Basic Mountain Biking Teckniques

Mountain biking is an exciting hobby that actually looks tame in comparison to some of the extreme sports that people regularly take part in these days. Mountain biking teckniques are important and differ from the skills you learnt when riding a bike as a kid. This is because the terrain you will be traveling over on a mountain bike is completely different from the sidewalks and paved roads you rode over as a kid. You will encounter obstacles and speeds that need a different set of skills. The basics of mountain biking teckniques will help to keep you safe and avoid accidents.

Focus

The posture you have when on your mountain bike is very important. Knowing how to sit in the saddle and how much weight you should put on your seat are very important. First of all you need to have focus, when mountain biking concentrate on what you are doing. Push all the worries and problems you have away, you can’t be worrying about your mortgage or the fight you had with your wife, thoughts like that will have you flying off your bike when you don’t see that rock or patch of gravel.

Think ahead, your line of vision should be a meter or two in front of you. Never focus on the rider ahead of you or just the front wheel of your bike. Keeping your vision ahead is one of the mountain biking teckniques that will help you from colliding with anything or anyone. This will prevent you from hesitating when you come across obstacles because you have already seen them from some distance and can deal with them.

Grip

It may seem trivial but making sure that your thumb is not above the handlebar is one of the basic mountain biking teckniques that will also keep you safe. When your thumb is above the handle bar you can loose your grip very easily, this means that any unexpected bump in the road will make you let go of the handlebars and result in a messy spill. Gripping the handlebars too tightly is also not a good idea. This will tire you out, as your upper body will be tensed throughout your ride. At the same time you don’t want your grip to be too loose.

Posture

When you are going downhill you want you weight to be towards the back of your bike, not the front. This means sliding back in the saddle rather than leaning forward, no matter how tempting that may be. This gives you more time to deal with obstacles that crop up and inevitably do on downhill rides and any path that slopes down, no matter how gentle. This is one of those mountain biking teckniques that will prevent you from having a bad fall. Think about the difference of falling backwards off your bike and flying forwards.