Mark Langton

As a mountain bike coach for more than 20 years, I have coached thousands of riders and have boiled down the best tips for efficient riding.

I got involved with the sport of mountain biking back in 1983, but I’d been riding in the hills on bicycles all the way back to 1969. We raced our modified Schwinn Stingrays on downhill tracks we built ourselves, pre-dating the BMX and mountain bike craze by at least a couple of years, and trail-building by cyclists by several more!

From the very first ride in Caballero Canyon (Reseda, California), I was hooked, and there was no looking back. A couple of years later I took up racing, and in 1987-1990 I was a Yeti factory sponsored rider, attaining the rank of Expert in both the downhill and cross country. I still race downhill from time to time, but I’d rather just ride the fantastic trails we have here in the Santa Monica Mountains and Rim of the Valley Corridor.

An interest in journalism led me to a position in 1987 with Mountain Biking magazine, and for over seven years I helped edit the magazine during the mountain bike boom. I was also very fortunate to have covered the races and ridden with some of the very best mountain bikers in the world, including John Tomac, Ned Overend, Greg Herbold, Cindy Whitehead, and Cindy Devine. At the same time, land access advocacy began heating up, and I found myself shoulder to shoulder with others in the Los Angeles area who wanted to keep trails open to mountain biking. We formed the Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association, and I served as a Steering Committee member for over 13. In 2009 I joined the Board of Directors and in 2010 I was voted in as the organization's President.

In 1987 I began teaching mountain bike skills for the Learning Tree University. In 1992 I helped CORBA implement the Introduction to Mountain Bike Skills class, which I still teach today. All of my racing and riding experience, along with seeing the best racers in the world, has enabled me to develop a teaching style that quickly identifies areas where you can improve. This is the essence of Mountain Bike Master.

I believe that mountain biking is a lot like golf, tennis or skiing. There are biomechanical movements that are not necessarily intuitive to the rider. However, just a few minor adjustments in technique can make a huge difference in your control and proficiency. If you want to get better faster, you need to know the fundamentals of mountain biking technique. Whether you’re just getting into mountain biking or have been riding for years, I guarantee you’ll learn some valuable tips.