15 Essential Mountain Biking Survival Techniques

When you are mountain biking, you are riding in unprepared, unformed terrain, with many unforeseen circumstances, where reading plays an important role. After all, quite a few technical moves are necessary to know, but they are necessary if you do not want to be forced to dismount every ten meters.

As for other things:

• the criteria of complexity and usefulness are estimated at 10 points.
• videos illustrate each movement and are linked to the exact time when it is performed

Freeze

The simplest movement (or, to be more precise, no movement), consisting in immobilizing the bike and being stationary for a few seconds without placing your foot on the ground.

Difficulty: 2

Utility: 6

goal:

• Analyze the terrain while staying on the bike if you have failed or when you are approaching a section that has been hidden.
• Replace the balance correctly

How to: stay flexible on supports, calm down, continue breathing calmly. Over time, you can remove your leg to correct the excessive imbalance. Note that freezing can also be done by bouncing in place to lightly replace the bike.

Be careful: this move does not involve a lot of risk ...

Turning the nose

This movement is one of the most useful in mountain biking. It consists of resting on the front wheel, removing the rear wheel, turning the frame, and replacing the rear wheel on a different axle. This can be done statically or dynamically (which can be very aesthetic). The rotation of the nose can also be divided into several small movements for greater reliability (but at the cost of aesthetics).

Difficulty: 6

Utility: 9

goal:

• Skip tight pins
• Changing the axis of the bike on a steep downhill
• Drive the rear wheel over an obstacle
• Dynamically replace bike

How: By adjusting the front brake, transfer your weight to the front of the bike and bend your legs until the rear takes off. Rotate with your feet, then allow the rear wheel to lower in a controlled manner by adjusting the brake and moving the center of gravity back. Throughout the movement, you must direct your gaze in the direction in which you want to position yourself.

Beware: The rear wheel collides with an obstacle during rotation, resulting in a loss of balance on the exposure side.

Replacing the front

To do this, you need to change the position of the front wheel by pulling the steering wheel. This is a bit opposite to turning the nose. This movement is often helpful in “saving” a bad position.

Difficulty: 4

Utility: 6

goal:

• Fix unsafe bike placement
• Cross the obstacle that just got stuck in the front
• Take a very tight turn, aligning it with the turn of the nose

How: Tilt the load back a fraction of a second to extend the handlebars, raise the front, and replace a wheel. Please note, this is not a guide at all. The goal is not to lean on the backside, but to give it enough time to take off from the front to replace it.

Note: Loss of balance on the open side.

Bunny up

This movement is one of the most famous, but, paradoxically, the cases when it is really necessary are quite rare. It consists in making the bike jump over an obstacle. And be careful, it's "bunny up" and not "bunny jump" because we read it too often (but which always causes a lot of laughter).

Difficulty: 7

Utility: 4

goal:

• Cross a high obstacle (most often a tree trunk, but also a stone ...)
• Cross a hollow obstacle (pit, ravine)
• However, under the influence of gravity, the rabbit has other uses, such as transitioning from one raised bend to the next.

How: Start with leadership, that is, throw yourself back with arms outstretched and let the front wheel come off. Then push your legs and then your shoulders, keeping your bust straight, which will make the bike take off. Land exactly in the middle of the bike.

Beware: breakage of the carriage on the trunk if you miss!

Step winding

There are stairs everywhere in the mountains, whether singles or not. The safest way is to roll them up. In this way, we are constantly in control of the bike and, above all, do not gain speed when maneuvering, and once the walk is over, we are ready for a new obstacle.

Difficulty: 2

Utility: 10

goal:

• Step up to 70 cm without removing your bike.

How: Move your center of gravity back and ... let it happen! This time, the bike, its geometry and suspension will do the job. The work is essentially psychological, because letting your bike plummet onto a high rung quickly is impressive.

Attention:

• Correct estimation of step height before taking it. If it turns out to be too high, OTB is guaranteed! When in doubt, stop and manually position the bike so that the rear wheel is in gear and the front wheel is at the bottom.
• First of all, do not refuse, that is, slow down at the top of the step ... OTB ++ guarantee!

Step jump

When steps or stones exceed 70 cm in height, it is no longer possible to roll them up. You must skip them. But in the mountains this is not possible under all circumstances, because the land behind must be clean and clean enough.

Difficulty: 4

Utility: 3

goal:

• Take a step over 70 cm.

How: Stay flexible as you approach a step and center your center of gravity. When the front wheel has passed through the air, pull lightly on the steering wheel. To maintain the best control and gain as little speed as possible, letting the bike dive a little is recommended. Reception should be smooth.

Attention:

• So that there is enough clearance at the back. Even at small strides, it is surprising to see the speed increase caused by a short pass through the air.
• As with any walk, if you decide to go, you MUST go. There is nothing worse than braking at the top of the peg, especially if the bike has no chance of diving.

Slab descent

Large slabs are often found in the mountains that require special attention. In fact, falling in such terrain is generally strongly discouraged.

Difficulty: 2

Utility: 3

goal:

• Maintain control on steep and smooth inclines

How: Orient the bike directly on a slope, distribute the weight to the front and rear without losing traction and avoiding cross-support as much as possible. The goal is to stay in constant control and not pick up speed, unless the release is unimpeded. On a very steep plate, you need to swing completely behind the saddle, the buttocks practically on the wheel.

Attention:

• Nothing is more awesome on a wet and slippery slab.
• Small steps that can hide on seemingly smooth slabs and push the ATV towards the tip-over point.

