In mountain biking, comparison is almost impossible to avoid.

Most times you ride, you’re subconsciously assessing yourself based on the people around you. You’re observing how other riders perform at practice, you’re aware that a crowd of hundreds is watching you race, or you’re poring over race results that rank riders by mere seconds. With so much external comparison, it’s easy to get caught up in the expectations of others instead of focusing on your own experience on the bike.

Middle and high school is a time where we’re hyper-focused on what others think of us. While external pressures and expectations exist at every age, the teen years make it particularly difficult to separate outside noise from our own desires. More often than not, we curate our personality, style, or mountain biking habits based on comparison to others.

Over the seven years I’ve been mountain biking, my motivations for racing and training have constantly evolved. As a middle school rider, I’d show up to practice because mountain biking was a resource to regulate my mental and social well-being. But I really struggled with my transition into JV and varsity racing in high school. I felt pressure to train and race to prove myself as a student-athlete. This completely shifted my riding from internally to externally motivated.

I became hyper-aware of bad race results, because I feared they would reflect negatively on my abilities as a team captain or mountain biker. I was worried that people would see me as undeserving or uncommitted because I wasn’t performing at the same level as other racers who trained with a coach year-round. This shifted the value of riding and racing from a personal pursuit to one focused on managing others’ perceptions of me.

Trying to ride for other people is exhausting. The constant comparison and fear I wasn’t doing enough flipped my love for the sport into burnout and low self-esteem. Between my sophomore and junior seasons, I realized my motivation was rooted in external expectations rather than personal passion. Basing your motivation on comparison ultimately won’t lead to a fulfilling experience. This is why it’s essential to ride for reasons that tap into your unique passion for mountain biking. The reason I love mountain biking is the same reason I loved it in middle school: it gives me a safe, fun, and healthy outlet. So I made it my goal to return to this mindset in my final season of NICA racing. Here are some of the positive mindset skills I’ve learned:

Journaling:

The night before races, I journal. I write down my mantra, what I’m grateful for, and what I’m looking forward to. I also set goals. I make sure these are process goals, which are focused on specific outcomes I can control (like “I want to drink a full bottle during my second lap”), not goals that are dependent on outcomes I can’t directly control (like “I want to place third”). By putting into words my intentions, and by making sure these intentions are rooted in actions within my control, I start my race knowing I’m fully in charge of what I want to get out of the ride.

Time to myself:

Another important resource I use in order to direct my mindset away from comparison is time to myself. When I frequently ride with a lot of people, comparison and external expectations grow. Although I love riding with my teammates, I also find a lot of value in going out on rides by myself, at my own pace. This helps me mentally reset and reconnect with my skill and passion for the sport, which is sometimes overshadowed when I’m focused on those around me. I also take time before my race to sit alone and meditate, eat, or nap. This helps me prepare to focus and gives me space to remind myself what process goals I want to achieve.

Riding with gratitude:

One of the most impactful things I’ve worked on is shifting my mentality when I’m on the bike. It’s easy to become hyperfixated on the discomfort of riding or what’s going on around you. But when I ride, I just want to enjoy the experience. In order to cultivate this, I choose to go out every ride and every race with gratitude. Sometimes I write what I’m grateful for, sometimes I verbalize it, or sometimes I just think about it. I dive into all the things I’m grateful mountain biking gives me, such as “I’m grateful I get to travel to races with my whole family,” “I’m grateful for the friends and role models I have from mountain biking,” or “I am grateful for the beautiful scenery I get to ride through.” Riding with gratitude shifts my thinking from “What do people think of my riding?” to “I’m so glad I get to ride today.”

Sharing the experience with others:

Sports and performance psychologist Dr. Lenny Wiersma suggests “dedicating” each part of your race to someone or something. I’ve found this habit beneficial because it helps me focus on something bigger than myself or my pain while I’m riding. I divide my dedications into the three varsity laps, but you can also do it by time, distance, or parts of the course. When I dedicate my laps, I choose three different people whom I am grateful for and race a lap for each of them. Often, I share how I’m dedicating a lap to them. It’s easy to become your own worst critic when you’re racing. Dedicating laps gives me a positive and rewarding way to channel my motivation, shifting my focus from results to an appreciation for the people I care about.

While pressure and comparison will always be present, cultivating riding habits like journaling, taking time for yourself, riding with gratitude, and dedicating your experience to others can help you recenter your focus to what matters most. By intentionally shifting your mindset away from expectations and towards your own intrinsic motivation, you can amplify what brings you the most joy in biking. Whether it’s racing and working hard or going on rides simply to enjoy nature, mountain biking is a lifelong sport, and ensuring you ride for yourself will help keep it that way.

This content was authored by NICA’s coach education team. NICA’s comprehensive coach education program provides new and existing coaches with the high-quality training and resources they need to be confident, competent, and empowered leaders on their youth mountain bike teams. NICA coaches not only create amazing experiences for student-athletes, they create a foundation for building healthy mountain bike communities. NICA coaches change lives! 

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