7 Hill Drills for Beginner Mountain Bikers

Getting into mountain biking can be a great way to mix up your cycling and give yourself a break from the road. Here a few reasons road cyclists have made the switch:

* You want to get away from the noise of the city.

* Traffic is getting nuts and you want to avoid cars.

* You'd rather hit the protective terrain and vegetation of trails for a mountain bike ride instead of the asphalt.

* The steep hills in mountain biking can help you build power for the road.

* Mountain biking seems more laid back and you could do with less stress in your life.

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Whatever your reason might be, getting started seems easy enough—you've already got great cycling fitness, so how hard can it be?

More often than not, the switch isn't so straightforward. Most roadies are surprised that when they hit the dirt, many things change—and mountain biking suddenly becomes a lot more intimidating.

Your confidence and comfort on the terrain will improve by spending just a few days building up basic skills on the mountain bike. To help you get a jump-start on your new mountain biking adventures, here are a few drills and tips for climbing and descending.

Hard-packed Uphill

When you approach a moderate uphill section of packed trail, your position on the bike should change. To maintain comfort and generate the power necessary to make it to the top, you'll need to:

* Keep your arms bent and relaxed.

* Lower your head.

* Bring your shoulders forward toward the handlebars.

* Move your hips forward on the saddle.

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This change in position will keep your tires in contact with the ground so that most of your power is applied to the pedals and transferred into forward motion.

Drill: See how far forward you can move before your rear wheel begins to slip and waste energy.

Steep Uphill

As the gradient of the trail gets steeper, you'll have to move more forward on the bike in order to maintain your balance. Your head and shoulders will get lower, and your hips should only touch the tip of the saddle.

Here's a good tip to try to know exactly how far forward you need to be when riding up steep pitches:

Drill: On a moderately steep climb, move back on the bike until you can feel the front tire slightly lift up off of the trail.

Loose Uphill

When you ride on a hard-packed dirt surface, your position on the bike isn't as critical as it is when the trail is loose. Because of this, you'll need to fine-tune your position.

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Drill: On a loose surface uphill road or trail, make micro adjustments to your body position to determine the optimal narrow range for keeping your rear tire in contact with the ground. At what point does it begin to slip? Where do you achieve the greatest power output? Adjust your position accordingly.

Gentle Downhill

Your body position moves forward on uphills; on descents, your position moves back. To increase speed on hard-packed, gentle downhill sections of trail, you should lower your head and shoulders and keep your hips toward the back of the saddle.

Drill: Raise and lower your combined head and shoulder position to increase and decrease speed.

Steep Downhill

As the downhill section of trail gets steeper, it becomes more important to keep your body weight toward the back of the bike. On very steep terrain, expert riders will stand with their hips behind the saddle.

If your weight is too far forward on steep descents, you increase the risk of going over the handlebars and doing an "endo." This can happen if you hit an obstacle or apply the front brake too hard when your weight is too far forward.

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Drill: On a steep downhill, stand and move your hips towards your rear tire. Elbows, knees and shoulders should be slightly flexed and relaxed. This will allow your body to be a shock absorber. A stiff body makes it very difficult to control the bike.

Tip: Your right brake controls the rear and the left brake controls the front. On descents, control speed by "feathering" the brakes. This means gently applying the brakes and releasing. Repeat as many times as necessary. Control speed before you feel the need to squeeze the brakes to avoid a skid. Also know that too much force to the left brake can cause an endo. Too much force on the right brake can cause the rear wheel to fishtail from side to side.

Loose Downhill

Similar to going uphill, going downhill in loose gravel or dirt makes it harder to balance. There is less room for error.  

Drill: If your trail has an unavoidable steep, loose downhill section, it's okay to walk until you build the skills and confidence to give it a shot. If the hill is tiered and it's possible to ride the lower portion first, do that. It's okay to break hills down into smaller, more manageable sections. Once you're comfortable with each section, you can try to ride the whole thing.

By building skills and confidence on easier trails, you will become a stronger mountain biker. Once you become more comfortable with balancing and shifting your weight on flats, uphill and downhill trail sections, you can begin to tackle tougher trails.

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