Mountain biking can be overwhelming to learn especially for beginners. The pressure of being the best biker to perform record-breaking tricks at the trail is real. But don’t get too excited about learning advanced MTB skills just yet if you haven’t got the basics down.

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As long as you have a solid foundation of these fundamentals, we promise you are well on your way to becoming a top rider of your biking team in no time.

1. Scanning and reading the trail properly

The ability to keep your eyes on the proper spot during a ride is a surprisingly difficult skill to master. Mountain bikers can suffer from what is called “target-fixation.” This is where a rider becomes so focused on a single object that they tend to ride into it. What this means is while you’re scanning the trail, you may spot a rock or particularly gnarly tree root you absolutely do not want to romp, or maybe you don’t have the proper speed to flow over it. If you stare at it in anticipation, your body is more likely to fixate on it and towards it. It’s important to keep your eyes on the spot you want your body to go, not the thing you’re worried about.

2. Balancing your weight on the bike.

You need to master active body positioning before you can master any other mountain biking skill. When you sit, stand, pedal, brake, etc., you should learn how to retain your body.

Firstly, you need to stand in a position where the majority of your weight is on your feet, not your arms. After that, make sure your legs are in the right position on the pedals. But how? Pedaling is when you keep one leg forward and one leg back. On rough trails, you have to pedal to balance. By doing so, your legs will be on the front axle of the bike pedal. Focus on stance since you need to give hundreds to thousands of pedals and cleat moves are destinations.

3. Achieving an efficient pedal stroke.

Learning how to do an efficient pedal stroke will not only allow you to climb trails smoothly and sprint powerfully but more importantly, help you save energy throughout the ride. Beginners should start by mastering solid circular power transfer pedal strokes.

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4. Learning the right body position on your bike.

The movements you can do while on your bike are limited but they are enough to get the most out of every ride. Center your body weight on the bike and always leave enough space for your bike to move beneath you. Always have at least one finger on the brake.

5. Braking the right way.

Braking is probably the most essential mountain biking skill to master. Be calm and smoothly handle the breaks to save yourself from crashing and possibly getting a serious injury.

Mountain biking isn’t hard—you just have to conquer it one skill at a time and before you know it, you’re performing tricks you only used to dream about.

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