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Increase your speed tolerance

Intimidated by going fast? Here’s how to get comfortable with higher velocities

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Speed tolerance is your ability to use the speed you have or can generate. Mountain bikers must handle going fast over bumpy terrain and around corners. Road cyclists deal with speed in groups, over bumpy streets and on curvy mountain roads. There are several common limits to your speed tolerance that you can address to boost your velocity without generating more watts.

Start with the foundation

I start almost every session I do in a parking lot or field playing with track stands and stoppies (using the front brake to go up onto the front wheel). With track stands, we play with the ability to engage the brakes and come to a stop with control. With the stoppie, I can see if the rider is able to use the front brake to un-weight the rear wheel and stop dead using the brake and body position. Both of these slow-speed drills give me an idea of whether the rider can maintain a centred standing position and use the brakes well. Position and braking are vital to your ability to stay safe and ride smoothly, regardless of the type of riding you do.

Speed for mountain bikers

With mountain bikers on the trail, I often see riders staying under a certain “terminal velocity:” not pedalling as hard as they could on high-speed sections and likely over braking on descents. When riders aren’t comfortable reacting to corners and obstacles, they need to reduce speed to stay safe. Working on foundational skills in a field or bike-park setting goes a long way to address your ability to react to corners and obstacles, and will increase speed tolerance. Some of the more common errors I see a rider make are pushing the hips behind the saddle and/or squeezing the saddle with the legs as a default position, rather than staying centred. When you are offcentre, you really reduce your ability to react to corners and obstacles by letting the bike move under you.

A common error that leads to over-braking is using multiple fingers, rather than one finger on each brake lever. On a flat section, I often get riders, who have mastered the track stand and stoppie, to practise taking their finger off the front brake and focus on staying centred while flowing through the section without any abrupt stops or skids. On downhills, think about braking periodically to bring the speed into your comfort area, especially before corners or obstacles. Let the wheels roll freely over obstacles and corners, rather than dragging the brakes down the whole descent. A rolling wheel will smooth a bumpy trail and maintain traction much better than one that has braking forces slowing it. To work on this skill, repeat a section of trail multiple times to try different positions and strategies through corners and over obstacles.

Speed for road cyclists

In a group, riders can lose energy if they can’t ride in the most aerodynamic spots. If you are uncomfortable because of your braking skills or your ability to manoeuvre the bike quickly, practise some of the same skills I recommend for mountain bikers. Also, try the classic cone slalom and bunny hopping. One quick way to boost your tolerance in a group includes looking farther ahead down the road, as opposed to that wheel in front of you. Keeping your eyes farther ahead lets you adjust to changes in pace, line choice or direction sooner using your well practised cornering, bunny-hopping and braking skills.

Cornering on the road gets tougher the faster you go. Once again, looking where you want to go is advice that almost always helps. On most road corners you should drop your outside foot to shift your weight over the tires for maximum traction. Applying pressure to the handlebar drops also helps give more traction for cornering aggressively. Just like on the mountain bike, avoid hanging your butt behind the saddle as that takes away from the traction on the front wheel.

To learn to stay off the brakes, it can be helpful to sit up and be less aerodynamic so you can enter the turn a bit slower without braking. This strategy lets you focus on the cornering mechanics and experience the feeling of accelerating around the corner. As you gain more comfort, you can gradually be more aerodynamic or pedal harder before a turn. Once you have the basics covered, try following a friend through a corner. This exercise can shift your focus externally, holding the wheel and going around corner, from a more internal focus on your body’s position.