Muni is unique among most sports that require endurance. In muni skill
trumps fitness when it comes to endurance. In MTB riding I’d say skill
and endurance are more evenly matched. In road cycling it’s almost all
fitness. In sports like running it’s almost all fitness. How many
other sports are there where skill plays such a vital role in
endurance?
You can take a novice unicyclist who is incredibly fit and they will
have a very difficult time on a technical 12 mile muni ride. Take a
very skilled muni rider who is not very fit and they can do the ride.
Take a very skilled muni rider who is also incredibly fit and they can
absolutely breeze through the ride.
The skilled muni rider is able to minimize their energy expenditure
during a ride. They are able to minimize the energy wasted in balance
corrections. They are able to maintain constant forward momentum when
riding over bumps and logs and rocks. They almost float over the bumps
and roots and rocks. They have very good technique for climbing. They
are able to ride relaxed. Everything is easy for them. It’s all in the
skills and technique.
Watch a rider like Kris Holm or Ben Plotkin Swing or Ryan Atkins on an
intermediate level muni trail. This is on intermediate level trails,
not the extreme North Shore or extreme downhill stuff. Then compare a
rider like me on the same trail. There is a world of difference (there
is a world of difference when compared to almost every other muni
rider). Kris, Ben and Ryan are a lot smoother than I am. I’m not too
bad when it comes to long muni rides, but I’m nowhere near the level of
Kris, Ben or Ryan.
So, what does this mean? It means that if you want to increase
endurance it is better to focus on the riding skills rather than
building fitness. After you have the skills then fitness becomes more
important.
Some things that I have found important for efficient muni riding:
When standing on the pedals learn how to dance on the pedals rather than
mashing the pedals. When you are dancing on the pedals you are able to
maintain a good smooth pedaling. When you are mashing on the pedals you
are wasting energy.
Point the toe down when at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Don’t keep
the feet flat. This helps you to pedal through the bottom of the pedal
stroke and helps to keep you from mashing the pedals.
Learn some freestyle skills like one foot riding and wheel walking.
These skills get you more in tune with the balance point on the unicycle
and they teach you better balance and control. I know that my muni
skills improved when I started playing around with basic freestyle
skills.
Practice rolling over small obstacles and work your way up to rolling
over bigger obstacles. The good riders can float over the small stuff
and flow smoothly over the big stuff. Learn to roll over the small
obstacles in any pedal position. When rolling over obstacles think of
floating over them rather than plowing in to them. When you approach
the obstacle you unweight the cycle (I can hear George Peck saying those
exact words right now) and give the mass of your body some upward
momentum as you go over the obstacle.
When going on short muni rides, practice rolling over all of the small
obstacles on the trail that you can find. Pick the hardest line on the
trail and take that line. Don’t look for the easy lines. If there is a
rock in the middle of the trail then roll over the rock, don’t zig zag
around it. On the long muni rides you can save energy by looking for
the easy line, but on the short muni rides take advantage of the
opportunity to practice rolling (or floating) over obstacles.
At the Vancouver Island Muni Weekend, Kris Holm demonstrated a technique
of using almost rolling hops to get over roots and similar obstacles.
They don’t have to be actual rolling hops because you don’t actually
have to leave the ground. It’s yet another technique for learning how
to float over obstacles. Compared to the way that I plowed through
those same roots and the way that Kris literally floated over the tops
of those roots, the difference is night and day. Kris’ method is more
efficient and allows him to maintain speed so it is much faster. To be
most effective you have to be able to do this technique from any pedal
position. You also have to learn where you want to aim for. For some
roots you’ll want to aim for the top of the root. For other roots
you’ll want to aim just a little beyond the top. This is one technique
that I still can’t do very well. It’s not as easy as Kris makes it
look. I suppose it would help if I took the time to learn a smooth and
consistent rolling hop. One of these days Kris needs to do a video
where he demonstrates and describes these magical techniques that he
has. He’s got more in his bag of tricks beyond this little skill.
Learn to relax as you ride.
Learn your ideal pedal speed and then work to increase that ideal pedal
speed.
I know there are more tips, but this is what I can come up with from the
top of my head right now.
--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo
john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
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