It seems like now more than ever before in The United States, new sports are popping up all of the time. From the explosion of skateboarding, both street and ramp style, to the transformation of surfing from something only weirdos did to a normal pastime, sports are perpetually growing, changing, and challenging themselves to get more difficult. Whether it's big-wave surfing or kiteboarding, there's always someone upping the ante on what it means to be a true athlete.
With so many ski resorts wondering how to attract guests in the off-season, it's no wonder that someone took a look at one of those ski runs once the snow melted and thought to themselves, "What a perfect place to go for a bike ride." Sure, the origins of mountain biking are a little bit more complicated than that, but that's basically the long and the short of it.
Rather than regular bike riding, which involves pavement and less attention paid to the surroundings, mountain biking is something where going off-road is par for the course. The terrain encountered while mountain biking is uneven, difficult, and tough sometimes to even walk on.
But more than that, there are different types of mountain biking, some of which spend time on more manicured surfaces, some who go all out and head to the middle of nowhere, and others where the riding is more built on creating one's own type of style and implementing it, but in the dirt instead of out on the street.
Often, people think that there's just one style of mountain biking, that involves riding a heavy bicycle with large rubber wheels around trees on the way down to the bottom of some hill. Nothing could be further from the truth, with a number of different innovators creating different variations and styles, which all have their draw and charms. Knowing those different styles is the first step in figuring out which type of mountain biking sounds best for a new novice rider.
The most popular type of mountain biking to watch, and a style that's known for packing crowds at The X-Games, is dirt jumping. In this type of mountain biking, riders propel themselves off of large dirt jumps with the intention of doing any number of arial tricks, including flips and handlebar stands, before safely landing on the ground.
For those living in urban areas, with little or no access to the great outdoors, mountain biking is still a pertinent sport. One of the most popular variations on the more extreme styles of riding is street or urban riding, where people take on obstacle courses of man-made objects on mountain bikes. The bicycles used are smaller in both frames and wheels, and often would not transition well to endurance riding out on open trails.
For most people with access to the trails, the obvious starting off point for riding is to begin with cross-country mountain biking. Just as simple as the name sounds, cross-country is all about the bicycle and the terrain, with no added obstacles or epic jumps. Cross-country riders have larger, more durable bicycles, and tackle everything from bumpy uphill trails to muddy, tricky downhill slopes. It's a great way to learn about balance and endurance.
Other more extreme variations on regular cross-country mountain biking that involve more remote locations include downhill, where riders just try to get to the bottom of a run as quickly as possible, as well as short cross, which is a combination of downhill, where the idea is to get to the bottom as fast as possible, but this time on even more challenging slopes. The extreme short slopes have a lot more obstacles and there is a much higher risk of crashing.
No matter the style, there's no mistaking how helpful this sport can be to building a connection for the young and the old alike with taking their sporting endeavors outside. Like many sports of innovation, mountain biking and all of its new forms is truly here to stay.
With so many ski resorts wondering how to attract guests in the off-season, it's no wonder that someone took a look at one of those ski runs once the snow melted and thought to themselves, "What a perfect place to go for a bike ride." Sure, the origins of mountain biking are a little bit more complicated than that, but that's basically the long and the short of it.
Rather than regular bike riding, which involves pavement and less attention paid to the surroundings, mountain biking is something where going off-road is par for the course. The terrain encountered while mountain biking is uneven, difficult, and tough sometimes to even walk on.
But more than that, there are different types of mountain biking, some of which spend time on more manicured surfaces, some who go all out and head to the middle of nowhere, and others where the riding is more built on creating one's own type of style and implementing it, but in the dirt instead of out on the street.
Often, people think that there's just one style of mountain biking, that involves riding a heavy bicycle with large rubber wheels around trees on the way down to the bottom of some hill. Nothing could be further from the truth, with a number of different innovators creating different variations and styles, which all have their draw and charms. Knowing those different styles is the first step in figuring out which type of mountain biking sounds best for a new novice rider.
The most popular type of mountain biking to watch, and a style that's known for packing crowds at The X-Games, is dirt jumping. In this type of mountain biking, riders propel themselves off of large dirt jumps with the intention of doing any number of arial tricks, including flips and handlebar stands, before safely landing on the ground.
For those living in urban areas, with little or no access to the great outdoors, mountain biking is still a pertinent sport. One of the most popular variations on the more extreme styles of riding is street or urban riding, where people take on obstacle courses of man-made objects on mountain bikes. The bicycles used are smaller in both frames and wheels, and often would not transition well to endurance riding out on open trails.
For most people with access to the trails, the obvious starting off point for riding is to begin with cross-country mountain biking. Just as simple as the name sounds, cross-country is all about the bicycle and the terrain, with no added obstacles or epic jumps. Cross-country riders have larger, more durable bicycles, and tackle everything from bumpy uphill trails to muddy, tricky downhill slopes. It's a great way to learn about balance and endurance.
Other more extreme variations on regular cross-country mountain biking that involve more remote locations include downhill, where riders just try to get to the bottom of a run as quickly as possible, as well as short cross, which is a combination of downhill, where the idea is to get to the bottom as fast as possible, but this time on even more challenging slopes. The extreme short slopes have a lot more obstacles and there is a much higher risk of crashing.
No matter the style, there's no mistaking how helpful this sport can be to building a connection for the young and the old alike with taking their sporting endeavors outside. Like many sports of innovation, mountain biking and all of its new forms is truly here to stay.
About the Author:
Damian Papworth loves the thrill of mountain biking, but always makes sure he fills his bike water bottles for his trips. A cycling water bottle is crucial to maintaining hydration in this grueling sport.
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