First solo mountain bike ride, my tips for first timers.
 

I had recently only biked with my (now) ex girlfriend. She was significantly slower than me, so I never had the chance to go very fast. Now that I have, I've realized a few things.

Number 1: Always bring extra clothes. Turns out that going up the side of a mountain get's cold! Even if riding up the mountain is warm, riding down is generally cold.

Number 2: You're going to crash. I'm generally a pretty good biker. I don't often fall, if ever. But you WILL fall, so be prepared for that. Also, wear gloves. When you crash you invariably land on your hands. Gloves protect your hands, which is a good thing. (EDIT: Didn't mean for this to sound egotistic, I crashed thrice!)

Number 3: Put a first aid kit in your car. Again, you will fall, it's good to be able to patch yourself up if you need to. Alternatively, take a small one with you.

Number 4: Plastic pedals SUCK. I know you just bought your $800 mountain bike, but take those plastic pedals off of it and throw them away. Go spend another $100 and buy yourself some metal pedals, or some clips, or some anything. Anything besides the crappy plastic pedals. ANYTHING.

Number 5: WEAR EYE PROTECTION It doesn't matter if its sunny or shady, find some sort of eye protection to wear. Going fast will mean that you will be getting mud thrown up on to your face. Not being able to see when you're flying down a hill isn't a good thing.

Number 6: Don't be discouraged if you have to push your bike up some hills! Some trails are very unforgiving. They are steep, rocky, and generally hard to get up, especially for inexperienced riders.


EDIT: Number 7: Snow sucks. Be VERY VERY careful of snow. It makes it very hard to turn, stop, go, essentially everything. Out of the three times I crashed, two were from snow. (I also fell INTO the snow, which made falling much easier.

All very true.. went to a local Mountain Biking 101 class today and did 4 miles of trails.. ran of the path a few times in to cacti and scrub brush ( thank you tire liners for doing your job ). I will definitely be back out as it gave me more of a workout than road biking and now I have a path to follow until I complete it in a single run without stopping.

The place to put your extra clothes and first aid kit is in your hydration pack. I can stuff a longsleeve or rain jacket in my camelbak charge lr, but just barely. A bigger pack like a osprey raptor 14 would be far better if you frequently go out with layered clothing.

I find that road biking works my legs more than my cardio, where as mountain biking works my cardio more than my legs. You can't push extremely hard on a mountain bike because you'll just spin the tire or do a wheelie and fall, unlike on a road bike where you can push as hard as you want and not worry about it.

I think I ride with an osprey raptor 14 (it's an osprey something, it may be an 18L). I find it's a great size. I can even shove a hoodie in the outer mesh pocket if I need to. (Well, it's sticking out half way, but it still stays put!)

Awesome thread and some very helpful advice.

Pedal down the drops, coast up the up hill and get a little air, You will save a TON of energy. and you will smile :P

Coast down the drops and you will have to pedal real hard on the up hill part and use precious energy, lots of it.

Use your brakes going down the drops and you will be pushing the bike up the ups, burning extreme amounts of energy and you'll be doing damage to the trail on the way down and up.....

Do not 'Chop Wood' Learn to use the correct gear...

Ride a triple chain ring correctly in the big rollers, Get mid cassette and stay there, say,, third or fourth cog'sih...

Blast down the hill on the big chain ring. As soon as you transition at the end of the G-out shift to the middle ring and get light on the bike, Pedal like you stole it and a police K-9 Is right on your tail....
Before your cadence drops to mashing speeds down shift to the granny ring, sit on the front tip of your saddle and spin like a grizzly bear is about to swat you off your bike.
If your not over the top yet and your cadence starts to drop into mash mode, downshift the cassette all the way to 1st gear, you won't have time to stop in third or second gear and get any power down, go straight to first gear.

Now spin like a 10 year old on a tricycle and don't stop, when you top the hill get to shifting and get your speed up and repeat..
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Your legs should be as strong as wet spaghetti noodles at the end of your ride, your tank should be empty or you didn't do it right.

It's not about whats In your pack or under your tush.
It's about the flow,
It's about what your made of,
It's about the ride....

Yeah, but pedaling uphill is required a lot of times for people in places less flat than Central Florida. Even in Kansas! :D It's a good skill to have. YES - absolutely you should gather as much momentum as you can, and use it. But you often have to pedal uphill to keep it going. And sometimes, you won't get to the top of the hill, even short ones, unless you pedal or walk.