Mountain Biking

Mountain biking involves cycling off road.

See Also:: Cycling

An Overview of Mountain Biking

Mountain bike racing takes place in a variety of off road venues. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories: cross-country, downhill, four cross, and freeride.

Cross-country races often use parkland, woodland and forestry sites, with the terrain chosen to incorporate climbs, descents and technical features. Looped courses are designed and built specifically for events by skilled course designers, with man-made technical features such as 'rock gardens' incorporated to increase the technical challenge.

Downhill courses are shorter point-to-point courses exploiting a venue's steep terrain, incorporating technical features such as rocks, tree roots, jumps and drop offs. Like cross country courses, these tracks are often created specifically for events or form part of a trail centre or bike park's established courses.

Four cross courses are, like downhill courses, built on steep terrain with manmade jumps, berms (banked corners) and other technical features. They're much shorter than downhill courses but wide enough for four riders to compete shoulder to shoulder.

Away from racing, the 'venue' for recreational mountain biking is huge; it's the great outdoors. Britain's network of bridleways and other legal rights of way extends to thousands of miles. For the adventurous type with a bike and an Ordnance Survey map, it's ripe for exploration. If however you like your riding more 'point and shoot', mountain bike trail centres are where it's at, with way-marked, graded routes, generally in forestry land, with all the amenities such as bike hire, bike wash, bike shop, cafe and changing facilities provided. Think of them as one stop shops for mountain bikers.

Involvement

Go-Ride clubs throughout the country run mountain bike skills sessions to help young riders get into the sport, teaching them the essential techniques of off-road riding. British Cycling also provides training for mountain bike leaders, equipping people with the skills to lead groups of riders in an off-road environment. Many trail centres also run skills sessions where you can learn the basics of off-road riding in a fun, friendly and risk managed environment.

Local Programmes

Contact your local Physical Activity, Health & Wellbeing Team

Across Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland the Physical Activity, Health & Wellbeing Teams are providing opportunities to support you to become more active.

Daily Boost

The Daily Boost aims to encourage children and young people to do 15 minutes of organised activity at school every day, benefiting their long-term physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Active Leicester

Active Leicester encompasses all sports in the city.

Gartree High School

High school offering a wide range of extra-curricular sport opportunity.

Active Blaby

Active Blaby is your local service to help people become more active. We work hard to give people the capability, opportunity and/or motivation to add a bit more movement into their daily lives.

B-BUDDIES

B-BUDDIES CIC is a not for profit community interest company
Offering 'anything and everything to do with bikes and cycling'
Cycle Training - Balance Bikes, Learn to Ride, Bikeability, Cycle skills and British Cycling Go Ride Clubs plus British Cycling

Hinckley Mountaineering Club

Active Hinckley & Bosworth

Active Hinckley and Bosworth are a team of individuals delivering, promoting and supporting all things sport and physical activity across the borough.

Melton Healthy and Active Communities Team

Providing Sport, Physical Activity and Health Opportunities for individuals and groups in and around the Melton Borough.

1st Woodville (St .Stephens) Scouts

1st Woodville (St Stephens) Scout Group is located in Woodville in the Heart of the National Forest in South Derbyshire. Join us on our adventure! Face the challenges, develop new skills, work as a team and make lasting memories.

Rutland Cycling

Rutland Cycling on the shores of Rutland Water is a large, friendly bike shop and e-bike centre. We stock everything cyclists need, from bikes to accessories, and we offer cycle and e-bike hire around Rutland Water, plus free advice from our team of fully

RideWise

RideWise is a charity dedicated to supporting and enabling the use of sustainable forms of transport. We inspire and support people and organisations to travel more frequently by bikes, trams, trains, buses, walking, cycling, carsharing and even electric

Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University is ranked amongst the UK's greenest universities in the Green League for our environmental commitment. We have 28,000 students (HESA 2011 / 12) and have invested £350 million since 2003 across our three campuses to create an i

SASP Sport Welfare Officers Forum

A online meeting for Sports Club Welfare & Safeguarding Officers based in Somerset.

You're invited to attend our club welfare forum for anyone involved in sport and physical activity in Somerset, but in particular those in your clubs who hold the role of 'club welfare officer' or 'safeguarding lead'.

If you're the Safeguarding or Welfare Officer at your Sports Club, please join Tracey Sweetland, Somerset Sport Welfare Officer at SASP to learn about local support and opportunities to assist you in your volunteer role.