potential. From a physical standpoint, this peak can usually be sustained with proper, continuous hydration and nutrition.

However, as time progresses and the ride reaches its closing stages, one must pay heed to physical and mental energy levels inevitably tapering down. A classic example of this is during a lesson covering technical climbs. Student riders doing multiple repeats of climbs have a finite amount of energy, and they will eventually run out of ‘climbing legs’. Add to that the mental energy expenditure needed to absorb the lesson content AND apply to tackling climbs… and I now have a lesson to conduct against the clock. Having riders who are too tired to climb simply means they are carrying too much fatigue to nail the most demanding climbs with the best version of their skills when they have reached the bottom of their energy bucket. Optimal learning on the most demanding variations of a skill can take place only within a relatively short time span. To close this example: apart from the warm-up phase prior, any time after this time span is better spent doing less demanding climbs or just going for a trail ride to finish up.

In Summary, It All Comes Back to Safety

The above frameworks are effective tools for coaching or self-learning because they are constructed with safety in mind. They form the basis for which any kind of mountain bike ride can be planned – regardless of discipline, bike type, terrain, or the ability level of the participants. I firmly believe that having an instructor’s eye for the details outlined in these frameworks can turn an average ride into a good ride, and a good ride into a great ride. This approach to riding is not something I do all the time or with everyone I ride with, but when progression is the objective of the ride, I find myself applying these frameworks to enhance my experience as well as the experience of others.