Overcoming Mountain Biking Obstacles

Mountain bikes and styles of mountain bikes are made differently to normal bikes for obvious reasons. Normal bikes don’t encounter the obstacles found in mountain biking. Mountain biking obstacles are everywhere you look. There may be a ditch which crosses the biking path, downed tree limbs and branches may get in the way, or you might encounter large, loose rocks along the trail.

It is important to learn how to overcome mountain biking obstacles. To do this requires a certain amount of survival skill. If you hit a sharp object and have a flat tire, you will have one of two choices. You either have the necessary items with you to fix the flat, or you walk back the way you came. Walking is usually not the biker’s idea of having fun on the trail, especially if you are a long way from your base.

Tips To Help You Handle Those Obstacles

There are videos and articles that will help you understand how to deal with mountain biking obstacles. When riding in wooded terrain, there is the very high probability that you will encounter roots of trees on top of the ground, or even fallen trees that you must navigate over. The key to learning how to react, is knowing how to use your body weight to make the bike do what you want. As an example, when approaching a small log that you will ride over, you would not lean your body weight into the front of the bike, as this would flip you off, but by shifting your weight to the rear of the bike and lifting the front end, you would clear the obstacle.

Another way to deal with obstacles while mountain biking, is to approach an object at a speed that will allow you to roll over it. Slowing down, when approaching an object, will cause the bike to throw you over the handlebars.

Always look ahead and see what the terrain is like before you get to it. This will allow you the time to determine how you are going to deal with any situation. Once you see an obstacle and determine how you are going to pass it, continue looking in front of you, and not down at the obstacle. Looking down will more likely get you hurt.

If you are going to ride the backwoods trails, there is no doubt that you will encounter mountain biking obstacles on each and every ride. There is no way to know what these obstacles are going to be, but you can learn how to handle them through experience. It is important to your safety to always ride on trails that are within your skill range. You can progress to more difficult trails once you have mastered the basics of dealing with obstacles.