Emma's Mountain Biking Blog

Building a mountain bike trail might seem easy ; like just moving dirt and rocks but it’s not! You have to look around and see what you are going to have to move and cut down to make the trail. You have to look at the trees and rocks as a way to make your trail cooler, not something that is going to get in your way. If you really want to build a trail but you are not sure if you will want to maintain it, get a group of people together and see if everyone can pitch in to help maintain the trail. Mountain biking is popular and still getting more popular so if you start a trail someone is definitely going to use it!

Unmaintained Trail

Maintained Trail

There are lots of different types of mountain bike trails. One is downhill trails which are usually harder. You can also put bridges in your trail to make it cooler. Pine Hill Park has lots of epic bridges. Here is the link to my post on Pine Hill Park https://emmap25.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/pine-hill-bike-park

There can be lots of different elements to a trail. Here is a list.

• Bank Turn
• Bridges
• Dirt
• Jumps
• Gravel
• Trees
• Rocks
• Wood
• Teeter-Totter
• Log Rides
• And More…

Trail Jump

The Trek Dirt Series is a mountain biking camp held all over America and some parts of Canada. Sadly, the camps have rules say that you have to be 18 or older to go. Anyway, the camp is still a lot of fun and allows GIRLS from all skill levels. It lets women from anywhere and any skill learn how to mountain bike in a short week. In 11 years that we’ve had the camp we have helped  over 7500 participants. Cross-country and downhill, beginner through advanced. Their 2012 schedule includes sixteen women’s only camps and two co-ed weekends. 

The Dirt Series began in 2000 in British Columbia, Canada. The camp was made to bring women together and to love the sport of mountain biking. There are lots of coaches here are their names: Slyvie Allen, Tanya Allen, Tracey Billett, Cassandra Boon, Casey Brown, Penny Cameron, Suzie Clarke, Lesley Clements, Chrissy de Vall,m Penny Deck, Amy Esnard, Lu Fuber, Julie Gamache, Leanne Hildebrand, Angela Houghton, Emily Johnson, Jill Kintner, Lisa Lefroy, Sarah Leishman, Janet Liu, Tera Meade, Connie Misket, Anita Naidu, Sandy Ostler, and more!

Here is a picture of the camp in Park City, Utah.

I think the Trek Dirt Series is a great way to learn or continue to learn how to mountain bike. Whether you want to learn how to go over a ramp or drop four feet off of a jump this camp is the way to go! The camp even has special-ed camps that happen at the way end of the summer. I would recommend going to there website of of the first link and just check it out!

http://www.dirtseries.com/index.php

http://easybib.com/key/fd006d

Here is a link to a presentation I made about Bike Trail Cleans  Up’s.

http://prezi.com/potdjzaww8dp/trail-clean-ups/

http://easybib.com/key/b8cffc

People sometimes think that bike can be more than there already are! Here are some examples how:)

Lawn Mower Bike: As you can see, someone who was bored with just mowing the lawn decided to make a lawn mower bike. They took a push lawn mower and an old town bike and attached them and then he or she had a lawn mower bike!

Shopping Cart Bike: All I have to say about this is that it is the funniest thing I have seen while biking! It’s a way to not carry groceries (which  everyone hates to do!) and get exercise at the same time! I am going to have to make one myself!:)

Fly Bike:

Up, Up, and Away… How would you land?

The Rail Bike:

What would happen if a train came??? You would have to jump off pretty quick!

The JCycle:

That person should make more of these. They could hold a race at night!

BVSA Rocket Bike:

I wonder how fast this thing can go?

The Ski-Bike:

This bike would be for someone who really can’t stand the Winter.

Vote for which one you think is the coolest on the poll right below.

http://easybib.com/key/670483

Danny MacaSkill is a freestyle biker and even though he is not really a mountain biker I felt it was important to do a blog post on him!

Danny MacAskill was born on December 23, 1985. He was born in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He grew up riding bikes and became a mechanic. After 12 years he quite his job and started biking full time.  He released a five and a half minute video, filmed by his flatmate Dave Sowerby. It was published on Youtube in April 19, 2009. Now he is 26 and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland!

This is him

He professionally rides as a street trials pro rider for Inspired Bicycles Ltd. Street trials is a type of mountain biking which the rider attempts to go through an obstacle course without setting foot to the ground. He is a very, very good biker (I bet it took a lot of practice!) Danny also has some very popular videos! Some with more than 18 million views! Here is a taste of some of his riding.

