Five WAYS TO BECOME A BETTER RIDER

WORLD CUP COACH CHRIS KILMURRAY GIVES US HIS TOP TIPS

- 

Whether you're a professional racer or an average Joe, there are plenty of simple changes you can make to improve your fun and performance on the bike.

Over the following pages, coach Chris Kilmurray – who works with top Downhill World Cup racers including Orbea FMD Racing's Tahnée Seagrave – outlines the most important things you need to do. These include being consistent with your riding and training, being sympathetic to external factors in your life and trying out new things. If you stick to this advice, you're all but guaranteed to be a better rider.

One BE CONSISTENT

1 "Number one for any rider – pro, amateur, wannabe racer or complete beginner – is that consistency is king," says Chris. "Whatever you're going to do, when trying to improve your performance – whether that's riding more, going to the gym, looking after what you eat or getting enough sleep – doing it consistently, so it actually has time to pay off, is the starting point of everything." The first step is to set yourself some goals – even if they're as simple as, 'I've got this new bike, it's really fast, I want to get better at riding it'. Then, Chris says: "You need to go out once a week, twice a week, whatever you can manage, and then progressively just increase from there. Whatever it is [you want to work on], it just needs to be done regularly and consistently. It sounds too simple to be true, but it's actually the ultimate hack."

Planning and preparation is the key to making a new habit stick. "Even though it sounds boring, it removes most of the barriers to being consistent, to getting better, to improving your riding, to having more fun and doing it more safely," says coach Chris.