Mountain biking — Escape the traffic and head into the mountains

Mountain biking

Get up to speed with this exciting discipline

Off-road cycling is for all ages and ideal for individuals, families or groups. It's great fun, and in particular it takes you away from the traffic of towns and cities and into the countryside.

Our mountain biking section covers everything from leisure riding to racing and includes a wealth of tips for improving technique so that you can get the most from your ride in the mountains.

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Mountain biking for leisure

by Dan Cook

Riding off-road is great fun. You can cover more ground than walking, enjoy the views, notice the local flora and fauna, stop to talk to local people. It's a healthy and peaceful environment. With cycling there very few age boundaries - so it is ideal for groups, families, or individuals.
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Mountain biking techniques - mounting & dismounting

by Oli Beckingsale

It sounds simple, but developing good technique for mounting and dismounting your bike will make you a safer and more efficient bike rider - and faster for those occasions when time is of the essence, like racing.
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Mountain biking techniques - body position

by Oli Beckingsale

The heaviest component of any bike is actually the rider. How you distribute your weight as you ride greatly affects the handling of the bike.
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Mountain biking techniques - using the gears

by Oli Beckingsale

Although single gear bikes and three-speed hubs have their place, most bikes sold today have multiple gears. Here's how and when to use them.
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Mountain biking techniques - using the brakes

by Oli Beckingsale

Your brakes are a vital component both for controlling your speed and for stopping, so they need to be well-maintained at all times. But even the best brakes need to be used correctly for safe and efficient speed control.
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Training for mountain bike racing

by Oli Beckingsale

For mountain biking, the rider needs to have a wide range of fitness attributes, from endurance to strength, and be proficient in a number of techniques, such as descending and coping with different surfaces. A training programme for mountain bike racing must involve concentrating on a number of different aspects.
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Cross country mountain bike racing

by Oli Beckingsale

Cross country (XC) involves racing your mountain bike over a set course against other riders. Depending on your ability, and the category you ride in you will race over a set number of laps for perhaps anything from 20 minutes for a fun race to over two hours for elite events.
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Downhill mountain bike racing

by Oli Beckingsale

Downhill mountain biking, where gravity is your friend. In competition, it's not all freewheeling, as mere milliseconds can separate events riders on the podium. There's some very sophisticated, specialist equipment being used too. If you have the need for speed, nerves of steel and reactions quicker than a rattlesnake, this is for you!
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Endurance mountain bike competitions

by Dan Cook

If you want to stretch your abilities beyond a leisure ride, but perhaps without the intensity of racing, then off road endurance events could be your solution. Essentially they are long rides, sometimes involving orienteering skills. We look at how to get started...