Overcoming Mountain Biking Obstacles

Mountain bikes are made different from 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.

Because the rider is often far away from civilization, 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.

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, which are on top of the ground, or even fallen trees that you must navigate over. The key to learning how to react is to first learn how to use your body weight to make the bike do what you want. As an example, if you were approaching a small log that you need to ride over, you would not want to lean your body weight into the front of the bike, as this would surely flip you off. Instead, you would need to learn to shift your weight to the rear of the bike and lift the front end so that it 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 often cause the bike to throw you over the handlebars.

Always look out in front of you and know 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 the situation. Once you see an obstacle, and determine how you are going to get past it, continue to look out 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 usually no way to know what these obstacles are going to be, but you can learn how to handle them with trial and experience. It is important to your safety that you 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.