10 Basic Techniques for Cycle Riders
First comes first, know how to well control your bikes in different rout conditions to those in your home country!1. Keep the right balance
Balance is crucial in mountain biking, not just left-right balance, but front to back balance. Weight over the rear wheel is what gives you traction: if your back tire is slipping, try moving back on the seat, or if you are standing, transfer more of your weight to the rear of the bike. If your front wheel comes off the ground, then you need to transfer more weight to it.
In the starting day of ActiveTravel ASIA's cycling tours, we will have at least 30 minutes or more for you get acquainted with our bikes - professional mountain bikes mostly. Our bikes are various in sizes and up to 21 gear shifting. Baby bikes are available.
2. Setting Proper Pedaling Bike Seat Height
To find the right seat height position you need to sit on your bike with your feet on the pedals. The position of one pedal is at the very bottom of its stroke. Your seat height should be adjusted so that in this position your knee is bent at around a 25 to 30 degree angle. It's that simple.
It is important to note that this applies to pedaling situations only. There are a lot of situations on a mountain bike and other off road cycles that you should have a lower seat position for safety as well as improved agility.
3. Always commit to a track or line.
This means that you need to think a few steps ahead and set out the line that you want to cycle. If you hesitate for example, because you are afraid of the obstacles that are ahead of you, it quite often happens that things go wrong. Your posture might change because you are afraid and thinking about your fear instead of just mountain biking. Especially going downhill, you might encounter many in North Vietnam biking tour, if you hesitate halfway through, you will surely fall off.
4. Think 2-3 moves ahead.
Don't focus on a single obstacle for a long time. Always be aware of the next thing you have to do. Stay focus to the track, keep your head straight, your eyesight far ahead and you will identify obstacles soon enough.
5. Basic riding techniques of descending, cornering, braking and gear shifting
- Descending: Stay back on the bike. On steep descents, you may have to be behind your seat. Use your brakes before corners, not in them (see braking). Don't descend anything you are not sure of; walk if in doubt (more details on Mounting and dismounting mountain bike).
- Cornering: again - brake before corners, not in them. Look where you want to go, not at what you don't want to hit. Bikes have a way of going wherever you look. Slow down to a safe speed before corners, and then accelerate out of corners. Don't skid, it looks fast, but it isn't. Lean into turns; you can "lead" with your inside knee to help with this.
- Braking: Most of your braking force is in the front brake. Use both brakes simultaneously, and brake before corners, not in them. Do not lock your back brake to skid! It is destructive to the trail, and not as effective at slowing you down.
- Gear shifting: You should always pick a gear that allows you to "spin" your pedals at between 60 and 90 RPM. (Note: racers may spin more). Lower gears are "easier" to spin on hills, while higher gears are "harder". The smallest chain ring (on the crank-set, where the pedals are) is your lowest gear range, while the largest chain-ring is your highest gear range. The largest cog on freewheel (on the back wheel) is your lowest gear, while the smallest cog is your highest gear. It is the combination of your chain ring (gear range) and cog (gear) that gives you the overall gear ratio you are in. Try shifting to a lower gear before you are in the middle of a steep hill.
6. Don't grip the handlebars too tight.
This will make your upper body tension and will tire you faster. Loosen up but, not too loose and keep your arms up to shoulders relaxing enough. This tip tightly relates to the above tip of keeping balance. When you can keep your upper body in a right balance, your hands will grip the handlebars at the nice balance of relaxing and firm.
7. Don't put your thumb above the handle bar.
This will make it easier for you to loosen grip if you hit something unexpectedly. Especially, when you overcome hard obstacles, the bikes are bumping and make your hand slip off the handle bar. That leads you fall down easily.
8. Slightly bend your elbows and loosen your shoulders, but not to hunch.
This will assist in absorbing the shocks that you might experience in the trial. Hunching may get your shoulders painful after a short biking duration. If you are not familiar with biking, we strongly recommend the pre-training preriod some weeks before taking cycling adventures.
9. Don't lock your sights on the rider in front of you.
You just might end up hitting a piece of rock that the rider in front of you has just managed to avoid. Look 1-2 meters ahead of you. Don't focus on your front wheel or the rear wheel of the rider in front of you.10. Overcome difficult terrain: mud, sand, rock, water etc.
- Mud: Do not ride in mud! It leaves deep grooves which water flows, causing erosion. If you hit a small patch of mud on an otherwise dry trail, pull up lightly on the bars and either maintain speed or pedal through. If the mud is deep, walk your bike around it. Do not try to ride around – this causes the trails to get widened beyond what they were originally intended.
- Sand: Similar to mud, but try a slightly higher gear than you would normally ride in.
- Rock, holes or bumps: When going over rocks, holes, or bumps that may trap your front wheel, you need to move your weight back so that the wheel can "float" over the obstacle. Sometimes you will need to pick up the front wheel (called "lofting") to get it over the obstacle. Your rear wheel will often just roll through the obstacle.
- Water and stream: Avoid riding through streams where possible; a tire's passage causes sedimentation of the stream. If you must cross, maintain momentum in a low gear, and use a light touch on the handlebars. Let rocks deflect your tire gently.
Recommend more readings on related posts:
Riding across South East Asia mainland – knowing basic rules: riding on the left or on the rights?! how the difference while cycling in Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar etc.
Motorcycling in Vietnam: basic guidance and techniques for safe riding across Vietnam with your motorbikes
Riding across South East Asia mainland – knowing basic rules: riding on the left or on the rights?! how the difference while cycling in Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar etc.
Motorcycling in Vietnam: basic guidance and techniques for safe riding across Vietnam with your motorbikes
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