Quick Mountain Biking Safety Tips

Safety and Biking.

If you’re new to mountain biking or suddenly realized you’ve been mountain biking in a reckless way, you’re in luck. This article will address some of the points of mountain biking safety that you don’t necessarily anticipate when you start heading out on the trails. If you want to make sure that you can maintain a sense of adventure while keeping yourself safe, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some quick tips to get you started with mountain biking safety.

Always wear a helmet. Just like you would when you’re biking at any time – or at least should, wearing a helmet is the first rule of biking. This especially includes mountain biking, so put on the helmet and you’ll be on the right track already. You don’t know how much momentum you have until your bike stops from under you and throws you off, so wear a helmet if you don’t want to find out how it feels to land on your head.
Push your comfort zone, but not your limits. Sure, you want to get a good workout – that’s one of the reasons you’re out mountain biking. But just because you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone doesn’t mean you need to push your limits. What’s the difference? You can get a good workout by safely heading up a challenging incline. You can push your limits too far when your ride too fast on the way back down!
Be aware of your environment and situation. Do the best you can to take it easy and gauge your situation constantly. You can do this by not riding too fast – especially on the way down – and by being aware of your blind spots and areas you can’t see because they’re hidden from your vision by an object or shade. If you’re not sure where the trail heads, don’t assume it heads one way – slow down and evaluate the situation first.
Work on your skills progressively. If you were lifting weights, you wouldn’t expect to bench press two hundred and fifty pounds on the first try, would you? In fact, you’d avoid that kind of weight, having the smarts to realize that patience and persistence will eventually get you to your goal. Treat mountain biking the same way, and take it slow at first. Eventually you can work your way up to bigger challenges.

Photo Credits: tonylanciabeta

Originally posted 2009-10-26 03:26:56.

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