It's Okay to Lose Confidence on a Mountain Bike

Written By Jo Prothero

During a recent mountain bike road trip, I felt my confidence on the trail dip.. Why? I have no idea. It could be that I hadn’t been on the bike for a few weeks, and I needed to reacquaint myself with it, or a multitude of other reasons!!

Everyone Experiences Confidence Dips

Regardless of their skill level, every rider faces moments of doubt and nerves. These can be triggered by a variety of factors: a particularly challenging trail, a recent fall, a new trail or even just an off day. It's important to remember that this loss of confidence doesn't define your abilities or your enjoyment of the sport. Instead, it highlights an opportunity for growth.

Common Confidence Killers

  1. Technical Trails: Navigating rocky terrains, steep descents, or features can be daunting, even for experienced bikers.

  2. Falls and Injuries: Coming off or sustaining an injury can shake your confidence.

  3. New Trails: Riding on an unfamiliar trail can impact confidence. It’s always a good idea to do the first run at a very easy pace to suss it out. The more you ride a trail, the more familiar you become with it, and can increase the speed (only if you want to).

  4. Peer Pressure: Riding with others who are more skilled can be intimidating. I commonly hear, ‘Sorry, I am slow, do you want to go in front?’

Embracing the Process

1. Acknowledge Your Feelings

It's okay to feel scared or unsure. Recognise these emotions without beating yourself up.

2. Reflect and Learn

Use these moments as learning opportunities. Did something specific happen for you to lose confidence? Was it a specific obstacle or situation? Identifying the cause can help you address it effectively.

3. Practice
Allocate 10-15 minutes at the beginning of your ride to practice something that you want to improve. It could be a section of trail, a feature or corners. Before you know it, you will have conquered it without realising. If you have a friend who can video you, it’s great to watch and learn from.

4. Join a social ride with others

Join a community of mountain bikers. If you have felt a dip in confidence, you can guarantee others have too. Sharing experiences and fears with others can boost your confidence. From my experience, no one is worried whether you are fast or slow; they are just happy to be out riding with you.

5. Get off and walk

There is absolutely no shame in getting off your bike and walking a section. As a coach, this is much more preferable than a rider coming off and hurting themselves.

Celebrating the Journey

Mountain biking is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. Embrace the ups and downs, knowing that every rider experiences them. By acknowledging and accepting your moments of doubt, you can use them as stepping stones toward becoming a more confident and capable biker.

So, the next time you find yourself losing confidence on the trail, remember, it's okay, it happens to every rider.

And one more thing, we all have the same right to be out of the trails, you can walk sections and you don’t have to apologise to anyone.

Keep on riding.

Jo Prothero