 Mountain Biking is Great for the Road Racer
Sean Burke
2003-12-26
I had not been on a mountain bike ride in several months, but had a great dirt ride yesterday. While riding I began to remember what great training a mountain bike ride can be for a road rider. Has your training program ever called for what some coaches call “muscle tension intervals” or others might call a “force workout”? Whatever you want to call it, the workout involves pedaling uphill at a slow steady cadence. On most mountain bike rides this type of riding is required by the terrain. What about hill sprints or jumps? Has your training plan ever called for these? Sprinting out of corners on a nice piece of single track or up over a small hills forces you into doing this kind of workout without even thinking about it. That doesn’t even address the fact that the handling skills that mountain biking gives are invaluable as a road racer. I have noticed that good singletrack riders often excel in technical criterium races. That is because they have excellent handling skills, and are very good at accelerating out of those corners again and again.
Of course they same can be said for road riding being helpful for
mountain bikers. Almost every expert or higher level mountain
biker I know, and every one I coach does the bulk of their training
on the road. It's the best way to get in a good workout
without beating yourself up day after day.
So next time you head out to the garage to grab a bike, give that mountain bike a second thought. It’ll be good for
ya.
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