Nobody gets good at trail riding by reading about it, and I'm no exception. I had to practise. The thing that made the biggest difference wasn't a clever technique, it was getting out and doing it, lane after lane, until the things that felt awkward stopped feeling awkward.
That said, a few basics make the practice count. Get them right and every ride teaches you something. Get them wrong and you can ride for years without getting much better. This is what I'd tell anyone who wants to improve, from body position to the drills worth doing, and why the occasional off isn't the disaster it feels like. If you're brand new, start with what you need before your first ride and come back to this.
Start with the right kit, then take it steady
This is the bit that makes everything else possible. If you've got proper gear on, boots, armour, gloves and a decent helmet, and you don't go in all guns blazing, the occasional off is fine. It's part of trail riding, and it teaches you things. What you don't want is a small, slow mistake turning into an injury because you were in trainers and a hoodie, or a big mistake because you went into a lane far too fast for what you could see.
So ride within yourself, especially on a lane you don't know. Speed is the thing that turns a lesson into a hospital visit.
Stand up
The single biggest change most riders make is learning to stand. Sitting down, every bump goes straight through the seat into you, and your weight is stuck in one place. Standing, your legs become suspension and you can move your weight wherever the bike needs it.
Stand with the balls of your feet on the pegs, knees and ankles soft, knees lightly gripping the tank, elbows up and out, and your head roughly over the bars. It feels tiring at first because you're using muscles you don't use on the road. That goes away. A good test is to stand for a whole easy lane, start to finish, and notice how much calmer the bike feels underneath you.
You don't have to stand all the time. Sitting is fine on smooth, flat stretches, and it's often better on loose, tight corners where you want weight on the seat. But for anything rough, rutted or uncertain, stand.
Look where you want to go
Your bike goes where your eyes go. If you stare at the rock you're trying to miss, you'll hit it. If you look at the front wheel, you'll ride from one surprise to the next.
Look 10 to 20 metres up the lane, pick the line you want, and keep your eyes on where you're heading, not on what you're avoiding. It's the easiest skill to describe and one of the hardest to do under pressure, which is exactly why it's worth practising on easy ground first.
Clutch, throttle and the back brake
Most trail riding happens at walking pace, which means most of the control comes from your fingers and your right foot rather than the throttle.
- The clutch is your friend. Slipping it in the friction zone gives you smooth, controllable drive at low speed, where the throttle alone would be snatchy. Riding with one or two fingers covering the lever means it's always there.
- Smooth throttle, not big handfuls. On a slippery surface, a gentle, steady roll-on keeps the tyre gripping. A sudden handful breaks traction. If the back starts to slide, adding more throttle usually makes it worse.
- Use the back brake more than you think. Off-road, the rear does most of the braking and it's far more forgiving. The front still works, but go gently, because a locked front wheel on loose ground puts you on the floor.
Climbs and descents
Where you put your weight on a slope decides whether the bike works with you or against you.
On a climb, get your weight forward so the front wheel stays down and keeps steering, pick your line before you start, and carry steady momentum rather than charging at it. If it isn't going to happen, it's fine to stop, make it safe and turn around.
On a descent, weight back, arms long, and do most of your braking with the back brake. Keep your speed down from the start, because it's much easier to stay slow than to slow down halfway.
Turning on loose ground
On tarmac, you lean with the bike. On loose ground, you do almost the opposite.
Keep your body upright and let the bike lean under you, with your weight pressing down through the outside footpeg. That pushes the tyres into the ground instead of letting them slide out from under you. On a tight turn, sitting forward on the seat helps too.
Ruts
Ruts catch out more riders than anything else on UK lanes. The trick is to commit. Pick a rut early, look along it rather than down into it, keep a steady throttle and let the bike follow it. Fighting it, or trying to change ruts at the last moment, is usually what puts you down. If you do need to climb out, do it with a little drive and your weight back, not by yanking the bars.
Drills that actually make you better
Practice on private land with the landowner's permission, or at a practice venue, is where these skills get quicker. Never practise on footpaths, bridleways or anywhere you don't have the right to ride.
- Stand for a whole ride. Pick an easy lane and stand from start to finish.
- Figure of eights, standing. Two markers, plenty of space, slow and smooth, using the clutch and looking through the turn.
- Slow race. Ride as slowly as you can in a straight line without putting a foot down. It's all clutch, rear brake and balance.
- Stop without dabbing. Come to a stop and hold your balance for a second before putting a foot down.
- Look up. On every ride, catch yourself looking at the front wheel and lift your eyes.
Ten minutes of this at the start of a ride does more than an hour of riding without thinking about it.
Start easy, then step up
The quickest way to lose confidence is to take on a lane that's beyond you. The quickest way to build it is to ride lanes you can manage, often, and step up a little at a time.
On Holloway's map, lanes we've ridden are graded from Easy to Severe, and Holloway Premium lets you filter the map by difficulty, so you can find easy lanes near you and work up. Cross End Lane and Hangman's Lane in Bedfordshire are two I'd happily send a newer rider down.
Falling off is part of it
I'd rather be honest about this: you will fall off. Not often, and usually at walking pace, but it happens. With the right gear on and sensible speed, most offs are a dropped bike, a bit of mud and a lesson. You learn what too much front brake feels like, or what happens when you look at the thing you're trying to avoid.
The good news is that it gets less and less frequent. Every off teaches you something, and the more you ride, the fewer lessons you need. Pick the bike up, have a breather, and carry on. If you're riding on your own, make sure someone knows where you are, and keep it extra steady.
Get some proper training
A day with a good instructor can save you a season of working things out the hard way. They see the habits you can't see yourself, and they let you try things on private ground that you rarely get to try on a lane.
Mark Mercer, one of our riders, trained with BMW Off Road Skills, Desert Rose Riding Academy and Trials Day. On the BMW course, he said, “It made me realise that so much of it is confidence and body position.” And on what training gave him: “When I look at a tougher trail now, instead of thinking there's no way, I just work through it methodically and understand it's OK to mess it up.”
You'll find those three and more schools across the UK in the Holloway directory of clubs, guided rides and training, on a map, with prices where we have them.
Ride with people who are better than you
Following a good rider is one of the fastest ways to learn. You see the lines they pick, where they stand, and how slowly they take things that look scary. A guided ride or a local Trail Riders Fellowship group is a great way to find them, and you'll find both in the directory.
Above everything else, keep riding. The skills come from time on the bike, and every lane you ride makes the next one a little easier.