How to Prepare to Perform Mountain Bike Stunts

Be smart about your foray into mountain biking. Prepare both mind and body well.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• All-purpose Bike Tools
• Bike Helmets
• Bike Shin Guards
• Bike Water Bottle/cage
• Biking Gloves
• Mountain Bike Shoes
• Mountain Bikes

1. Protect yourself: wear shin and knee guards, gloves, and a helmet.

2. Get your bike in excellent working order: adjust the seat and brakes, tighten screws, and inflate the tires correctly. "I run about 45 psi, but it all depends on your weight and the type of tires," notes Hans.

3. Don't excuse yourself by saying you're no good at technical things. If you break your right hand, after a few weeks your left has learned how to write.

4. Think of your bike as an additional body part. After a while, it will move as you do.

5. Program your mind step by step. Visualize. For each trick, think, "Okay, front wheel up, right hand there, left toe pointed here..." The right timing is important. After a while you'll be able to do these moves automatically.

6. Analyze and learn from your mistakes. Ask yourself what went wrong and how you can avoid making the same errors.

Tips & Warnings

• Says Hans, "Practice and give the techniques time. You need to get used to these new elements of coordination. You don't learn these things in a day."
• Don't be overconfident and progress before you're ready.
• Try to be smooth. Don't take it too seriously - have fun.
• Mountain biking is an inherently dangerous activity that can result in serious injury or death. We recommend that you seek proper training and equipment before attempting this activity.

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on 7/12/2006 When going from one plateau to another which is lower, or a drop, try to push the bike out and make sure to pull up as not to nose dive. Also try to land on your back tire. Start small!

on 2/21/2006 Try and lay your bike down while in the air and bring it back up before you land.

on 11/30/2005 make sure that you are whell balanced and to keep your bike controlled in the air

on 11/22/2005 When doing cat walks it's best to find the suitable gear for yourself. I find it better that if you go on a lower speed and pull up you have better chances of making it.

on 11/22/2005 Once you've mastered getting onto one wheel, it's time to see how long you can stay that way. When you are in the catwalk position, lean as far back as you can until you feel like you are going to tip over. Then squeeze the back brake slightly. This will cause the front end to go down slightly. You might have to pedal hard at that point to get the front up again. This skill is very useful and will probably take quite some practice, but I promise you, it will be worth the work.