In the book Sapiens – which I highly recommend BTW – the author talks about the superpowers that separate humans from other animals. We have a couple of them but the one that I like to focus on is the ability to purposefully affect our future-selves. Unlike other animals that are only focused on the present, humans can see into the future and project themselves into it. This allows us to make sacrifices now that we know will help ourselves in the future. But, like any superpower, if we choose to ignore it then it doesn’t do us any good. You have to embrace the power and the responsibility that ..read more

Do wide handlebars make it harder to lean your bike? If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said “no” but after my ride today I realized that they do.  After cutting my bars down to 26.5 inches/ 675 mm wide I went for a trail ride fully expecting for them to be too narrow, especially in the corners. But what I found was that the narrow bars made it easier to lean the bike over and gave me a bigger range of motion for my lean. You can see me show this in the video and you can see it even better in the pictures. 30 inch bars 26.5 inch bars The first picture is with my hands abou ..read more

By the time you get this podcast I’ll be on my way back from a seminar in Seattle. It’s hosted by Joel Jamieson for his Bioforce Certified Coaches and I’m looking forward to sharing some of what I learned with you over the next few weeks. In the meantime, though, here is a new BikeJames Podcast. Here are some notes from what I cover in this episode… Training Balance training for mountain biking: Does “balance training” work for improving your balance on your mountain bike? Skills Training Why dropping your heels on descents or dropping your outside foot in corners is a bad idea. Bro Science Do ..read more

A new month means it’s time for a new Workout of the Month. And this time I’ve got some exciting new stuff I’m adding to it. First, I’m adding a separate Kettlebell/ Dumbbell Workout to the download.  I realized that while I love Ramping Isometrics and the Steel Mace they just aren’t tools that most people have access to. So by adding a separate workout using more “traditional” training tools, I would make the workouts accessible to more riders. I’m still keeping the Ramping Isometrics and Steel Mace Workout in the download, you now have a choice between two workouts based on what tools you ha ..read more

Navigating ledges is an important part of mountain biking. While bigger wheels and better suspension have made it easier to simply ride over things, the trail still throws ledges and other obstacles that you have to get your front wheel up and over. Unfortunately, though, for a lot of riders being able to get their front wheel on top of a 12 inch or higher ledge can be a challenge. This means that when these kind of obstacles come up you have a lot of riders walking them or, worse yet, creating go-arounds and widening the trail. The reason a lot of riders struggle with this skill is that they ..read more

Do wide handlebars make it harder to lean your bike? If you would have asked me yesterday I probably would have said “no” but after my ride today I think they do. After cutting my bars down to 26.5 inches wide I went for a trail ride fully expecting got them to be too narrow, especially in the corners. But what I found was that the narrow bars made it easier to lean the bike over and gave me a bigger range of motion for my lean. You can see me show this in the video and you can see it even better in the pictures. The first picture is with my hands about 30 inches wide and the second is with ..read more

One of the recurring themes in my life lately is the need to identify the right problem before you can come up with the right solution. Sometimes we think the problem is one thing and work like crazy to find answer to it only to be frustrated over and over again because we were seeing the wrong thing. From life to training to riding your bike, it is all one big series of “problems” to solve with physical and mental tools you have available. But you only know the right tools to develop when you know the problem to solve. The reason I bring this up is that “find the right problem to solve” becam ..read more

I can’t believe another month has passed and it’s time for another Workout of the Month. Hell, I can’t believe my kids start school again next week. The main reason this summer has gone by so quickly for me is that it’s been a lot busier than last summer with the opening of the Catalyst Training Center. I’ve already hosted two free clinics and had a couple riders come in for the free workouts I host each week, which has been a great way to introduce riders to the unique training and riding systems I’ve developed. Like you can see in these monthly workouts, the training programs I’m creating ar ..read more

The human body is an amazing “machine” that can create a wide variety of movements. One of the reasons that it is so effective is that it is made to make use of wedges. Just so we’re all on the same page, a wedge is defined as a tool that can be used to separate two objects or to resist movement. It is the key to strong, efficient movement in a lot of sports and it is something I am recognizing more and more on my mountain bike. For example, a few weeks ago I was riding along when I realized that I was using my arm as a wedge between my shoulder and handlebars to help me corner and stay stable ..read more

Over the last few weeks I’ve talked about the opening of my new MTB performance training facility, The Catalyst Training Center. I opened it to act as my base of operations as I introduce the new tools and training methods I’ve been using and sharing them with the MTB world. While I’ll be sharing a lot of great content from what I’m doing there, I wanted to give riders who want to get some hands on training the chance to do that. I’m only able to share a fraction of what I’m learning through my blog and the only way to get the full experience is to come hang out with me for a couple of days. T ..read more