and by the way, what is the Ironman Florida of Xterra races (in terms of how technical the course is)...?

it is hard to tell from your post, are you wanting to race xterra, or something longer?

for skill and fitness improvement on a mountain bike: get mountain bike, open door, ride out to trails, ride on trails til you get tired or smile. repeat many times.

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Where would you want to swim ?

I race both xterra and road tris (this summer 4 xterra, and just did half im this weekend). I normally ride 4 days a week, try to split it even between road and trail. Some weeks one is more than the other. I'm not an expert mtb rider (only been riding 15 months), but I love it. Every off road tri I work very hard on at least one skill. ANd I ride with other people who are decent riders, and we help push each other to try things we wouldn't normally try. I also try to take advantage of my mtb rides because its hilly where I llive, and I can get lots of anaerobic training, from the hills, and the accelerations out of corners. I still have a lot to learn, but off road is my favorite.

The IM FLorida of xterra? Are you talking about the regional championships? or just any old xterra? in the US, europe? I've only done 6 different xterra courses so far, and I would not rate any of them as technically difficult. A couple had one or two things that I had to walk, but that's not a bad thing. Most of the races I've done, I've ridden cleanly.

Cheryl

(When not injured) I would ride 4 days per week like this:
- Hard trainer ride 1:30hrs
- MTB Skills 1:30hrs...riding as technical of trails I as could handle. More about improving my riding skills...practicing lines, jumping, downhill, etc. Add in hills and you get intervals.
- MTB long ride 2:00 - 2:30hrs...riding on dirt fire roads, so nothing technical but you still get the feel of the bike on different surfaces.
- Road long ride 3:00 - 4:00hrs

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

Not even sure there is anything not too technical around here. All I've done was piled with cactus, rocks etc...really hard...going up is always fine, even when technical...descending on the other hand...total nightmare...

As for the Xterra comment...it was to say: an xterra race (whatever distance), that is not too technical...even easy...in the US.

I completely suck on a mountain bike. I did the Xterra Snow Valley a year ago and it wasn't considered "technical", though it was as technical as I could handle with my non-existent skills!
Snow Valley Xterra Race Report

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

an xterra race (whatever distance), that is not too technical...even easy...

Not too technical you may find, but I don't think there is any such thing as an easy Xterra.

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Awww, Katy's not all THAT evil. Only slightly evil. In a good way. - JasoninHalifax

easy compared to rocks and cactus everywhere...

Francois,
I race both Ironman and 24-Hour MTB events.

At the most basic level, you can divide MTB rides into two types; technique (usually less than 2 hours in duration entirely on single track) and fitness (longer duration with less technical riding/fire access roads).

The greatest challenge on the MTB is that it's harder to maintain a steady HR. However, you'll find that your power/pedaling efficiency will be tested and the immediate feedback (wheel spinning, etc.) can generally help you with both (valuable on the road).

There is a great training article by Karl Etzel at http://www.ride424.com if you want to see some good data on his long-MTB training.

PM me if you want to discuss specifics.

Don't worry...The technique stuff will improve quickly.

Cheers,
Puskas

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http://wattieink.com/elite-team/
Raising funds to help wounded veterans and racing RAAM 2013 with http://team4mil.org/
"If you are gonna charge... CHARGE HARD!"

Skillz for a MTB are easy. You can do them without doing a ride, so after your intervals or whatever, it's the skill you are working on not the pedaling or whatever else power etc.
Get on the bike, and do everything on it, ride everywhere, jump curbs, ride down stairs, up stairs, jump limbs, do figure 8's as tight as you can, ride from inside your house to outside, around the block on the curbs, pull wheelies, and get a general feel for the bike....if you do all this stuff you will no doubt be able to get a feel for what you and your bike can do on the trails(which wouldn't hurt you to go ride and practice your new skills either).
Hope this helps-wink

First, make sure you get the suspension and tire pressure set up correctly. This will take some trial and error, but ultimately make riding a lot more fun. At your size, running UST, you should be running no more than 25-27psi.

Second, rocky terrain just sucks, but the more you ride it, the easier it will get and when you do race an Xterra it'll seem like paved roads.

One last thing, sometimes going faster is easier...I pre-rode the Xterra Deuces Wild course at a comfortable pace and I was miserable. There were a lot of overgrown sections, tons of rocks, etc. On race day, when going faster, all the rocks seemed smaller and easier to roll over.

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

Nailed it!

Yes, do this.

OK...only adults over 20 can answer here...no advice from BMX teens. :P

 I would love to do some MTB and an Xterra race. However the idea to drive to ride does not appeal to me @ all!

Fred.

I guess you've run out of the old, ordinary ways to hurt yerself? ;-)

Mtb'ing is just good (not so) clean fun. Just do it.

The best advice is the classic from The Cannibal - "ride lots".


Find some experienced riders to hang with, and then try to hang with them.
You certainly have the fitness, and you will get the skills quickly enough, just by trying to keep up.
Stuff that looks impossible to get clean, will in due time be something you don't even think twice about, you'll just cruise it, and smile the whole way.

Your bike wants to ride over and thru all that stuff. You just have to keep out of it's way, and let it.


Do lotsa climbing. If you can ride up it, you can ride down it.
And vice versa.

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float , hammer , and jog

Can't wait to see these responses. I did the same thing. Should be an interesting off season. I went out for the first time on MTB on some tacky to muddy trails and it was a real eye opener on handling and balance skills. No problems on the road, but trails are whole other ball of wax.

