You always take the go-around past that one log (or drop or boulder). Want to finally send it? Liz Cunningham has the secret sauce to getting you through the most technical sections with confidence. The Denver-based mountain bike coach works with Vida MTB Series—women-led mountain bike clinics across the country that fosters skills, confidence, and community. The backcountry skier added biking to her repertoire when she learned she could find thrilling descents and technical challenges year round on the dirt. She has since sharpened her coaching skills in order to empower other riders, and sat down to talk with Bicycling about her journey into the dirt world and her coaching and learning philosophies.
How did you get into mountain biking?
I moved to Tahoe in 2012, and met a now-ex boyfriend who was a very good rider. He took me to my first shuttle ride in the Sierra Nevadas, and I thought I was going to die. I was super intimidated because I was with a bunch of dudes in full-face helmets and pads, and I was thinking “What is this trail going to be like?!” I didn’t have pads, just a half-shell helmet. But I didn’t die, and it was super fun and I loved it. I used to be a big backcountry skier, and it’s pretty much the same mentality—you work really hard to get up to a point and then you go downhill really fast.
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What do you love about cycling?
Every day on your bike can be a learning experience, and it can take you to the most amazing places in the world. It’s a tool for exploration and community. I haven’t met anybody who rides a bike who doesn’t have an interesting story. We come together through this passion to ride and help each other and then drink a beer or LaCroix and high five in the parking lot.
What is your favorite coaching technique?
Sessioning! Like doing sections over and over. I recently had coaching time with a guy who is a good rider, but a little timid, so we repeated sections to build his confidence. For example, we went down a trail and there was an inside steep rocky line to a right hander with a tree right there. I showed him how I rode it, really slow and controlled a few times, and encouraged him to try while I was spotting. He rolled up to it twice and dabbed his foot, and then on the third try, he did it. He was so excited—he told me he never would have seen that line, and would have never worked up to it like that on his own.
How did you start coaching?
I started volunteering with Vida MTB, a program that runs women-led mountain bike clinics throughout the summer. I started out as just doing sweep on rides. I got to observe the coaches, their style, and how they get through things. A couple years ago I got my IMBA Level 1 coaching license—and since, Level 2—and continued to coach with Vida, eventually taking on my first lead coaching role in the summer of 2017.
What is the most important thing to remember when you’re taking someone out on a mountain bike for the first time?
I like to make them feel appropriately confident. If they’ve never been on a mountain bike, most people’s biggest fear is braking, because they’re heard horror stories of people grabbing their front brake and going over the bars, and they’re afraid of rocks. Center your weight over the bottom bracket too, because one thing a lot of beginners think they need to get their weight back if they’re descending something steep, but if you throw it back too far you’re going to lose all the traction on your front wheel and fall.
What is your coaching philosophy?
Safety first. I want to be able to make sure those being coached are learning the safest way to get down things. Safety also comes from being confident, but not overly confident. I always say that if you can envision yourself doing something, then you’re probably at a point where you can try it. But if you can’t see yourself going off this drop, maybe today is not the day.
In every group that I do, regardless of level, we start with the same fundamentals. Body position and braking are my two basics, because if you can master those two skills, it comes in handy in technical sections, uphills, cornering, and jumps.
What do you wish somebody would have told you when you first started riding?
Ride with people that are faster and more skilled than you because it’s helpful to follow them through lines. Also, look where you want to go. If you look at the tree, then you’re probably going to hit the tree. That tip alone has helped me gain speed, because you can look way ahead and you don’t get caught up in what is right in front of you.
