It turns out, perfecting stair-riding will help both your Urban Slayer reputation AND your ability to tackle technical singletrack.  Mother nature (and trail builders) frequently throw stair-like features our way on the trail.  Perfecting your stair riding will, in turn, better prepare you to smoothly sail down these features.

No more bobble head. No more bumpity bumpity.  Here is how you can make riding stairs look and feel smooth and easy.

1. Start Small

As tempting as it may be to go find the steepest gnarliest looking stairs in your city – we recommend starting with a relatively small set of stairs. 3 – 6 steps with a direct entry and clear exit.  Build up from there.

2. Get Ready

The Ready Position is your best friend when it comes to riding stairs.  Get into your descending ready position with your body back and low enough to maintain even weight on your front and back tires.  You should NOT be hanging off the back of the bike as you will lose the ability to effectively control that front wheel.  It’s critical that you have even weight on your pedals as well.  This will result in your pedals being parallel to the ground (stairs).

3. Ride Perpendicular

No need to get fancy, start with your bike perpendicular to the stairs and ride in a direct line down the stairs.  Keep that front wheel facing straight ahead.

4. Keep It Moving

The slower you go, the bumpier your stairs will be.  Choose a speed fast enough to smooth out the bumps while still maintaining control of your bike.

5. Weight In Your Feet

Keep a firm grip on your handlebars, but not a death grip. Focus your weight in your feet and allow your upper body (arms and legs) to absorb the bumps as you ride down the stairs.  Remember, weight in your feet does not mean lock-out your legs. Rather, keep those legs working like springs to absorb the bike and bumps as you float down them.

6. Relax / Breath

Relax your body, stay loose and remember to breathe!

7. Heads Up!

As you come over the top of the first step, direct your vision to the end of the stairs and as you approach the end of the stairs, bring your head (and eyes!) up to look where you’re going next.

8. Find More Steps, Repeat

Once you’ve got a small set of stairs, find some bigger ones and do it all over again!

9. Take it to the trail!

Getting comfortable on a set of stairs has direct applications to riding technical sections of trails. Next time you come across a set of small water-bars or a series of rocky ledges, activate those stair riding skills and find yourself floating down the trail.

It’s time to slay some stairs!