Mountain Bike Skills for a Beginner
By Andrew McNaught

Anyone who knows how to ride a bike can enjoy the exciting sport of mountain biking. It does have some danger though, compared to the average bike ride. That is why it is important to learn some basic sills before you hit the dirt or trails.

These beginning skills can be practiced around your home, school, park, or bike path. If possible, you need to find a location that has a steep hill.

Getting a feel for your pedals
While first sitting on your bike, keep one foot on the ground and practice moving your foot away from the pedal. Next you can move to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around a little. The bicycles with toe clip and the clipless type pedals, will want to spend a little time extra practicing.

Sit and spin for position
Sit on your bike and pedal around with your arms slightly bent. You also want to adjust your seat height so that your leg is 70-90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke with the pedal. Relax your body, because your body should never be in a position where your knees or your elbows are locked.

Gear shifting
Shift gears with your bike and get a feel for it. Higher gears may be more difficult to pedal and will go faster, while the lower gears are simpler to pedal and will allow you to go up hills more quickly. When you go up steeper hills, it is best to shift before reaching the hill, rather than while you are on the hill.

Coasting
Without actually sitting on the seat, you should spend some time coasting while standing up on your pedals. Bend your arms and don't lock your knees. Now you will want to practice shifting your body toward the rear of your bike.

Standing and pedaling
Get comfortable with pedaling while in a standing position on your bike. Lift yourself off the seat while standing up on the pedals and then crank the pedals around. Try this in the higher gears on level ground and then in the lower gears when you are on a hill.

Dropping down a curb
Find a curb where you can easily get to the upper part of it. At a moderate speed, practice standing and coasting right off the curb from the upper to bottom level. Practice this at different speeds until you become completely comfortable with it.

After your practice these different techniques and become comfortable with them you will find that you can hit the trails and dirt completely comfortable on your mountain bike. Although it may take some time to get used to, you will find that it becomes as comfortable as riding down the road after a while.

Andrew McNaught is a writer and publisher of http://www.mountain-biking-world.info where he provides further information on mountain biking.

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