You might believe that you don’t want to go faster, but actually there are some great benefits to riding even just a little bit faster. The most obvious one of these is that your bike will roll over rougher ground more easily because of the extra momentum you have. In turn, you’ll actually have a smoother ride than if you were moving slowly and the wheels were getting caught up on every rock, root or hole on the trail.
So how does braking come into this? Well, have you ever been out riding in the rain, and when you applied your brakes, nothing really happened. How did it make you feel? If you’re anything like me, you were probably a bit alarmed! It doesn’t feel nice to not be able to slow down quickly and effectively after all.
So the point is that when you can brake effectively, and with good technique, you can actually ride faster.
I delve more deeply into good braking technique in this video: