5 great tips for getting the most out of your cycle

Here are our 5 great tips to help you enjoy a good cycle…..

Before you ride

Mountain biking is an exciting sport that can be enjoyed by everyone who knows how to ride a bike. The first thing is: get a helmet and wear it. Modern helmets are comfortable, stylish and every serious mountain biker wears one. Then sit on your bike and pedal around. Your seat height should be adjusted so your leg is about 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every pedal stroke. Your body must be loose and relaxed. How to shift and when? Higher gears are harder to pedal and will go faster while lower gears are easier to pedal and help you get up hills. Try to get used to what gears you need to be in to comfortably go up different pitched hills.

Maintaining your energy

If you want to keep at the peak of your game then you will need a good source of energy to keep you going. Firstly a good meal a few hours before a cycle is needed – carbs and protein are a good source of energy. Immediately before you ride I suggest eating an energy bar and remember to take fluids for the duration of your ride. Your body needs fuel to keep going. After a good cycle treat yourself to a good source of protein and a mixture of good carbs – chicken and sweet potatoes for example.

Mountain bike safety

There are a lot of ways to improve mountain bike safety, to get a helmet for instance and any other appropriate safety equipment for the riding conditions. If you don’t know your abilities, there is no shame to walk during your ride if you don’t feel confident enough to ride. You must use an appropriate equipment for the terrain (wheels, brakes, mountain bikes…), keep your speed in check to adjust any obstacles and be careful in blind corners, slow down and pay attention. Remember to plan ahead and take bike lights, with working batteries, if you plan to be out in the evening.

Bike maintenance

These inspections are quick and easy and taking no more than 30 seconds total. You will be taking some very effective steps to ensure your own safety each time you go out.

Tires and wheels: check your tires (before you get on your bike) to make sure they are properly inflated. Also check the nuts, or quick release mechanisms that hold your wheels in place and make sure that there are no imperfections in the tire.

Brakes: squeeze your brake levers to make sure that they apply enough pressure to stop your bike and that you don’t have any problems with your cables. Remember that hydraulic brakes take a little time to warm up so don’t press on until you have the confidence of sharp brakes.

Seat post and handle bar stem: check to make sure that your handle bar stem is fastened tightly and that your seat is set at the correct height.

Chain and gears: this is the last thing to check. Have a look if your chain turns cleanly through your front and rear sprockets, and doesn’t rub against the derailleur. Make sure that there are no problems with rough shifting, chain slippage etc.

The technical bits

If you are new to mountain biking, start on easy trails. These trails help you get used to the feeling of riding on dirt or rock. To simulate some of the obstacles you will encounter while mountain biking, ride over the cement blocks found at the front of parking spaces for instance. Be sure to have enough speed to get over them. Lift your body slightly off the seat and push your hips back over the seat. Keep your body relaxed and use your legs to minimize the impact. Ride your mountain bike down a set of stairs, if you can find stairs that are wide and not very steep. Any time you are riding downhill and the terrain is less than smooth, keep your pedals parallel to the ground to prevent hitting a pedal on the ground or on an obstacle. Always look where you want to go and not at what you want to avoid. You will ride right over the object you are looking at. To ride through a tight switchback, start wide and look beyond the bend as soon as possible. Looking far ahead will help to straighten out the bike and get you back onto the centre of the trail.

 Now you have all the keys to ride your mountain bike well and enjoy the trails in the United Kingdom or all around the world.

Loving Outdoors Team x