Slipping into a narrow and deep rut on your mountain bike, particularly at high speed, can be a bit daunting. All of a sudden you’ve got a battle on your hands, right?
Wrong! Successful rut riding is about giving up a bit of control and letting your mountain bike flow, not fight, beneath you. Much like riding through deep sand. And rather than scary, riding in ruts can be a lot of fun. On top of that the skills and confidence you learn can help take your beginner mountain biking skills to the next level.
Follow these five proven steps and you’ll learn how to mountain bike in ruts in no time at all.
-
How To Ride Ruts on a Mountain Bike – the 5 Rules
A rut appears around the corner. You give it a quick scan using your mountain biking skills learned from How To Read the Trail, then you choose to slip in smoothly and…
1. Relax
- once in the rut, tell yourself you’ll make it through as long as you relax
- think ‘thumbs’ and release some tension from your hands. Still keep control of the handlebar, but allow a bit more loose-ness in your steering
2. Look Ahead
- the Golden Rule of Mountain Biking: always look ahead to where you want to go, not at what you want to miss.
- focus on the clearest path through the rut and dismiss insignificant trail features.
3. Crank It
- ride with your cranks horizontal where possible
- be ready to crank the pedals for short bursts of power or to miss the sides of the rut
4. Shift Back
Get ready to wiggle to keep balance
- ride off the seat and shift back slightly
- the rougher or more downhill the rut, the further back you may need to be
Shifting rearward has two major positives…
1. it allows your front wheel to roll over obstacles more easily, because less of you is weighing it down
and
2. combined with a looser grip, it reduces your steering control slightly. This allows the sides and contours of the rut to influence the path your front wheel should take
5. Float and Wiggle
- let yourself float over the bike while it moves freely beneath you
- use your arms and legs as extra suspension through the rough
- wiggle your knees, hips and upper body to keep balance
-
Flow Like Water – Water always takes the path of least resistance. So think of you and your bike as water flowing through the rut. Allow the sides and contours of the rut to work with your front wheel for better flow and finesse.
Outside Knee In – If your rut has turns swing your outside knee closer to the bike frame for those turns. This will make your turns more precise by helping you steer the bike with your body, not just your hands.
-
Don’t Forget to Lose Control!
It can be a challenge finding the confidence to hand some steering control over to the rut, while still keeping balance on your mountain bike. But the best way to find that confidence is with some practice. Start in your comfort zone and find a rut you think you can ride. Lose a bit of control and go with the flow.
As you improve your skills notice the difference the five rules make. Absorb that new flowing feeling as you work with the shape of the rut. Then take that feeling and apply it, along with your new mountain biking skills and techniques, to bigger and nastier challenges.
-
And Don’t Wait Too Long
Don’t wait till your next rut to try and put these techniques into action. Check out these quick and simple mountain biking balance skills to boost your balance before you need it on the trail. You may be surprised at how little practice it takes to improve your balance.-
And if you didn’t catch it earlier, here’s How To Read the Trail, an essential How To Mountain Bike article for beginner mountain bikers. Enjoy!
See the 5 Rules in Action in the Video below:
[...] How To Ride Ruts and Wash-outs [...]