The bikes that he rides are called “street trial bikes”. They a like BMX bikes but the seats are lower on the street trial bikes. Here is a picture of one.

Street Trial Bike

Here is another one of Danny’s videos!

http://easybib.com/key/90513a

When you decided to start mountain biking did you think there was going to be so much that you need? I think that it is pretty important to have the right gear. I mean if you are going on a long ride you don’t want to have a heavy shirt and you defiantly want gloves! Here is a list of the must have things of mountain biking!

• Full finger biking gloves.
• Mountain bike riding shorts
• Mountain bike helmet 
• Clipless pedal shoes 
• A water bottle

And just in case…

• A small tool kit 

Now that you know every thing that you need for mountain biking, you can go out when winters over and shred it up on the trails!!!

http://easybib.com/key/4d3615

1. The bike shop has a nickname for your bike such as the “Nightmare”
2. You’re thinking of a new paint job…
3. You think you could upgrade to disc brakes…
4. Your bike components are on display in a mountain bike museum…
5. Your bike was owned by a former pro-racer.
6. The company you bought your bike from no longer exists…
7. There are shifting issues when nothing seems wrong…
8. Its been crashed so many times it doesn’t look like a bike anymore…
9. An upgrade would cost more than a new bike…
10. And last but not least, You want a new bike because new bike day is the best day of the year!

29er: 

The 29er is a bike with rims that have a height of about 24.5 inches. The average 29″ mountain bike tire has an outside height of about 29.15 inches.  There is a debate about what type of riding is best for the 29er… I would have to say that the tires defiantly add a little weight, but make for a better landing. And the 29er increases stability without sacrificing quick handling, and better ability to roll over obstacles. 

26″:

The typical 26″ rim has a height of 22.0 inches and an outside tire height of about 26.2 inches. The smallest of tires, is the lightest, and is easier to get uphill, but for an experienced rider. Will the small tires, it is not as easy to go over logs, rocks, ect.

26"(left) 29"(right)

27.5″:

You have read about 29er’s and 26″ , but they have decided that there should be something in the middle. That’s where 27.5″ comes in… There has been so much debating which is better 29″ or 26″ well, if you can’t make up your mind…. 27.5 is the answer! The tires on this bike are 27.5″ tall. Right in the middle.

http://easybib.com/key/44fe9a

Pine Hill Park is a bike, hike, ski, and run park in the woods of Rutland Vt. It was founded by Michael Smith in 2001. At the time Michael was a mountain bike racer, he needed somewhere to practice, that’s when Pine Hill Park was first created! Michael worked hard on the trails and then Shelly Lutz, a college student started hiking on the trails! More and more people started helping Michael out and soon enough, the park would be an actual park! In 2001, Michael went to the Board of Aldermen and asked if they could start to develop the park. They soon started developing the park and then something bad happened, the development had to stop. A few months later the development started again and kept going until the park was finished!

Pine Hill Park is mostly known for its bike trails. There are 16 miles of trails over 300 acres. The trails are well maintained Michael Smith. Like I said in the first paragraph, he was a mountain bike racer and can still “shred” on the trails!!! The singletrack trail’s are really nice and there is terrain for all types of rider! Which is why it is one of the BEST mountain bike parks in Vermont!:) Pine Hill Park also has the most EPIC bridges ever!!! They have 7 awesome bridges! The  bridges all have unique names: Centrifuge Bridge, 100ft Suspension Bridge, Hour Glass Bridge, Arch Bridge, Armadillo Bridge, and the Seeping Ledge Bridge.

Here is the  Centrifuge Bridge!

Here is a video of  Kevin Orlowski going on one of the many trails at Pine Hill Park!

http://easybib.com/key/3ee614

Full Suspension:

Full suspension mountain bikes are much more comfortable, enjoyable then hardtail mountain bikes!  The only down side is that there is a little extra weight and slightly less efficiency, but its is all worth it in the end! The difference in a hardtail and a full suspension is that the full suspension has a back shock. The way the back shock works is that is has three pivot points, when you go off a jump the pivot points move and the shock compresses and it is a easier landing.

Pivot Points

A Full Suspension Bike

Hardtail:

A Hardtail Bike

http://easybib.com/key/377caf