Mountain Biking

Overview

Mountain biking is, in Burbridge's practice, a mostly solo discipline conducted at whatever time of day the trail is least crowded. The terrain is the exam. The bike is the pen. You do not argue with either.

Lessons from the Trail

• Look where you want to go, not at what you want to avoid. Your wheels follow your eyes. Also applies to careers.
• Commit to the line. Hedging mid-feature is how you fall. Pick the line. Trust it.
• Momentum is forgiveness. Scared-slow is dangerous. Controlled-fast is safer than it sounds.
• Read the trail ahead. You cannot react to what you're already on top of.
• Brakes modulate, not decide. Grab them fully and the bike decides for you.
• Walk the feature you're not ready for. Ego costs collarbones.

Maintenance

The bike is treated as any other tool: cleaned after each use, checked before each ride, rebuilt once a season. Burbridge has been known to true a wheel at 10 PM the night before a ride, a habit colleagues describe as "of course."

"The trail doesn't care if your shock is serviced. It will find out." — Burbridge, pre-ride