Must haves when mountain biking in Mpumalanga
You will need to take a few things with you, just in case, so take a comfortable backpack.
If you don’t have a professional cycling bag with a hydration bladder in, make sure you have a couple of bottles of water. Around 2 litres of fluids would suffice for cycling on about 4 hours of mountain bike trails, but take more water if it is very hot outside.
Puncture happen, and you don’t want to be stuck next to mountain biking trails trying to fix them. Rather replace the tube – it’s easier and faster. Just make sure you carry the right size tube for your bike’s wheels.
Getting a tyre on and off of your wheel is made easy with a couple of tyre levers. Take an extra one with, in case one breaks.
Having a spare inner tube means nothing if you don’t have a pump to inflate it. Bike shops have all kinds of compact pumps, ideal for a backpack.
A mountain gets rattled around a lot, so it is not unusual for screws or bolts to come undone – make sure that you’re prepared when that happens and throw a handy little multi-tool in your backpack.
Taking a break and nibbling on something to boost your energy is always recommended after a few hours on extreme mountain bike trails. It’s always worth bringing a few snacks out with you. Jelly babies are great for a mid-ride pick-me-up, flapjacks are another favourite, and, of course, there are hundreds of energy snacks and protein bars on the market.
Mountain biking in Mpumalanga sometimes goes hand in hand with a bit of drizzle or light rain. If the skies aren’t clear and the forecast said that there might be a slight chance of rain, you will be very glad if you remembered to pack a drimac with a hood to keep the rain off of your head and upper body.
A rather handy little invention – it can be used to wrap around your head like a beanie or a sweatband, around your neck to keep the sun off or around your wrist to wipe mud off of your face if need be. It’s not really a necessity, but it is super handy!
When on holiday, some people tend to leave their phones behind when going on outings, but when you’re mountain biking in Mpumalanga, taking a phone is a good idea; you never know when you might need to get hold someone to assist you or if might need emergency services.
If you’re a novice mountain biker and you need some pointers to help you out, we’ve got a few good tips that might help you to enjoy the experience to the fullest:
- Braking
If you are going downhill and suddenly use your front brakes, chances are that you’ll skid or even go flying over your handlebars! Distributing your weight evenly over your two wheels will give them better braking power. Descending mountains or hills puts more pressure on your front wheel, so shift your weight a bit to give your back wheel better braking power as well. You can prevent skidding by applying gentle control on your brakes instead of sudden bursts.
- Going uphill
Lower gears are preferred for going uphill, but before you shift gears, decrease pressure on your chain by easing up a bit on pedaling. You will quickly be capable of judging what gear suits the degree of climbing you’re doing. Remain seated and lean forward a bit to keep traction on both tires, because either one might lose traction on dirt while climbing hills. Make sure you keep pedaling those pedals when the hill gets rocky because going too slow will be much harder than keeping a good pace.
Use the biggest chainring on a bumpy downhill to prevent the chain from bouncing off. Don’t stiffen your body – it needs to absorb the bumps so lift yourself off of the saddle and bend your elbows and knees to bend with the bumps. Also relax your hands as much as possible without losing grip. While you’re not pedaling, keep the pedals parallel to the ground with the front pedal slightly higher to prevent it from catching on rocks or roots. Keep focusing and you’ll do just fine
