Depending on where you mountain bike, the fall period can be an interesting riding time. For those of us in the southeast United States, it is a riding season of negotiating all of the leaves that have fallen from our lush trees and onto our singletrack. For those of you in the desert…you do not have this worry…but anyone around a massive amount of trees knows…this time of year is like riding on ice skates! You can’t see the trail, so negotiating obstacles is a combination of trail knowledge and 99% guess work. Couple that with the slide out effect of the leaf ground cover and you are left with treacherous riding conditions.
How To Ride Leaf Covered Trails & Keep Rubber Side Down
So how do we ride our mountain bikes in the ice skating conditions of fall in tree covered singletrack? The following tips will help you keep the rubber side up as you blast your mountain bike down that next section of singletrack bliss.
- Keep Your Legs and Arms Bent – You are going to hit unexpected rocks, roots and other objects that want to throw you off your line simply because you can not see them. By keeping your legs and arms bent, you can soak up these unexpected events much easier than if you are all stiffened up on the bike. The idea is to keep all of your motion fluid and work with the changing conditions under your tires. The more fluid your motions…the smoother the ride will be. You will be surprised…little rocks and roots that would be nothing on a normal day will flip the bike up in a split second because you were not ready for it.
- Keep A Loose Grip On The Bars – This really goes hand in hand with the tip above, but by keeping a loose grip on the bar…you keep your arms unclenched and ready for changing conditions. This is actually a tip you should take with you during every mountain bike ride. Keeping a loose grip on the handle bar also insures that you do not waste valuable energy on an activity that actually takes away from your riding ability. You exert a lot of fuel white knuckling down the trail.
- Lean The Bike…Not Your Body – By leaning the bike independently of your body, you are able to keep your weight centered for optimal traction. This is not a motorcycle where you have a motor to pull you through the turn at mach 5. You require pedal power to get yourself going again and you need to have your body ready to drop the hammer, but still provide grip through the turns. Again, legs and arms bent and search out that line that has traction. If other riders have already been on the trail, you might get lucky and find dirt within the turns.
- Use The Rear Wheel To Guide You – In the leaves, you are not going to have the added benefit of a massive amount of front wheel traction when you really dig into corners. In conditions that are overly slippery (like a large amount of leaf cover), I use the rear end of the bike through controlled braking and skidding to turn the bike in the direction I want it to go. If you are going to rely on that front tire to pull you through…get ready to eat dirt.
- Keep The Bike Straight In “Oh S%$t” Situations – There is no turning to bail out of mistakes. Your best bet is to ride through it as best you can…straight…and then slow down. If you try to make abrupt changes in direction in the leaves…be ready to hit the ground. Even if it means riding off the trail (none of you ever do that right?!)…
I actually enjoy riding in the leaves. It adds another unexpected technical aspect that you have to adjust for and – in the end – it makes you a better overall mountain biker. When the leaves hit the ground in the fall, it even makes my local mountain bike trails exciting again. I hear a lot of complaining about them…but I like the added challenge.