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Massey Study – Participants required

clip_image004It is well understood by the cycling community that there is an added demand placed on an athlete while descending during XCO-MTB. It is also well understood that an increase in performance down a hill could help a rider save energy and reduce time taken to complete a given course.

While many enthusiasts and athletes feel this is important, the degree of this importance and how it relates to performance is not well understood. Specifically, this study aims to determine the metabolic and physical cost of descending on trails typical of an XCO-MTB race and how this will affect subsequent efforts. This will be compared to the same information while descending on a road. Information gathered from this study will help coaches, athletes and enthusiasts determine how to most effective allot training time, determine race strategy and maintain safety.

We require 10 male participants ≥16 years of age who are free from injury for the last six months and competed in a National-level race between 2012 and 2014.

Testing will include one laboratory fitness test and two separate sessions descending a singletrack trail typical of XCO-MTB and a road descent. Each test session will take up to 90 minutes. Participants will have access to their own results and group mean data.