I really don’t want to agree with him 😉 but GW has it

GW – Member

do/can you ride with anyone faster to help you/let you follow them/their lines.

Just riding with someone a little faster will mean you get pulled along trying to keep up and probably won’t even notice that your going quicker.

Find some trails with nothing solid on the outside of the bends so crashing will give you minimum pain and will yourself to lay off the brakes. Get used to feeling your wheels starting to drift and learn to be comfortable with that. Learn to look for and aim your wheels at any berms or the outside edge of the trail, anything that will give you extra support mid corner.

Having the will power to lay off the brakes is the hardest bit.

The correct place is where I look naturally

swoon.

Some great advice on here.

My rule is that you will go faster if you slow down less (stay with me…!). That equates to smoothness. And smoothness comes from the following (as examples):

Looking ahead changes your perception of speed. If you look down things will appear fast so your mind will react to that perceived speed e.g. you will touch the brakes. If you look up things will appear slower so you will brake less. This is on top of the benefits of reading the trail and setting the bike up for what’s next.

Everyone can just muller it flat out but its the corners and choice of lines when things aren’t just a smooth straight path that will give you speed overall. In addition position on the bike (e.g. pedal position and weight distribution) and inputs (e.g. leaning the bike, pumping, bunnyhopping, manualling) all help keep the bike at speed.

There is a certain amount of sense in the death grip mentality too. There’s a great vid on youtube about how to get faster. The guy very convincingly just tells you to resist the temptation to brake and see what happens. It really works.

Another top tip is to stay off the punter line and go where the speed is.

Take spooky wood at Glentress for example (I know… trail centre and all that but bear with me), through all the fast berms and stuff there is a smooth line right down the middle… this is the punter line. The fast line is up high on the berms where all the rocks and rubbish make it look unsmooth, but it’s actually grippy up there and the banking on the corner allows you to carry more speed through. Take this to other terrain and start looking past the punter line and see where the speed can be held, but as above, you have to be looking and thinking ahead to spot these lines because if your looking at your front wheel you’ll miss them.

Always look where you want to go and not where your scared to go… target fixation… see that big rock/tree… if you stare it you will hit it.

Above courtesy of Dirt School skills course 😉

I don’t think Juan’s problem is where he’s looking. In fact, I’m sure its not.
I think he’s just got a mental block where he’s going bloody fast and his brain is telling him to slow down. That’s why he needs to talk to downhillers, to find out the mental attitude needed to trust his riding skills and let himself go faster.

Or maybe he’s just getting old, that does the same thing 😉

Like Lopes say’s in his book: ‘Get smooth before you get fast’. A while back I gave up trying to go fast and now I’m riding a lot faster.

Wax on wax off.

Probably a stupid question, but when was the last time you had your eyesight checked? Mate of mine gradually got worse technically for no apparent reason and after a routine medical he found his eyesight had deteriorated to the point where he needed glasses! He ended up buying a decent set of prescription ‘sports’ glasses and has much more confidence

This has been a good thread. 🙂

Think there is not a lot to add here but I will emphasie 2 points already made

Focus on smoothness, and think about the basic techniques. Speed will come.

Look as far ahead as you can.

The only other point I would add is go a little faster than you are comfortable with for certain sections. Slowly that ‘comfort’ speed will increase