2020 and 2021 have been weird years for everyone. Regardless of how crappy they were, it left a lot of people with extra time on their hands to pursue various hobbies. Some people finally had time to finish their Winter 2019 builds and more people participated in solo outdoor activities. Even the shelves at Bike Shops were bought dry with inventory not expected to return to normal levels for a few more years. I personally bounced between my car and mountain biking hobbies in phases, but 2020 was the first year where I participated in both at the same time. Participating in both hobbies made me realize how mountain biking teaches you skills that will carry over to Performance Driving and make you a better driver.

First off not all mountain biking disciplines are the same, just like how not all motorsports disciplines are the same. The most popular types of riding are_ Cross Country (XC), All Mountain (AM), and Downhill (DH) mountain biking. There are more categories than 3, but we won’t get into those now. Cross Country riding is mostly done on relatively flat trails. There will be some climbs and descents, but you won’t be blazing down the side of a mountain. All Mountain riding is smack dab between XC and DH riding. You pedal to the top of the mountain on a technical trail, then you decent downhill through a super technical and challenging single-track trail. Downhill riding is usually taking a chairlift to the top of a super high mountain and dropping down even more intense trails. Now that you know the basics between the different mountain bike categories, here are 5 ways I found to relate mountain biking skills to performance driving_

1) Look Where You Want To Go

Everyone knows that looking where you want to go is everything in performance driving. You’re supposed to look far ahead so that you can anticipate things earlier and plan how you’re going to pilot your car through the next few corners as fast as possible. Looking where you want to go is super important in mountain biking as well. In fact I think it’s even more critical to look ahead in mountain biking. When you’re cycling through a trail you’re faced with so many more obstacles. There are roots and rocks peering through the dirt just waiting to throw you off your bike. There are ridges and drop offs that can add difficulty to a climb or decent. There are corners with roots, ridges, and rocks just waiting to test the safety rating of your helmet. So looking ahead and choosing your line is a critical part of mountain biking. Since looking far ahead and choosing your line is more strenuous on a trail, it makes looking far ahead and choosing lines on a racetrack as easy as breathing.

2) Making Decisions While Physically Stressed

Whenever I tell my non-car loving friends how tiring driving on the track can get, they’re always surprised to hear how physically exerting it can be. I don’t blame them because they’re only exposed to driving on the street, and that’s not tiring at all. When you’re driving at the limit of your home grown track car for 20 minutes, it gets tiring. No powersteering, insane G Forces, and adrenaline all eventually tire you out and reduces your decision making abilities.

Whether you’re blazing through a technical blue diamond XC trail or hurling down the side of a double black diamond DH trail, decision making is everything. Like I mentioned earlier, picking your line ahead of time is super critical if you want to go fast… or at the very least don’t want to crash. You’re forced to make so many decisions while you’re constantly being physically stressed. I would say in addition to being more physically stressed, you will be making more decisions while mountain biking versus a typical HPDE day. Once your mind learns to cope with making decisions while being physically stressed, making line choices behind the wheel of a track car become a little easier.

3) Trust Your Tires

Grip is everything whether your on the track or on a trail. In order to go fast, you need to be able to find the limit of your tire’s grip on a variety of surfaces. On a trail you can have sections with nicely compacted dirt, and then transition into sections with loose sand that doesn’t have as much traction. If you don’t adapt to changing conditions you’ll have a mishap.

4) Weight Distribution is Key

When flying through a corner on the track, managing your car’s weight distribution is everything. Too much rearward weight in a corner will make you understeer, too much frontward weight will make you oversteer. The same concepts apply when taking corners on a trail. You also have the added concerns of weight distribution when climbing and descending. More weight over the rear tire when climbing steep hills helps you gain more traction. But if you are too far back, the front wheel will lift off the ground during a climb and that can throw you backwards off a bike. When descending it’s best to keep your weight as far back as possible to prevent yourself from flipping over the handle bars. Sometimes you even have bumps mid-corner that can throw your front tire in the air. Learning how to manage weight distribution on a trail will relate to managing weight distribution behind the wheel of your track toy.

5) Smooth is Fast

Smooth driving doesn’t always look fast on video, but everyone who does performance driving knows smooth driving = fast driving. You can only ask so much from your tires and chassis. If you’re flying through a corner at the limit and you suddenly jab on the brakes or jerk the wheel, you will upset the balance of the car and loose speed. The same applies to cornering on a bike. When cornering on a trail with roots sticking out and changing grip conditions, smoothness is even more important in order to get the best possible cornering speeds. Once you learn smoothness on a trail, being smooth on a relatively smooth racetrack is much easier to do.

Conclusion

Those are 5 ways I found mountain biking skills can carry over to track driving. With Covid lockdowns affecting our local racetracks this year, I will probably be spending more time at the trails than our local racetracks in 2021. Hopefully my driving skills will stay reasonably sharp with the implementation of these tips.

Mountain biking of course isn’t for everyone, but I’m sure there are other sports that can help sharpen your driving skills. If you can think of any, let us know in the comments!