Originally Posted by
qclabrat
I have a trail by me like that, it's about 2 miles of just constant tight rights and lefts.
Try riding on your saddle and off to see how quickly you can react and make your bike navigate each turn. Notice how when off the saddle while making turns, the saddle gets in the way. The lower saddle positions helps you to separate you from the bike, which is what you'll eventually want to do. Riding off the saddle for extended periods will take time to build up, so expect fatigue. Also being off the saddle follows a simple rule of mtbing where you should have light hands and heavy feet. Meaning you ease off the grips and weight the pedals for better traction.
This is one of those “you have to try it, then you’ll understand” things. Just like I resisted for 15 years things like 29” wheels, tubeless tires, lower air pressure, wider handlebars and 1X shifting, the advantages of which all became clear once I had a new bike with all those things. Sigh....