If you want to ride like a pro, you should learn from a pro! In Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, Third Edition, world-champion racer Brian Lopes and renowned riding coach Lee McCormack share their elite perspectives, real-life race stories, and their own successful techniques to help riders of all styles and levels build confidence and experience the full exhiliration of the sport. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills is the best-selling guide for all mountain biking disciplines, including enduro, pump track racing, dual slalom, downhill, cross-country, fatbiking, and 24-hour races. It absolutely captures the sport and offers everything you need to maximize performance and excitement on the trail. Learn how to select the proper bike and customize it for your unique riding style. Develop a solid skills base so you can execute techniques with more power and precision. Master the essential techniques to help you carve every corner, nail every jump, and conquer every obstacle in your path. Last, but not least, prepare yourself to handle every type of weather and trail condition that the mountain biking world throws at you. Whether you’re a recreational rider looking to rock the trails with friends, are a seasoned enthusiast, or are aspiring to be a top pro, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills will improve your ride and dust the competition. Don't just survive the trail—own the trail, and enjoy the thrill of doing it.

In this fun, friendly primer, The Mountain Bike Experience, Dave King, acknowledged as a mountain biking "guru" by Sports Illustrated, opens the sport to everyone--young or old, athletic or not. Along the way, you'll discover how to keep fit, enjoy the great outdoors, and even change your outlook on life's everyday challenges. With an approach the New York Times dubbed "Zen and the art of mountain biking," King has helped thousands of riders discover the sport, as founder and former director of the Mount Snow Mountain Bike Center in Vermont. Now King shares the total experience of mountain biking, with a special focus on the emotional and spiritual rewards the sport can offer--both on and off the trail. After all, says King, "mountain biking is not a series of obstacles, but a succession of opportunities. Attitude, not ability, sets your limits." Comprehensive in scope, The Mountain Bike Experience covers: Conquering fear and embracing challenges Skills and techniques for all levels and all types of terrain Basic bike maintenance, including "Dave's 10-Step Program to Keep Your Bike in Top Running Condition" Trail selection and navigation Safety, repairs, training and conditioning Buying your first mountain bike and the gear to go with it Exploring and protecting the natural environment In addition, a handy appendix lists a variety of sources--including nonprofit organizations, bike tour companies, publications, and online resources--to aid in the further pursuit of mountain biking. Hit the trail with Dave King and discover the thrilling world of off-road riding.

What Makes this Book Unique? No crystal ball is required to safely predict, that in the future – even more than in the past – mastered innovativeness will be a primary criterion distinguishing s- cessful from unsuccessful companies. At the latest since Michael Porter’s study on the competitiveness of nations, the same criterion holds even for the evaluation of entire countries and national economies. Despite the innumerable number of p- lications and recommendations on innovation, competitive innovativeness is still a rare competency. The latest publication of UNICE – the European Industry - ganization representing 20 million large, midsize and small companies – speaks a clear language: Europe qualifies to roughly 60% (70%) of the innovation strength of the US (Japan). The record unemployment in many EU countries does not c- tradict this message. A main reason may be given by the fact that becoming an innovative organi- tion means increased openness towards the new and more tolerance towards risks and failures, both challenging the inherently difficult management art of cultural change. Further, lacking innovativeness is often related to legal and fiscal barriers which rather hinder than foster innovative activities. Yet another reason to explain Europe’s notorious innovation gap refers to insufficient financial R&D resources on the company as well as on the national level. As a result, for example, hi- ranking decisions on the level of the European Commission are taken to increase R&D expenditures in the European Union from roughly 2% to 3% of GNP.