Frenchy,
My cousin, David's son, Elliott (I think that's his name) is some kind of a 2nd tier pro mtn biker. See if you can connect with him. I'll send you my cousin's email.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Okay Francois, I just spent two years in Arizona, so I know all about rocks and cacti, and crashing into said rocks and cacti, so I think I can speak with some experience. I also know all about working on skills for the over-20s! It was when trying to learn to wheelie at the age of 30 that I started rueing not having mispent my youth trying to do these things...

Some of the advice given by others here can work well; it can also be disastrous. For instance, trying to encourage a technically-inept rider to keep up with faster, skilled riders over technical terrain is a recipe for crashes since the faster riders are doing things subconciously that the inept rider has yet to understand. Additionally, what's the point in riding more unless you can learn from your mistakes? So, my advice:

a) You're in the desert, so wear full-fingered gloves.

b) You're in the desert, so run Stans in your tubeless tyres. With all the punctures from cactus thorns and pinch-flats from rocks, this is a must for an enjoyable experience.

c) Perhaps consider wearing some knee/shin protection and maybe elbow protection; cuts, bruises and grazes are an inconvenience that can be avoided. Also, the protection can help with confidence. Confidence makes you more relaxed, and being relaxed is critical for navigating technical terrain.

d) Purchase "Mastering Mountain Bike Skills" by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack. Read, digest, practise. This is by far the best text out there.

e) Rather than trying to keep up with experts, try to find an expert who can help you; not so easy to find, but would you encourage a novice swimmer just to try to keep up with elites, or send them to a coach to explain how to swim better?

f) Treat it experimentally; if things go wrong, try to work out why. Take things slowly and build your skills in your own time. However, also test your limits regularly. See if you can watch people riding things that you think are unrideable.

g) On technical descents, the most important thing is to keep the front wheel rolling. That means laying off the front brake in rocks, and having a certain minimum speed. So brake on the smooth parts, let go on the rough parts. Learn to lift the front wheel up/over rocks. If the front wheel keeps rolling, the bike, and you, should make it through. I cannot emphasise this enough!

h) General body position should be fairly upright with elbows bent out to the sides, allowing the bike to move around under you. Do not try to ride in your road bike position (sounds obvious, but a mistake I made for many years). The Mojo geometry should help with this.

i) Weight placement: forward on climbs, back on descents. On flat, twisty singletrack press forwards into the bars on the bends to help keep front wheel traction. You and the bike should be moving around all the time, dynamically.

j) Relax. Easier said than done; should come with time. Learn to let the bike move around under you.
k) You've got a great bike, but if the suspension is set up wrong it will be lousy. Find expert help/read up on set up, and experiment with shock pressures etc. Keep a log of set-up to help you hone in on the optimum.

l) Belief is everything.

There is of course more, but hopefully that will do for now...

Bonne idee Francois. It's great for getting injured and hampering your tri race schedule. We've 2 guys in the club right now with their arms in plaster due to VTTing on vacation.

Also recommend you try skiing, parachuting, free form rock climbing and discount bungee jumping.

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TriRaceBook.com
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Hawaii Qualification Analysis

From my experience MTBing in the swiss alps, the more technical the course, the less speed you have, the less risks of a serious injury too :-).
Go for the hard stuff !

The best is technical combined with "not very steep". Then you fear nothing.

In an effort to make sure something always happens, be it an injury, a crash, broken bones, etc...i bought a nice mountain bike (Ibis mojo, with sram exo and mavic slr...yes...considering my skills on a mountain bike, it's caviar for pigs...)...
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Nice bike, mon ami! I could post you a long PM now that I have plenty of time due to an injury sustained when changing from IM to Xterra ;-)

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

I race mtb Expert, TT's and Tri's and the mtb's hurt the most, plus the skills assist riding other bikes as you become more reliant on body movement. Getting the skills and avoiding crashes is all about longer trial rides with plenty of hydration and food (gel). I can confidently say that 90% of crashes on mtb are due to tiredness and momentary lack of concentration.....so eat up! Oh, the other 10% is combined other people and trying something STUPID.

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http://theworldthroumyeyes.tumblr.com/

[reply]Bonne idee Francois. It's great for getting injured and hampering your tri race schedule. We've 2 guys in the club right now with their arms in plaster due to VTTing on vacation.

Also recommend you try skiing, parachuting, free form rock climbing and discount bungee jumping.[/reply]

That's a good idea! I don't finish races anyway! Heck, this year, for several reasons I haven't even been able to start races! So MTBing (in English...although I got the VTTing) is a great idea to add more spice ;-)

Ha! be prepared for some good fun. And falls. Yes, lots of good spills.

The "technical" skills you will need to learn may vary a lot from one terrain to another. I learned/rode a lot of rocky/hilly over the winter, and thought I'd be prepared for racing. Then when I did Xterra Folsom in April, I found myself completely unprepared for the terrain there: Flat, SANDY and muddy. It was supposedly a "non-technical" race, but for me, the sand was unfamiliar and very mentally exhausting.

The hilly stuff will offer some anaerobic training, yes. On the flatter stuff, you will probably be going way slower than on your road bike, and might start thinking you're not getting your heart rate high enough (although you'll be learning technical skills). My understanding is that the good mountain bike racers maintain their fitness by doing a lot of road biking to supplement the mtb.