Master these skills, you are able to ride hardtail mountain bike faster!
1. Ride prone
When you ride, the biggest obstacle is wind resistance. Although there are many techniques to reduce oncoming wind resistance, the easiest way is to press your body down. Try pressing your body down as close to the handlebars as possible compared to sitting directly on the saddle, and you'll immediately feel the difference.
2. Listen to music
Safety factors aside, there are many studies that show that listening to fast-paced, uplifting music reduces your perceived fatigue. Music eliminates fatigue-related symptoms such as burning lungs, beating heart and lactic acid in the muscles, says sports psychology researcher Dr. Costas Karachosi. It can reduce our perception of fatigue by up to 10 percent."
You'll pedal faster and not even notice it yourself. If you can match the rhythm of your ride to the rhythm of your music, you'll be riding fast.
3. Ride with friends
You may think it's cheating, but riding with friends will improve your average speed. First of all, when friends ride together, they can share the work of breaking the wind, which is definitely much better than if you were to suffer the top wind from start to finish alone. Secondly, riding with friends will also encourage you to improve your riding and also help to exercise.
4. Pump up the tires
The right tire pressure will make the wheelset turn faster. Check the tire pressure before each ride, because temperature changes and slight air seepage may mean that the tires become soft, and this time you need to pump the tires, and look at the recommended tire pressure value on the sidewall of the tire before pumping. It is best to purchase a good portable mini pump that you can carry with you.
5. Reduce braking
Braking will slow you down and when you accelerate again, you need to spend more effort to pedal. Therefore, unnecessary braking will waste energy and power, so how can you improve it? First of all, don't tap the brakes too often, and don't brake out of habit when you are riding along a fast lane or downhill.
Always look around before braking, if the road is good, there are no obstacles and there is a straight line ahead, then there is no reason to slow down. The next place to improve your confidence is in cornering. Make sure to brake in a straight line before you start cornering so that you get a comfortable cornering speed.
6. Ride with a grip on the lower handlebar
If you are riding with the bottom handlebar, how often do you use it? There should not be many chances, right? However, riding with the bottom handlebar reduces air resistance and helps you build confidence when cornering and going downhill. When you ride with the bottom handlebar, you can reduce wind resistance by 20% compared to the top handlebar.
7. Standing
You may often see people who can effortlessly sit on their bikes at traffic lights to keep their balance and think they are showing off this superhuman ability. However, there are far more people who have this skill than these people who love to show off. While you're still figuring out how to ride a bike, they've been able to set up many bikes on their own and ride them super fast. Settlement does require diligent practice, but it is not recommended to do so on Monday morning rush hour in front of truck drivers.
8. Go out with the wind, go home with the wind
The wind can be your friend, or your enemy. A headwind can make riding feel like a struggle, no matter how much effort you put in, it can make you feel like the ride is slow. A tailwind makes you feel like a superhero because you can easily ride at top speed. So be sure to plan your route to effectively use the wind on your ride, so we usually travel with the wind on the way out and come back (when exhausted) with the wind on the way home.
9. Lose weight
If you want to ride a little faster, losing weight may be a good way to go. By losing weight, the speed is definitely faster with the same amount of power, and the lighter weight is also good for climbing because you need to overcome gravity to do less work. Likewise, you will have less air resistance in your ride after losing weight.
Of course, you do not have to diet significantly in order to lose weight, you just need to 3-4 times a day in the coffee without sugar, you can lose 0.5 pounds a month; more than half an hour a day to ride, a month, two months down you can lose 1 pound (1 pound ≈ 0.45kg).
10. Interval training
The fastest way to improve the average speed is to train at a higher than average speed. Obviously, you can't take the bike out and ride it several times faster than usual, you will be exhausted quickly. Instead, your trainer will recommend interval training: ride at a higher than average speed for a short period of time, then slow down, recover, and then accelerate.
11. Building muscles
You can gain strength through specific fitness training, but as a cyclist it takes longer to build your muscles, and there are no shortcuts. If you ride regularly, your average speed will gradually increase and the distance you can comfortably ride will gradually increase. However, in order to accelerate your development, you can actually practice good technique on the bike, and pedaling training through the teeth and flywheel will give you an effective workout for both your large and small legs.
12. Fitted cycling clothing
There are two reasons for wearing close fitting cycling clothes: one is that close fitting cycling clothes are designed with quick-drying materials that facilitate perspiration, keeping your body fresh and dry and not too tired when riding; the second is to reduce wind resistance. If you want to ride faster, remember to zipper up.
