Off camber roots can look pretty formidable.But the ability to get over a rooty section with a bit of speed can open up a whole new dimension to the choice of lines available to you, or simply make you faster through a tricky bit.
The trick is to be confident and the following guide will take you through how to hit roots and clear them safely. A confident rider will succeed time and time again – the key is not to hesitate because that is when you can take a flyer.

THE RIGHT APPROACH
Your first task is to get your approach line right. Too tight and the second you hit the roots you’ll be fighting for grip. With an off-camber, a great trick is to try to start low and finish high. So, try to find a grippy part of the trail before the roots to turn against, pushing you upwards though the section and over the roots. If you come in too high, the likelihood is that you’ll spend the next few seconds sliding down the roots.

LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AGAIN

Once you’re on the right line, lookup. The further you can look through the section the better. It can sometimes help to look slightly higher than you know you’ll end up.Remember, you go where you look. Watch some of your mates – the ones who panic and look to where they don’t want to be, will be the ones who end up there.

SPEED IS YOUR FRIEND
You should now be able to quickly scan the section and make a decision on how fast to hit it. If you need to drop some speed, do it before you hit the roots. Any braking on the camber will lose the limited grip you might have had. Some times speed can be your friend. The slower you go the longer you’ll be hanging around on the roots. Experience will help you judge your speed in the future, but to begin with, just remember not to brake too hard.

RELAX (LIKE FRANKIE SAID)
Once you’re on the roots, keep the bike straight and your body relaxed. Let the bike move freely underneath you, like you are hovering over it. If you’re too tense in your arms and legs, you’ll force the bike to slide. Try to imagine your torso as a stable platform that doesn’t move. Instead, your elbows and knees should take all the shocks and keep the bike smoothly on terra firma. Keep your elbows out to maximise how much movement you can get without moving your shoulders.

SLIDE ON THROUGH
By now you’ll be pretty much at the end of the section. If the surface is wet or the speeds low, a little rear wheel slip might still happen. Don’t panic. Any tension will only increase the likelihood of a crash. Once your front wheel is on the other side, you’re home and dry. Stay relaxed and let the rear wheel do its thing. It’s sure to find grip soon enough and catch up with the rest of you.

TOP TIP
The steeper the camber, the more weight you should shift to your downhill leg.

GREAT SKILLS RESOURCE
A really great resource for learning new skills is Brian Lopes book Mastering Mountain Bike Skills

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Needing to ride steep switchbacks on your mountain bike is an increasingly common occurrence on our trails.

Dictated by the steep terrain they’re built on, switchbacks often seem pretty intimidating obstacles, with narrow exits and precipitous drops on one side. Although it’s not usually too difficult to negotiate them slowly, carrying speed and staying in balance is often a real challenge. A lack of rider confidence is often the biggest mistake. So, these five steps will show you a few simple tips to use next time you’re tackling one head-on.

 THE APPROACH

This is the part you really want to get right. Keep your head up and have a look at the trail ahead. In our sequence, you can see the right hand turn looks quite far away. But by spotting it from a few metres back, you should be able to get yourself over to the outside of the trail, ready for the corner. This is the opposite side to what you might think! Most of your braking should be done now.

 GETTING HIGH

Now that you are on the outside, you can start your switchback. To get up the bank easily, think of it as an off camber section. It’s always easier to go up rather than along an off-camber, and by starting on the outside of the trail, you’re in the perfect place to look left and head straight up. If the bank is steep, drop your outside (downhill) foot to get more pressure on the edge of the lyres.

 LEAD FROM THE FRONT

Your front wheel will lead the way. A great tip at this point is to allow your front wheel to go higher or wider than the back. On steep switchbacks, your back wheel may not even leave the main line, but as long as the front is wide you’ll be able to get around even the tightest of bends. Speed can also dictate this part. If you’re coming in really slow, there won’t be enough speed to get your whole bike onto the high line. So just let the front go for it and relax.

 GETTING GRIPPY

Once your front wheel is sufficiently wide, look down into the corner, let go of the brakes and start transferring your weight on to the other leg. In this case, the weight goes from the right leg to the left. As the bike starts to accelerate off the bank, put more weight onto your outside pedal (don’t brake!) to keep the grip coming. You’ll probably find that the steeper and tighter the corner is, the further down your outside foot is.

LOOK TO THE FINISH

With the boost in speed you’ll have, keep looking to the exit. The exit is the point where things often go wrong. Don’t worry about the drop off the edge of the trail. Instead, focus your attention on where you want to end up. Just by looking where you want to go, and not over the edge, you’ll probably find that your confidence to stay off the brakes and keep all that speed you just made wi1l grow.

 TOP TIP

Practice steep switchbacks with firmer suspension up front to build your confidence.

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