Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling
Okay - so I'm looking for help with mountain biking.
I'm aware it's a skill, and I'm wondering how I get better at this skill. At my advanced age and with my lack of free time I'm not going to go practice certain skills. What I do have time for is going out and riding around for exercise and with that I can log some hours which equates to practice.
1. I can't climb some steep hills. I see other bike tracks and assume people go up these? Obviously there's some that people have only gone down, hence the tracks. But I'm certain some of these people go up. I stall out and fall to the side and have to walk/push.
a) this happens because I lose traction
b) I lose speed
c) I feel like I'm going to flip over backwards
I've tried experimenting with body position lean forward to keep weight ahead and low. Sometimes it helps, other times I damned no matter what I do.
Try gearing down. Sometimes staying seated and pedaling is the best option, keeps some weight over the back tire. I usually stand and pedal. The rest of it involves some practice and general conditioning. I have never flipped backwards, I would think you would need to be going up a very steep hill to do this
2. Going down some embankments. This I think might be 50% skill 50% fear. But part of me wonders if I suck it up and go (like a drop I saw the other day, mini cliff, then steep run to flat. Kinda like dropping off the ski jumps onto the out run (obviously way smaller). Now I could just slowly go off, but assume my undercarriage is just going to hit the dirt before my front wheel hits the ground and the rest of me. At which point I'll likely bail and slide down the embankment in a sad mess.
If you go slow try and pull up on your front wheel. Practicing this skill will help, you just need to find a smaller drop off. Make sure when you do this that both your pedals are paralell to the ground and not in the 12/6 position.
3. Roots. Do you try to maneuver them? Or just bump along over them?
This can be tricky, when you are riding along your bike wants to keep moving forward, however, roots can be a challenge if they are slippery. When tackling them you want your pedals paralell to the ground and you may find it helpful to be standing so your legs and arms can absorb some of the bouncing around
4. Traffic, I'm going pretty slowly, but what about the other people I've seen flying through these trails. What happens when we encounter each other head on?
The general rule is that those going downhill yield to those going uphill. Otherwise you should ensure you are riding under control and ringing your bell in areas with blind corners. Try not to make the trail any wider by riding off of it.
5. Clips. I have shoes and clips, I love them and couldn't imagine not being clipped in. That said, when I reach a point that I stall out, climbing, steering, etc and I stop. Trying to get back into them on a hill, narrow path, turn, etc screws me royally.
6. Seat to high? My seat is in a great position for riding. However not for running into all the above problems. It's a huge height to get my leg back over if I've had to stop or climb off for the above. Not to mention this always transpires where it's tough to do anything, throw in the clip issue above.
The general rule is that if you place the heel of your foot on the pedal there should be a slight bend in your knee. I have seen a math formula that involves measuring your inseam and multiplying by some number and that should be the distance from the top of your seat to some point on your crank - I am sure that if you googled this you would find it. Getting back on your bike on an uphill grunt is difficult, once you are off it is best to push until the grade becomes less severe. If you are riding someplace where you have to get off a lot, you might want to consider temporarily lowering your seat.
.
|