{"id":17876,"date":"2014-10-18T06:24:30","date_gmt":"2014-10-18T05:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=17876"},"modified":"2014-10-18T06:24:30","modified_gmt":"2014-10-18T05:24:30","slug":"mountain-biking-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/10\/mountain-biking-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Biking in the Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

What with autumn well and truly here, riding my bike on the roads\u00a0isn’t quite as much fun as it is in the summer – I don’t mind the cold and rain, it’s just not so safe in the dark with cars and lorries sharing the road too. On top of that\u00a0I’m supposed to be doing some Mountain Bike Coaching sessions soon towards my British Cycling Level 2 Cycle Coaching Certificate<\/a>, so I thought I should get out on the trails and practise what I’ll be preaching.<\/p>\n

I’ve dusted off my mountain bike, given it a complete service, ignored the shakes and rattles I can’t fix and have been out on the trails at Nant yr Arian a few times. I’ve been getting some of the members of the triathlon club out for night rides on a Monday evening and everyone seems to be loving them, and I’ve been out for a ride on my own too. As I’ll be coaching certain techniques such as body position, cornering, braking etc I thought I’d try to concentrate on some of the core techniques myself. It’s actually quite surprising what a difference it makes. I usually just get out there and ride. I know the trails around here so well that I don’t really think about it. Thinking about the finer points of making a corner or braking and body position does make a difference though and certainly helps you to push just that little bit harder when the going gets tricky.<\/p>\n

Mind you, it may help improve handling and performance, but sometimes there’s nothing like just letting your mind go blank, going with the flow and enjoying the ride… Even in the pouring rain.<\/p>\n