bike - Mountain biking
Photograph by fetlaron Flickr.
Injuries range from relatively minor wounds, such as cuts and abrasions from falls on gravel to serious injuries such as bike Bike Magazine striking the head or spine on a boulder or tree. Skateboard helmets are simpler and cheaper than other helmet types; provide greater coverage of the head and resist minor scrapes and knocks.
Different groups will work individually or together to achieve results. Advocacy organizations work through a variety of means including education, trail work days, and trail patrols. Protective equipment can protect against minor injuries, and reduce the extent or seriousness of major impacts, but it cannot protect a rider against the most serious impacts or accidents.
IMBA serves as an umbrella organization for mountain biking advocacy worldwide, and represents more than 700 affiliated mountain biking groups. Mountain biking places much higher demands on every part of the bike.
There are aspects of mountain biking that are more similar to trail running than regular bicycling. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, mountain biking moved from a little-known sport to a mainstream. The risk of injury is inherent in the sport of mountain biking, especially in the more extreme disciplines such as downhill biking.
This reliance on survival skills accounts for the group dynamics of the sport. Fitness is another issue; if a rider is not in good enough shape to ride a certain class of trail, they will become fatigued, which puts them at a higher risk of having an accident.
Thus, whereas a casual in-the-city rider may only check over and maintain their bike every few months, a mountain biker should check and lube the bike before every ride. The style and level of protection worn by individual riders varies greatly and is affected by many factors including terrain, enivironment, weather, potential obstacles on the trail, experience, technical skill, fitness, perceived risk, desired style and others too numerous to mention. Backpack hydration systems such as Camelbaks where a water filled bladder is held close to the spine used by some riders for their perceived protective value.
Different levels of protection are deemed necessary/desirable by different riders in different circumstances. The founding clubs were: Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association, Bicycle Trails Council East Bay, Bicycle Trails Council Marin, Sacramento Rough Riders, and Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers. IMBA developed Rules of the Trail to promote responsible and courteous conduct on shared-use trails. Studies reported in the IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) Trail Solutions manual found that a mountain bike s impact is comparable to that of a hiker and substantially less than that of an equestrian. Studies that find mountain biking has little environmental impact have been criticized as underestimating the real impact of mountain biking on the environment.
If a mountain biker wishes to explore more dangerous trails or disciplines (types of mountain biking) such as downhill riding, they will need to learn new skills, such as jumping and avoiding obstacles. What was once a low use activity that was easy to manage has become more complex .
Jumps and impacts can crack the frame or damage the derailleurs or the tire rims, and steep, fast descents can quickly wear out brake pads. A trail patrol is a bike rider who has had some training to help assist other (including non cyclists) trail users. The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), is a non-profit advocacy group whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide.
Riders learn to repair their broken bikes or flat tires to avoid being stranded miles from help. Gloves also protect the hand, fingers, and knuckles from abrasion on rough surfaces such as concrete.
A cross-country helmet and simple long fingered gloves are a good minimum for the majority of riding. Limb protection becomes important when speeds rise, surfaces become loose and sketchy, terrain technical and crashes more common and more severe. Lastly, maintenance of one s bike needs to be done more frequently for mountain biking than for casual commuter biking in the city.
Club rides and other forms of group rides are common, especially on longer treks. The history of the mountain bike includes contributions from cyclo-cross in Europe, the Roughstuff Fellowship in the UK, and modified heavy cruiser bicycles used for freewheeling down mountain trails in Marin County, California. The trade-off for this is that they tend to be much heavier and less ventilated (sweatier), therefore not suitable for endurance-based riding. Full-face helmets (BMX-style) provide the highest level of protection, being stronger again than skateboard style and including a jaw guard to protect the face.
Groups work with private and public entities from the individual landowner to city parks departments, on up through the state level at the DNR, and into the federal level. Helmets are mandatory at competitive events and almost without exception at bike parks, most organisations also stipulate when and where full-face helmets must be used. Many companies also produce other items of protective gear, often nicknamed armor to protect limbs and trunk in the event of a crash.
New technology has seen an influx of integrated neck protectors that fit securely with full face helmets. There is a general correlation between increased protection and increased weight/decreased mobility, although different styles balance these factors differently. The main three types are cross-country, rounded skateboarder style (nicknamed half shells or skate style ) and full face.
To truly reduce the risk of injury, a rider needs to take steps to make injuries less likely, such as picking trails that they can handle given their experience level, ensuring that they are fit enough to deal with the trail they have chosen, and keeping their bike in top mechanical shape. Some mountain bikers also use BMX-style body armour, such as chest plates, abdomen protectors, and spine plates.
