ckleps

I ride a road bike and a few weeks ago I picked up a mountain bike to switch things up from time to time. The problem I'm running into is that when i'm on the mountain bike I ride it like a wuss. What I'm saying is that I ride it as if it were a road bike in the woods so ever rock and stick seems like a major obsticle. Has anyone else switched from road to mountain biking? Has anyone else encountered this same mental feeling and what did they do to get acclimated to the far greater stability of a mountain bike. Our do I just need to spend more time on the trails and I'll get used to it eventually? Thanks for any tips you might have.
Peace

Grasschopper

Hey if you can ride through the woods and not ride over the big rocks and fallen trees you will probably ride it faster. It can be a skill to find the line. Some people get the jollies hitting and jumping off of everything and others get their jollies going fast off road which often times (most times?) means avoiding all of the big obsticles. Honestly I prefer to go fast and know there are times when you can't miss the rock or a section where you have to deal with larger obsticles but you just have to learn to do it.

CranxOC

I went the opposite direction (mountain to road) so I have experience in both disciplines. The big thing that's lacking in road biking that you need to have mountain biking is solid bike handling skill. On the road you essentially point your front tire in X direction and the bike goes there 99.9% of the time. On a MTB it's a little different because your front tire is going to be tracking the terrain therefore, you have to make subconscious, micro adjustments to your line at all times. Then, of course, you encounter the occasional major obstacle and have to navigate that using certain skills you've never had to develop as a roadie.

Ultimately, it's just going to take you some time to develop some bike handling skills. The unfortunate part for you is that your learning curve will likely be just slightly longer than it will be for someone coming into the sport without a consistent background in another discipline. This is due to the fact that your muscle memory is already conditioned to respond in a particular manner on a bike and now you're going to have to unlearn some of the old skills (on the trails at least) along with learning the new ones.

Don't worry though, you'll get it eventually; it just takes time.

Maelstrom 

Speed helps. But really just trail time. Ride trails. Practice. One thing mountain bikers do that is similar to bmxers is we session an area. If there is an obstacle you want to get over, practice on that spot for half an hour. Build your confidence AND upper body strength. As the upper body strength catches up to the biking you are doing you will find you are doing obstacles with ease.

While I agree with grasschopper, that avoiding the obstacle is usually faster etc...it helps to know how to go over tham, just incase. There are very few clean lines on the trails out here, and if you can't get up and over something, you would walk a lot

Wheel Doctor

I'm a bit of an old fart to be sorta new to MTB'ing. I started out as a rode racer in the 70's and added MTBing when the boys from CA started modifying cruisers and came up with the MTB venue. I rode a Bridgestone MB-2 and then a Ritchie Commando no shocks. So I learned the hard way. I stopped MTBing for many years and was doing road only. Just this year started again with a HardTail. Well it was sorta like I never left, rusty yes but afraid no. I remembered things from the past MTBing like going slow is not a option, pedal like hell, momentum is everything etc. I found that my MTBing skills although very rusty were superior to other road riders that just started MTBing. It has been fun and I rode last week with a very experienced rider on a high end Specialized dual suspension. He kicked my ass but I stayed right on his wheel. He knew the course and warned me about upcoming terrain, log piles and steep climbs. I learned alot from just following him. I know he was just being kind and we would stop and wait for the rest of the newbies to catch up. Like any other cycling venue you learn the most from those you ride with that are better than you. So I suggest ride with an experience rider and you will catch on real fast. Alone you will improve you skills but not like you will with someone who is better than you and willing to slow up and give you pointers on how to do this and that.

a2psyklnut

Keep your arms and legs flexed. Look where you WANT to go, not AT the obstacle. Trying to look 10' in front of your front tire, not 2'.

Get off your saddle!!!

With a mountain bike, you need to learn body english. You need to move around your bike shifting your weight forward and back. Get off your saddle and you'll exaggerate the effect.

Always keep your weight "UPHILL". When climbing, shift your weight forward. When descending, shift it back over the rear wheel.

Learn to use more front brake than rear. A lot of newbies use too much rear brake and end up skidding. If you're skidding, you're out of control. Use more front brake to slow you down, just lean back more so you don't ENDO.

ckleps

Thanks for the advice, I'll be out riding all day tomorrow so I'll try to pay attention everything you've recomended. I have picked some of the stuff up like using the mainly the front brake I probably use it around 85% of the time and keeping my weight on the rear tire when I brake and go downhill. Unfortunatly things have been really muddy for the last month so thats making things even trickier but in the long run its probably helpful to learn in the worst conditions.