Descent of debris

The debris is found only on freeride trails. These are slopes on which stones of different sizes and shapes are free and roll over each other. The stones are on average at least ten centimeters, otherwise we are not talking about talus, but about gravel pits.

Difficulty: 4 to 10 (varies greatly depending on the size and shape of the stones)

Utility: 5

goal:

• Maintain control on a steep slope of freely rolling stones.

How To: Drive your bike straight down a hill, transfer all your weight to your back, lock the brakes and use the locked wheel as an anchor, letting gravity do the rest. In the case of too steep descents, you can control the speed gain by adjusting it, making small turns. Stopping on a steep slope can be very challenging; in this case, turn the rear wheel in a crisscross pattern and stop with the bike down.

Attention:

• To the bad rock that rips the front wheel
• Changes in stone size that may surprise
• Don't pick up a speed that can no longer be braked due to a slope

Slip the turn

Some pins do not allow the use of a nose turn: they are too steep or/and the terrain is too random and slippery to provide direct forward support. Suddenly the only solution is a sliding turn. Be careful, a skid turn is not a skid for the purpose of skidding and planting rocks! It is a mandatory, clean, controlled and minimized slip.

Difficulty: 4

Utility: 5

Objective: Taking turns on a steep stretch of undefined terrain.

How: The goal is to crank the rear wheel ... but not too hard! Therefore, it is necessary to start skidding slightly above the desired zone in order to be at the slip limit when you want to maneuver your bike. It is then necessary to accompany and compensate for the hindquarters by the lateral pressure of the legs, which is a bit like turning the nose when the wheel is glued to the ground. The key is to apply the front brakes correctly (so as not to lose traction) and the rear (so as not to lose traction, but not too much).

Attention:

• Loss of control before ... but behind! By definition, you are performing this type of maneuver on trashy, steep, and potentially exponential terrain.
• Don't use this technique all the time, or you will ruin the singles you are using.

Side slip

On slopes, it can be helpful to tilt the bike to the side to regain traction. This maneuver may be deliberate ... or less deliberate, but it is relatively useful in all areas of mountain freeriding on slopes or on bad trails.

Difficulty: 5

Utility: 3

Objective: To restore traction when driving on slopes.

How: First of all, you shouldn't get stuck on the bike and quickly readjust your center of gravity. The key is to accompany the movement of the bike with the body, while instinct tends to counteract it. It is also necessary to observe the kinetics of movement and, above all, not to brake. If we keep the bike moving in this way, grip is usually restored naturally and we can continue.

Be careful not to brake, otherwise you will irrevocably lose traction and fall!

Slipped on hard snow

Descending on hard snow is often a balancing act and can quickly turn out to be very dangerous because a fall can lead to a slip that cannot be stopped (in mountaineering, we talk about twisting). In addition, it is impossible to drive on a steep snow slope for more than twenty degrees (except for driving straight without braking). We are talking about descending a snowy slope on regular tires, not on studs.

Difficulty: 5

Usefulness: 8 if you're mountain biking in winter or early spring. 1 or 2 otherwise.

Objective: to maintain control on a snowy slope in which the bike does not sink.

How: Orient the bike as straight as possible and then use the brake sparingly by adjusting the front / rear. Remain as flexible as possible on the bike and let the bike “live its life” between your legs. Do not try to correct slippage or deflection. Often times, even the bike chooses its own line and you have to let that happen ... to a certain extent, of course!

Attention:

• The speed is picking up! Otherwise, you cannot stop without falling.
• Opening risk. Unscrewing means that even after you've fallen, you keep sliding faster and faster. A climber usually has an ice ax to stop, while a mountain biker does not. This risk must be assessed BEFORE you start cycling: on foot you should analyze how slippery the snow is and do a little "drop test" in a safe place. You can still engage in combat, but in this case you must be sure that the area does not lead to dangerous obstacles or rocks.

Soft snowy descent

The soft snow is deceptively reassuring. The logs you place can be aggressive because you pick up speed easily and falls are difficult to predict (changing snow texture ...)

Difficulty: 3

Usefulness: 10 if you're mountain biking in winter or early spring. 1 or 2 otherwise.

Objective: To maintain control on a steep snowy slope in which the bike sinks at least ten centimeters.

How: Transfer most of the weight to the rear without blocking the wheel. You can control the speed with small turns, rowing like on skis. Staying behind is essential to overcome all of the often invisible differences in the texture of the snow.

Attention:

• Sudden charging due to snow changes. Stay away from rocks or emerging bushes (snow often loses lift in their vicinity). A change in the color or gloss of the surface is also indicative of distrust.
• In the footsteps of your teammates who create rails that can destabilize you when you cross them at an angle.

mechanical

This movement is very overrated: we find tutorials and images all over the place ... but it's actually almost useless in the field, except to get the rabbit running properly. Or show off on a quiet portion 😉

Cavalier

It's the same with the rider. It is useless in the mountains, except for a trial pro who can use it to put his bike on steep cliffs and cross impassable terrain. But then we change the discipline.

abandonment

Don't forget about this strategic maneuver, the advantage of which is that it can be used in place of everyone else!

Difficulty: 5 (giving up isn't easy!)

Utility: 10

Goal: stay alive (or stay whole)

How: Listen to his fear. In any case, when you are driving, fear is useless. If we are afraid, we give up!

Attention:

• A la gopro that always encourages you to try
• Behind the mocking teammates who sometimes stand behind several Gopros ...
• (For sensitive men) To the presence of girls around ...