Seriously injured people may have to be removed by stretcher, by a motor vehicle suitable for the terrain, or by helicopter. Mountain biking is dominated by these major categories: Mountain bikers have faced land access issues from the beginnings of the sport. However, it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bicycles using high-tech lightweight materials.
Still, within XC community, the typical road-racing attire is what most riders use. Full-face helmets and armored suits or jackets are more suited to gravity and air -orientated disciplines which use jumps and drops, where their extra bulk and weight is outweighed by the bigger and more frequent crashes with worse consequences.
As all helmets should meet minimum standards, SNELL B.95 (American Standard) BS EN 1078:1997 (European Standard), DOT or motorized ratings are making their way into the market. The choice of helmet often comes down to rider preference, likelihood of crashing and on what features or properties of a helmet they place emphasis. Armoring knuckles and the backs of hands with plastic panels is common in more extreme types of mountainbiking. The use of helmets, in one form or another, is almost universal amongst all mountain bikers.
Whatever protection is used it should fit well, be comfortable (or it won t be worn) on the bike as well as in the shop and suited for the particular type of riding. However, there is only anecdotal evidence of protection and with the exception of one specific product by the company Deuter, they are never sold as spine protection. Mountain biking groups often carry first aid kit so that they are able to clean and dress cuts and abrasions and splint broken limbs.
As a general rule, if everyone else at the bike park is wearing a lot of protective gear it is a fair guess that a degree of protection is desirable. In XC competitions, most bikers use the usual road racing style helmets, for their lightweight and aerodynamic qualities.
Examples of the education an advocacy group can provide include: Educate local bicycle riders, property managers, and other user groups on the proper development of trails, and on the International Mountain Bicycling Association s rules of the Trail. However, it does not follow that if someone is wearing no protection at all it is a good idea to copy them.
The different groups that formed generally work to create new trails, maintain existing trails, and help existing trails that may have issues. Examples of trail work days can include: Flagging, cutting, and signing a new trail, or removing downed trees after a storm.
Cross-country helmets tend to be light and well ventilated, and more comfortable to wear for long periods, especially while perspiring in hot weather. Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes or hybrid/cross road bikes.
Unlike road biking helmets, skateboard helmets typically have a thicker, hard plastic shell which can take multiple impact before it needs to be replaced. The weight is the main issue with this type but nowadays they are often relatively well ventilated and made of high-tech materials, such as carbon fiber.
In 1988, five California mountain bike clubs linked to form IMBA. Gloves can offer increased comfort while riding, by alleviating compression and friction, and protection in the event of strikes to the back or palm of the hand or when putting the hand out in a fall.
Areas where the first mountain bikers have ridden have faced serious restrictions or elimination of riding. Opposition to the sport has led to the development of local, regional, and international mountain bike groups. Some companies market body armor jackets and even full body suits designed to provide greater protection through greater coverage of the body and more secure pad retention.
While initially made for and marketed at downhillers, freeriders and jump/street riders, body armor has trickled into other areas mountain biking as trails have become faster and more technical. Many different styles of gloves exist, with various fits, sizes, finger lengths, palm padding and armor options available.
Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories: XC cross country, Trail Riding, AM All Mountain, DH downhill, FR freeride, Urban trials/street riding and DJ Dirt Jumping. In 2003, Jason Lathrop wrote a critical literature review on the ecological impacts of mountain biking, raising some questions found nowhere else.
Because riders are often far from civilization, there is a strong ethic of self-reliance in the sport. Advanced riders pursue steep technical decents and, in the case of Free Riding and Dirt Jumping, aerial maneuvers off of specially constructed jumps and ramps. It can be performed almost anywhere from a back yard to a gravel road, but the majority of mountain bikers ride off-road trails, whether country back roads, fire roads, or singletrack (narrow trails that wind through forests, mountains, deserts, or fields).
He quotes the BLM: An estimated 13.5 million mountain bicyclists visit public lands each year to enjoy the variety of trails. They may be a very good rider, completely foolhardy or have no idea whatsoever what he/she is doing or how dangerous what they are about to ride is.
The vast majority of mountain biking falls into the recreational XC and Trail Riding categories. A combination sport named mountain bike orienteering adds the skill of map navigation to mountain biking. This individual sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills (time in the saddle) and self-reliance. Armor ranges from simple neoprene sleeves for knees and elbows to complex, articulated combinations of hard plastic shells and padding that cover a whole limb or the entire body.
Most upper body protectors also include a spine protector that comprises plastic or metal re-inforced plastic plates, over foam padding, which are joined together so that they arcticulate and move with the back.
