I really enjoy the sport of mountain biking. In this big paragraph will be my behind the scene exclusive to how I started mountain biking, and I'm not talking
about riding those fake wannabe mountain bike jumpping around curbs or speedbumps. I'm talking about taking it to the limit.
Riding through singletracks at 30kmh and downhills at 60kmh. One mistake and there goes your skin. E k k! But that's beside my point.
It all started when a couple of my friends and I took our $100 klunkers into the trails for a test ride. As it turns out,
the more I pushed my red 12 speed Zellers bike, the more I enjoyed it.
It got to a point where I couldn't stand riding that "thing" anymore and decided
to buy a 21 speed Norco for $270. Norco went a little faster, a little smoother,
and bit more stable. Well, you've probably guessed it. It's time for a new ride. I sold the Norco and got myself a new Diamond Back with front suspension.
You have to remember that 5 years ago, if you have suspension on your bike ( no matter what kind ), you'll turn heads!
Now days, every bike out there has suspension. Nevertheless, the new ride costed me $600, but I spent another $400 on upgrades. It's not that great, but enough to satisfy me.
Now that I've got a decent bike, I started riding
extreme. Extreme as in flying off 4ft dropoffs, downhills like mad and cornering like crazy. This can only mean two things. 1, more injuries. 2, spending more money on broken gears.
After a year of riding in all types of conditions, I mastered some great riding techniques. So I entered my first race and ended up in 27th. Why you ask? Because I lacked endurance.
Thats the fundamental part of mountain bike racing. I was second or third in skills competetion, but embarrassed myself in the actual race. Still, I didnt train and just
went all hardcore on the next race, which earned me a pitty 12th place. The third race, imporved to 10th and that's the best I could do.
Soon after, I quit racing and started Trials riding.
Its another form of biking, as in skills/technical riding.
Everything was going fine until my skills out-performed what my bike could handle and since I no job and no more for a better bike, I gave up.
So here's my lazy couch potatoe ass sitting here typing HTML and playing with my computer. Jus joking. I still go for rides once in awhile to burn calories and keep me fit.
R i d i n g . T i p s
Here are some general tips for beginners.
Make sure your tire pressure is roughly around 28-32psi
Riding through bumps, absorb as much as you can with your legs and arms.
Hard cornering, slam on rear brakes and lean towards the corner
Riding down steep slope, lean back and use front brakes as hard as possible without losing traction or flipping over your bike.
Its ok to lock the rear brakes, as long as you dont mind losing rear wheel traction.
If you are going to crash, bail out so you don't get tangled up in the bike and trees and maybe some squirrls.
Keep your bike in good condition and your bike will keep you out of the dirt (ouch!)