Using Imagery (Visualization) for Mountain Bike Racing Success
by Gene Hamilton of BetterRide
I'm sure you have noticed that the most skillful or strongest rider doesn't always win. This is because at the higher levels of competition most competitors have about the same skill. Winning races is a mental war and often a more prepared, focused and confident competitor will beat someone with slightly more "skill". I have a few friends who are amazing bike handlers, definitely better bike handlers than I, but I usually manage to beat them on race day. The key to winning any competition is being able to have a "peak" performance during competition. Consistently performing at your peak is easier said than done. One way to improve your consistency is to imagine or "visualize" you runs. Imagining is a very important skill and just like any other skill the more you practice it the better you get. If you haven't imagined before or your imaging needs some improvement work on the information below.
What To Imagine
1. How you feel mentally in the start, during the race, as you cross the finish line and when the race is over: excited, strong, confident, fast, elation after winning, etc.
2. How you feel physically at the start, during the race, as you cross the finish line and when the race is over: muscles relaxed, your breathing, lactic burn in legs, steering and balance movements, absorbing shocks, etc.
3. What your eyes are focusing on when you are at the start, during the race, as you cross the finish line and when the race is over: looking ahead, reference points, course conditions, etc.
4. What you hear (or don't hear) at the start, during the race, as you cross the finish line and when the race is over: wind rushing by, crowd noise, bike noise, announcer screaming that you have just taken over the lead! (I recall Myles Rockwell saying that he imaged the announcer saying that prior to winning the Kamikaze years ago), etc.
How To Imagine
1. Imagine from 1st person, you are actually racing the course.
2. Imagine from 3rd person, you are watching yourself.
3. Imagine flawless runs, if you make a mistake back up and correct it.
4. Imagine in slow motion to learn new skills or master a difficult section.
5. Always imagine positive performances, feelings and thoughts.
How To Get Started
1. Imagine riding the 1st “section” (the 1st fourth or fifth of the trail, start new sections at major changes in terrain) of your favorite trail. Practice until your experience everything you experience on an actual run.
2. Start adding sections until you can imagine an entire 5-6 minute run.
3. Time your imaging sessions and compare their times to actual times on course. If your imaging is faster than real life you may being using to few reference points (physical features such as big rocks, stumps, ruts, or trees that you use to keep your bearing on the course (more on the use of reference points in my course inspection article) and skipping parts of the course or you might not be imaging all the steps it takes (braking, shifting, pedaling, jumping gaps) to get down the course. If your imaging is slower than real life you either have too many reference points and your getting bogged down on details that you don't notice when racing or you don't have enough RPs and are getting lost on the course. Figure out why you are not getting similar times and make corrections so you can image a perfect, fast race before race day.
Don't be discouraged if you struggle with this at first. Imaging is a learned skill and gets better with practice. Mastering imagery will greatly improve your racing.
