How to Ride Mountain Bike – Part 2

photo courtesy Diane Ursu, Moronacity.com

In the previous article How to Ride Mountain Bike – Part 1 we talked about Training, how to select a suitable bike and Basic Techniques while riding a Bike. Now we will go in-depth and discuss about some of the riding techniques under different riding condition.

Riding Position

There are two riding position such as seated position and standing position otherwise called as “Attack Position” (neutral riding position). The Basic riding position is the standing position used when you approach any tight or twisty turns on technical terrain.

• Stand on the pedal, keep your butt out of saddle with shoulder and arm in relaxed position.
• Slightly bend you knees and elbow to absorb the shock bear by rough section of the trail. This will avoid any shock that pass on to your body.
• Do not crouch your upper body and try to keep your back straight at any riding condition.
• Keep your leg loose and do not hug your saddle with your thighs. Your arm and legs must act like a spring and should work with the suspension.

With the help of this riding position you can easily handle the bike well on corners and move the bike on any tough obstacles with great manoeuvrability. Seated riding position is used when you approach a flat trail or straight path but not so good when the trail gets technical and tough.

Braking Skills

Learn how to use the front brake along with the rear brake correctly and this is the best way to control your bike when driving at great speed. Do not use the front brake alone and this may throw you over the handlebar. The front brake gives a major portion of stopping power and it must be used properly along with back brake to slow down the bike during the steep slope.

• Simply practice on steep slope applying the front brake alone using one or two fingers and not whole hand.
• Do not stop the bike quickly by suddenly jamming the brake, you may skid the bike.
• Gently hold the brake with modulation instead of grabbing, apply consistent braking to have smooth stopping power.

The brake lever can be adjusted based on your reach (amount of movement) and feel (tight or soft). This way you can make it easy to reach the brake lever with just one or two fingers. You might come across a situation where you need emergency stopping when you see big obstacles on the trial while driving down the hill.

• Put your body weight on the rear wheel by going far back on the saddle, move back as much as you can and slowly apply the front brake to slow down the speed. You will not be thrown over the handlebar since, all your body weight is on the back wheel.
• Make sure you will not skid while descending because you may go out of control. You can safely stop the bike before hitting the obstacles down the hill but condition change when you drive on a wet trail. You need to be cautions when riding on a new trail.

Climbing Skills

Climbing up a steep hill is again a more fun in mountain biking also you need some skill to climb up the steepest hills.

• Ride a correct bike size with suitable cockpit length before you make up to the hill.
• Check your bike and ensure that the fittings are perfect otherwise you will have a lot of trouble climbing.
• If you use front suspension fork turn the lockout lever on.
• Change to a lower gear to make it easier to climb.
• Be seated and slightly bend your elbow, lower your upper body over the handlebar to put the weight in the front to give your wheels some traction.
• Keep your head down and pedal quickly to over come roots and rocks in the path.
• If you find difficult to over come some technical path then just stand up and pedal quickly, this will keep your momentum going up the hill.
• Save your energy for big push over any big obstacles near a short steep section, around a switchback or big steep.

Attempting Switchbacks

Three basic steps to be followed before you get into cornering:

• Keep your outside leg extended.
• Slightly lean into the corner to balance the weight.
• Stay in a neutral riding position and this will improve the tire contact with the ground.

Always be focussed on the exit point of the turn and slow down a little before the turn to have total control over the corner. Adjust your brake lever for comfortable reach to have more control over both the front and rear brake. This will improve cornering especially on switchbacks.

Basically you will encounter slow speed turns as well as high speed turns in the corner. When you attempt for slow speed turn:

• Take up easy way to pass the turn without any obstacles on the path.
• Be cautious over the wet trails.
• Down the gear before leaving the corner.
• When you come across sharp high speed turns:
• Take a wide turn as possible to have enough time to complete the corner
• Follow three basic steps for cornering as said before to avoid skidding.

Approaching Steep Slopes – Down the Hill

• While approaching a steep decent slow down the bike to shift body positions and put your body weight on the rear wheel by going far back on the saddle, move back as much as you can.
• Have a wide grip on the handlebar and use the brakes effectively to control the bike. Read the Braking section above to learn how to apply brake when driving down the steep hill.
• While going down the hill your speed will increase, this speed could be very friendly and helps to roll over any bumps. Be prepared getting back to normal riding position after a descent to avoid any crash.

Final Note

Practice-Practice-Practice, if you want to enjoy mountain biking then take time and practice some skills. Include some of the interesting skills in your goal such as jumping, bunny hopping, dropping in, perfect landing, hopping up, jumping a log, handling more technical stuff like rocks and roots. Ride a lot and have fun.