Text: Steve Shapiro. Article from the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Ride Magazine.

Practise, practise, and practise – it seems obvious, but, in mountain biking, that doesn’t mean just going for a ride. Practise a corner 10 times, says vintage all-round mountainbike champion Chris Nixon, and you will become more accomplished and enjoy your riding much more.

For no small number of us, the word teacher, as a genus, is plagued by the memories from our school days when often inadequate exemplars were paid to instruct us in areas that failed to trigger any enthusiasm. We didn’t want to learn; they didn’t want to teach. Later in life when adults seek knowledge and other adults want to impart it, you have the real chance of functional education potentially loaded with growth and fulfilment for both parties.

Learning and teaching mountainbiking skills fits the bill, especially when your teacher manifests in the accomplished, competent, modest and inspired guise of someone like Chris Nixon.

When I interviewed him recently, he made only passing reference to his achievements on the local and world stage in BMX, downhill and cross country in which he excelled as a young man and in which he still excels as a 40-something less-young man. Modest, maybe to a fault. He would have gone to the USA to ride as a pro-BMXer but South Africans were not all that welcome then and when he did make it internationally as a DH rider it was in the World Veteran’s competition. Some of his insights into cross country teaching came out of riding in, but mainly observing experts at, World Cup events.

In all his proclivities there appears to have been a capacity to absorb and trim what was important and to formulate and teach (by word and deed) basic rules. I certainly found that out when I realised, in a race a few days after our interview, how much of his enthusiasm had rubbed off and registered, even on my limited organs of educative receptivity.

Find the formula

I was riding on exacting singletrack, which would previously have tested my technical dyslexia, but now became a flowing dance, with the Nixon mantra of, “Look ahead; keep your weight forward; come into corners as wide as possible; brake early; maintain momentum” whispering in my ear. This is basically what he teaches beginners and far more advanced riders who are often quick to forget what should have been cemented into instinct, or who feel the need to hone established skills. While some are happy with the basics, others (from both levels) come back for more, and I can’t blame them.

Practise a corner 10 times, and you will enjoy your riding much more

Giving back

The desire, the enthusiasm and the capacity to give something back are part of the Nixon make-up. “I’ve always been involved in teaching, even from my (youthful) BMX days (when other people’s parents schlepped him to races). I just want to see people improve because I know that when I improve I get so much more enjoyment from it.” Passing this on, he affirms, “will keep them riding forever”. Without coercion or hysteria, a good teacher gets his message across and gently allows it to take root in his students. I’ve watched him at work in Tokai Forest where he takes classes of up to five (usually women or older men) but prefers one-on-one, to keep focus and to prevent a competitive element sneaking in to the process.

Bike setup matters

At the first lesson he finds out what his students know, what they want and what they need to know, “And I give them as much information as possible.” He is careful, however, not to overdo it at first because, although some are faster learners than others, there is a natural propensity with the sudden rush of a surfeit of knowledge to lose most of it or only pick certain bits. Bike set-up, including handlebar width (wider than the shoulders), brake setting, tyre-pressure (the softer the better) and, maybe a lower seat for initial comfort and security are part of the basic package. “You must make sure, at the outset, that they are comfortable and secure on their bikes. That’s all you’re really trying to do. And then it’s basics as if you are learning to be a rally driver.”

Centri what?

He talks about the need for a light bulb to go on showing that he has got the message across. He teaches the significance of centrifugal force (a mystery to many) in cornering and makes his students practise over and over while he watches. And then there’s the ongoing emphasis on looking ahead which he sometimes has to teach by getting his students to “lift your chin!” Bent arms is another basic lesson and here again it is sometimes necessary to rearrange the instruction by suggesting “Pull yourself towards the bicycle” – then the penny drops.

Chris says: “You always ask yourself: ‘How can I make this person understand the concept I’m trying to get over to him or her?’ And it’s different for everybody.”

Falling happens

“People just want to enjoy the ride more. A lot are mainly scared of falling off so they want to improve their skills and confidence to overcome this fear. They want to know if they’re going to fall, and of course they’re going to fall, but it won’t be on every single ride.”

The pleasures of singletrack are a major attraction and this applies at all levels but, here too, even the guy with skills has got a fear of something and, once again, the basics have to be reapplied and polished by practise with the more experienced riders. “The beginner might be doing the basics incorrectly at 10km/h but the more experienced rider could be making the same mistakes at 20km/h.

Looking

“The big thing is looking ahead. While someone riding at 10km/h is not looking as far ahead as he should – the person riding at 20km/h should be looking twice as far ahead. Looking ahead means planning ahead in relation to your speed. If you need to change direction, the faster you’re going, the more planning ahead you need to do.

“And, like most things, when you want to improve, you need someone who is judging and assessing you the whole time. You need to be told, by someone who knows, what you are doing wrong.” To this end he sometimes uses a video camera, filming the same challenge as many as 10 times. This tool, he says, is particularly useful with the more experienced riders.

Brake for speed

There are other big things too: like braking cornering and line choice. Braking at the last moment increases the fear factor. One finger covering the lever on modern hydraulic disc brakes is usually enough to feel secure and maintain a decent grip on the handlebars. “You can, with a light application of the brakes, feel more control going into corners, without your brakes being locked out. It is ideal to brake before the corner, easing up as you go into the corner and then, in the middle of the corner, letting go completely.”

Something, which was new to me, was Chris’s insistence on using one brake at a time – although he qualified this by suggesting it was more applicable to dual suspension bikes. “As soon as you pull both brakes at the same time you lock out your suspension because it works on your wheel-base changing. But this doesn’t occur if you use one brake at a time.”

Weight centre

Equally enlightening to me was the need to make a major attitudinal adjustment in terms of weight distribution. While Chris acknowledges the importance of weight back in inculcating a sense of security into beginners, this turns into a disadvantage. With the weight off the front wheel, the front end becomes lighter and your steering becomes less responsive.

“The more advanced they become the more you want them to get their weight forward onto the front wheel. It is a difficult concept to get across.” He still struggles with it himself, from time to time, so, naturally, even with the more experienced riders, he found a significant reluctance to heed this advice. He had to learn it after studying top exponents of the craft. “I had to ask myself how does my body position compare with those of more accomplished riders and one of the first things I realised was that my body weight was too far back.” And, especially in the more technical comers, centrifugal force becomes far more difficult to handle with the weight back. “The faster you go, the more you want your weight forward.”

The right line

Of course this doesn’t apply to drop-offs and students, beginners in particular, are allowed to be confused or comforted by the old truism that: “You’ve got to find out what works for you – there is no standard way of doing it.”

Line choice is probably still the golden nugget in the how-to mine, especially in cornering. “You want to maintain your speed as much as possible, particularly on the downhills but going up as well. I will always encourage people to come into a corner as wide as possible and stay wide, although roots and rocks might persuade you that coming from the inside is maybe better. So, even on your own local trails, you need to try different lines – you might find something that improves your ride. Find the line with which you are most comfortable … and practise!”

Footwork

I would need to write the proverbial book to touch on the many issues covered but, instead, I would like to go to the comforting verbal elixir he proffers to nervous beginners. “I tell them if they’re not comfortable with a technical section to get off and walk it. I much prefer that to them hurting themselves. They can always come back again and do it when their skills have improved.”

When he was riding World Cup events he was aware of the presence of super-fit, but less-skilled cyclists from a road background who had a very sensible way of dealing with intimidating technical sections. “They’d get off and run those bits, faster than some of us could ride them. So don’t be embarrassed to get off and walk.”