How Mountain Biking Has Made Me A Better Climber

 

I’m not the best mountain biker… for example, I TOOK the picture above. That’s my brother, not me. 

I’m a climber. I go up stuff better than I go down. While mountain biking and climbing may be polar opposites there are actually a lot of things in the middle of the venn diagram. 

I started mountain biking around the same time I began climbing. Both me and my brother got into both sports, but we each separated as we left each behind. I started doing harder boulders and he did bigger drops. Yet, recently, I’ve been spending more time riding with him. I renewed my love for mountain biking as I observed my brother, and as I applied lessons I’ve learned from climbing to it. 

I learned through climbing how to focus and how to apply new skills, which improved my riding and reinvigorated my want to mountain bike. As I’ve gotten back into it I have seen mountain biking give back to my climbing. 

It’s helped my motivation!

After long phases of training and thinking of nothing but climbing, avoiding burnout is important to retain the motivation to perform well. Mountain biking is fun! It restores some psych, giving you a chance to just let loose without expectations and enjoy!

Riding helps you practice focus while performing.

Mountain biking can get you into the flow, focusing on your line, body position, and technique… the same requirements for a hard route!

Mountain biking teaches the importance of learning and applying technique.

Just like rock climbing, mountain biking encourages you to work on your body position and skills. As with a climb, when you ride you end up in state of failing, learning, and then applying new skills to do better!

You learn face fear!

The thing that I’ve gained from mountain biking that’s helped me the most in climbing is facing fears. The process of reigning in your nerves, focusing, and hitting a scary feature is much like the process of climbing a scary route or quelling anxiety as you prepare for a red point!

Mountain biking is one of many awesome sports. Don’t  miss out! Climbing is fun but not the only fish in the sea. Just don’t injure yourself, like Jonathan Seigrist…