Top 5 Mountain Cycling Tips and Techniques for Beginners

by Amisha Lohan Blogger

Starting a mountain cycling journey requires a balanced combination of bike-handling skills and the fitness of the rider. As compared to road riding, mountain riding can be risky, and you need to remain mentally prepared to face these risks and come out as a winner.

If you are an amateur mountain rider, you must have seen videos of professional riders who conveniently ride over rocks, trails, roots, and multiple other obstacles. However, it requires consistent practice to learn and master the techniques and skills. Therefore, as a beginner, you need to know the basic techniques to start your journey and keep on practicing to get better with time.

Here are some critical tips you must follow on your first mountain ride.

1. Select a place before you start riding

Many amateur mountain riders randomly go to a site for their first ride. This can be daunting as you hardly know what obstacles you may face. Therefore, it is better to select a site before you start riding. By doing this, you will know where you need to turn and what obstacles are coming your way. This helps you decide on the steps you need to take to ride safely.

2. Take a Break to Cross the Obstacle

When you ride on the road, a break is necessary before any speed breaker, a vehicle, or even a person to avoid accidents. However, in mountain riding, if you take a break before an obstacle, it may lead to an accident. Although the thought of jumping over a large stone can be intimidating, if you take a break just before the obstacle, you might experience a sudden fall. Therefore, you must practise braking techniques to use them to your advantage during the ride.

3. Stand and Ride

There's a reason why all professional mountain riders stand and ride. However, most beginners prefer the seated position as they feel it gives them better control. Although it is not entirely a wrong thing to do, it can reduce the flexibility required for mountain riding.

The correct technique while riding on a mountain includes sitting while you are pedalling, but when you need to jump over a hurdle, you must stand on the pedal to adjust your weight with the required flexibility.

4. Understand the Cornering Technique

This is the most crucial technique a beginner needs to learn to complete the trail successfully. To master the cornering technique, you need to bend your body and lift it just above the seat and shift the outside leg and upper torso weight to the opposite side of the track. This keeps the moving cycle well-balanced and reduces the chances of a fall.

5. Keep your Body Flexible

Most beginner mountain riders keep their body stiff throughout the trail. This can lead to body soreness and fatigue. You must keep your body loose and flexible to prevent any impact of this sport on your body. The best idea is to let the cycle take all the impact as it comes with sturdy suspensions, and you take the job of focusing on the track and guiding the cycle where it needs to go.

Items you need for Mountain Cycling

Apart from knowing the tips and having a sturdy bicycle with strong suspensions, you need a few other items before you hit the trail. These include the following:

● Helmet: Select a strong helmet designed particularly for mountain riding. In addition, you must also check if it fits your head appropriately.

● Gloves: Some riders prefer to go bike riding without a glove. However, a set of gloves that offer optimum grip is necessary to prevent slips caused by sweat.

● Mountain bike shoes: This is another important item that can change the game. These shoes are designed to offer an excellent grip required for mountain bike riding.

● Knee pads: These protective gears are a must to avoid any damage to your knees.

Conclusion

Mountain cycling is an active sport, and its skills can only be mastered by rigorous practice. You can buy any among the popular bicycles for men to start your journey towards adventurous mountain cycling.