MXP Riding Tips: Proceeding With Caution

By: Chris Pomeroy

Photos by James Lissimore

Now that spring is here in Canada, a lot of us will doing some final preparations on our bikes and heading out for the first ride of the season. For most riders, their first ride of the season takes place in less than ideal conditions and usually on a busy practice track. When you combine these two things it can make your first few rides of the season a very dodgy proposition. Since the last thing anyone wants is an early season set back, here are a few helpful tips to help make your early season rides a little bit safer.

Top mechanics like Adam Robinson always make sure their bikes are ready to go before the gate drops on the season. You should also!

1. Make Sure Your Bike Is Ready

This may seem like an obvious one to everyone, but due to human nature and a little thing called procrastination, the riding season can sneak up on us and bike work that we meant to do in January simply didn’t get done. If you’re your own mechanic then great, you can do the work yourself. If not then take your bike to a local dealership and let a professional do the work. Getting your bike greased, lubed and adjusted can do a lot for not only the life span of your bike but it can be a safety item as well as you might not have noticed something that has come loose. This process should be followed whether you have a brand new bike or a used one. Small things like tire pressure, shock sag and well lubed parts all add up and can be the difference between a successful ride or a ride gone wrong.

2. Get Your Body and Mind Ready

For many riders who haven’t spent much time on their bikes over the winter, the first ride can be exhausting both mentally and physically. If you’ve had a busy winter and haven’t had time or inclination to work out, trust me it’s never too late to start. Since most of your early season rides will be of shorter duration, it’s a good idea to get out and do some sprints to get your heart ready for the work that it’s going to do once you’re on the bike. Another important exercise to do is stretching. This is the biggest one that people overlook. Twenty minutes of stretching every day will make you make feel not only better on the bike but will also help with injury prevention if you happen to have an unexpected crash. Remember, stretching is important regardless of your age or riding ability.

Everyone who has ever ridden a dirt bike knows what a tough mental exercise it can be, even at the best of times. This is especially true during the early part of the season when your brain isn’t used to making the ultra-quick decisions that are involved with riding. It is really staggering if you think about how many small decisions your brain has to make during each lap on the track. However, riding is also fun and at the first few rides of the new season you’re more than likely getting reacquainted with people that you haven’t seen in months. The last thing you want is to be sitting by yourself getting focused. The trick is to find a happy middle ground. If you take a few minutes before each practice session to sit alone and think about the track and what you’re about to do, you will be a lot more mentally prepared once you begin riding.

Sand tracks like Gopher Dunes are great to ride in the spring, but on any given practice day they can be very challenging for riders of all levels.

3. Ride the Track That Is Given To You

As I mentioned before, a lot of times our early season rides are done on tracks that are in less than ideal condition. Water, ruts and sometimes frost can make the track hard to navigate for even the most experienced riders. To compensate for this we must remember that in many cases it’s best to only ride at a pace that allows you some room to make mistakes. This sometimes takes a lot of discipline and humility as our first instinct is to go as fast as possible and not get left behind on the track. Again, you have to remember that’s it’s early in the season and the last thing any riders needs is a setback. So, have fun and ride the track that is given to you. It may not be perfect but at least you’re out riding.