You don't need to be in Hawaii to experience slippery clay and rock downhills. As many an off-road racer has discovered, this combination can be found almost anywhere. For advice on how to tackle this obstacle without ending up on our head, we turned to Team Throttlehead.com Kawasaki racer Steve Hatch. With nearly two decades of racing experience under his belt, Hatch has no doubt encountered this situation many times. Here's how he safely gets to the bottom in the least amount of time without any drama.
"In a downhill section," Hatch says, "you'll want to constantly scan far down the trail so you can pick out the straightest, fastest and easiest line before you arrive at a certain spot. The main reason is you won't have very much traction as you head down the hill, which hinders your ability to change lines. Looking far ahead means there will be no surprises, and you should be able to descend at your maximum speed with a minimized risk of crashing."
"The next important move is to position your body back toward the rear fender. This enables you to hold the bike tightly between your legs with your weight over the rear wheel, keeping the front end light so it can float over obstacles. Remember to be smooth with the brakes-try not to skid them, and use them only as hard as you need. And always look for the best places to apply them. Too often I see riders applying their brakes on slippery rocks or roots-exactly where you actually should let off the brakes for an instant to avoid losing control of the bike. When you do find good braking real estate, try to keep the bike perpendicular to the ground. This provides the best traction for slowing."
"You also need to keep your elbows up. To accomplish this, you may have to change your grip slightly. Allowing your palms to push up and out on the grip lets your elbows come out and gives you more leverage on the handlebar and more strength to handle the front end should it slide. This also helps you set up to gas or clutch it not to stall or drop into a sitting position to dab across slippery ruts. This all translates into more control and safer and faster descents."