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When you're Brook Macdonald, you go hard – training or otherwise
To Brook Macdonald, going hard is the only way to go, even in a training routine. Here he details how he build fitness for downhill mountain bike racing.
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Yes, Brook Macdonald is a little wild. He regularly goes down fast as he can down steep and treacherous tracks and trails that are barely fit for a goat, let alone a bike.
The New Zealander is probably one of the most relaxed and insightful guys on the Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup, but that belies the steeliness, determination and self-confessed 'madness' that lurks behind his happy-go-lucky demeanour.
This fierce determination helped him overcome a major accident in 2019 that nearly ended his career. Macdonald broke two vertebrae in a crash at the World Championships that year. Having to overcome challenges like learning how to walk again, he's now back riding without any long-term issues, and the 30-year-old raced a full World Cup season in 2021.
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There were still some reservations in his mind about how he could cope with downhill racing, and so in the earlier part of the year, Macdonald, with the help of fellow Antipodean Remy Morton, built a downhill track in New Zealand. The track would test how fit his body was for high-level downhill riding and pushing the boundaries of the sport that has given him so much joy to date.
"Building this track, for me, is the biggest achievement coming back from my accident. That's what I lacked confidence in - doing scary, decent-sized jumps."
Watch Macdonald ride his Dream Track in the video below:
As can be seen from his riding for the Dream Track project, there's been no let-up in his training. He still goes in hard and with total commitment.
Read more below on how Macdonald approaches downhill training.
Give us a break down of how you train on and off the bike?
My sport is quite short. The intensity is super high, so we physically need to be in shape and be really well prepared for short burst, high intensity, explosive stuff. A lot of the training I do on the bike is based around a road bike actually because a road bike is way more consistent than being on a mountain bike. The explosive stuff is a lot easier to do on the flat, too, rather than doing it on a hill.
Gym work is important in building body strength, mobility and power
© Brad Hanson
Click on the videos to watch Brook Macdonald's favourite gym exercises
So you're on a full road bike set-up?
It's a full road setup, and over the years of training on a road bike, I've really got into it. So I do a bit of racing as well, and it's something different to downhill because downhill is individual. I race against the clock, but with road racing, there are tactics, and you're racing with and against other people. It spices things up.
You don’t mind riding up hill as well?
Definitely, more so on a road bike. On a mountain bike, it’s a bit harder. I know riding uphill definitely makes you stronger.
When you get on your mountain bike, what specifically do you work on?
I like to spend a day and put seven or eight laps in on a trail or track and really make those seven or eight laps count. Make sure my braking points are right, my corner speed is right, and then also just try to set the bike up as well. Setting the bike up is a lot harder when you’re on your own, but when you have your mechanic there, you can tell them how your bike feels, and they get an idea of what’s happening, and they can change the setup.
I try and ride my downhill bike as much as I can, focus on those key points I mentioned earlier, as well as get a good feel on the bike and improve each run. Put it this way, I don’t over-indulge in trying to do crazy stuff. The simpler it is, the easier I find it. You know, at the end of the day, I just like to ride my bike downhill fast.
Brook's training is about being ready for short bursts of high intensity
© Scott Sinton
Much of what you do goes beyond training? What else goes into making you good at downhill?
I guess being mad. You've got to be pretty mad to do this sport. It's a high-risk sport, and you have to be mentally prepared, mentally strong and mentally tough. What this sport can put you through is pretty crazy because we only get one final run. And the run is so short that you almost have to have your run perfected before your start; how you want it to go; and that can end within seconds because you've over pushed it, the track's changed, the weather has changed or any number of things.
One of the biggest challenges is how you mentally approach and adapt to those changes. There are other sports out there like that – downhill skiing is the same. When you’ve only got one run, you’ve got to make it count.
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