CYCLIST TECHNICAL SKILLS

Technical skills form an important element in many types of sport, and especially so in cycling. There are two factors that seriously influence such skills. These are coordination and mobility. We will look at both more closely now.

COORDINATION

When we work on our coordination, we can learn a lot from children as they learn new movements quickly and have no mental boundaries. It is important to start with some basic elements, master them, and only then move on to the more difficult ones. It is a good idea to connect different elements and build up gradually with some more challenging ones.

Agility becomes especially important in technical terrain when we need to ride through difficult sections. We will also appreciate such skills in emergencies, when we need to keep our balance and good coordination can prevent us falling.

Other exercises away from our bike can also be very useful. Some of the most suitable activities to improve our coordination include aerobics, Pilates, martial arts, and gymnastics.

When we ride our bike we can focus on:

• shifting our centre of gravity
• riding no-handed
• balancing when stationary
• getting over an obstacle
• jumping over an obstacle

MOBILITY

Mobility is something cyclists very often underestimate. However, without regular stretching we start to lack the overall agility we need to control our bike properly. In order to stretch well, we need eight to twelve exercises that we execute perfectly and concentrate on fully. They do not really take so much time and have a great effect on improving our overall performance.