Mountain Bike Holiday Advice > Preparing For A Big Mountain Bike Trip

Tyres

Why would you skimp on tyres? Get some new tyres on your bike! We really recommend DH casing tyres, although you can also get away with a DD style of casing on the rear and an EXO+ on the front.

DO NOT come with tubes in your tyres. You will have a frustrating experience on the rocky trails here.

Brakes

Every week on these big trips we have brake problems.

You need to have new-ish fluid in the brakes, and have them properly bled. Check with us if we have equipment to bleed your brakes and if not take it with you. Decent pads help on the longer descents. And yes, you definitely need spare brake pads.

Bearings

Check your bike carefully for knocks or anything loose. Get it sorted before you come because if it is borderline before you come it will be destroyed by the end of the week.

Wheels

Check your wheels are ok and the spokes are equally tensioned. If not get a wheel true. Take spare spokes because we might not have your size.

Cockpit

Have an experiment with your cockpit setup to make you more comfortable. Decent grips, with good padding, can really help your hands. The angle of your levers makes a massive difference, setting them a little higher up, and with the bite closer to the bars, can really help.

Pedals

Any lateral play in your pedal body can indicate that your bearings are on the way out. Change them, or take new pedals, because a broken pedal can ruin a descent for you. We have spare pedals, but they will be down in the valley in the support van!

1 x Long

1000m of climbing is a good target on your longer ride. You don’t need to ride hard, keep it at a pace where you can hold a conversation.

1 x Hard

Keep things simple with a 20 min warm-up, followed by 3-5 minutes at your threshold heart-rate (mine is around 160bpm), or a pace where conversation is difficult, with a 2 minute recovery, repeated a few times depending how you feel.

And Some Fun

Ride more if you can, but everything else is a bonus. Have fun, take the e-bike or do a shuttle day – it all counts!

Bottoms Up

Bottom up Kettle bell exercises are great. You do these holding the kettlebells by the handles with the weight facing upwards so that you need to grip the handles to steady the weights. I like military press and bench press. There are plenty of guides on the web, like this one from MBR.

Hang Around

Bar hangs are great. I have some pipes which hang over my pull-up bar and I hold onto. Something like this: MiraFit Pull Up Grips.

I prefer this to farmers carries, which require a heavy kettlebell, however if you have one then go for it!

Climb The Walls

Climbing is great for grip and forearms. I try to climb or bolder whenever I can, it is great cross-training and really helps with arm pump. Get down to your local wall, you might just find you love it!

Cross Train

Often it is the calves which suffer most. Walking in the mountains, running or skipping have helped our guests.

Strengthen

For strength, you can try some pull-ups, military presses, press-ups, dips (lean forward slightly to work chest and shoulder) or bent-over rows. I do all these, working the area around the shoulders to give me stability. It helps for hike-a-bike but more importantly also for the long, long descents. Find guides on the web, or find a coach.

Practice

Try to carry your bike before you come. Take your bike (wheels on the ground), stand on the non-drive side, take the bike by the crank and bottom of the fork, lift it straight up and then drop it over on your back. It should rest on your back pack. Often adding a jacket or similar into your pack makes a better shelf to hold the bike.