What’s the best thing about riding mountain bikes? The rugged forest scenery? The sweaty satisfaction of finishing a climb? A fast, flowing stretch of singletrack? Those are just a few of the highlights, but there’s another element of fat-tire riding that I really love: learning.
The basic skills–mastering your body position, building balance, shifting, and some simple bike maintenance–can keep you busy for a few years. But even if you’ve been riding for decades, there’s some skill, trick, or trail feature that’ll keep you on your toes and give you something to practice every time you get on your bike. Mountain biking has a sharp learning curve, but also one that never ends. So it’s a sport that stays interesting forever.
After 2 years riding fat tires I’m getting faster in tight switchbacks and I’m pretty comfortable with steps and short drops. In part because I’ve been lucky to ride with awesome cyclists who’s pushed me to try new things and who’ve given me pointers for better bike handling. (Thanks MTBChick!) I also know that I have a long way to go before I’ll be able to clear–without walking–the technical, rocky climb to my favorite local loop. Luckily, there’ are an increasing number of women’s-specific skills camps popping up all over the place and from Fernie to Austin and everywhere in between there are classes and clinics where pro riders will walk you across teeter totters and help you trust your bike in tough terrain. Our friends at Sacred Rides have this quick video that’ll inspire you to look into skills camps, like the one they’ve got planned for next week in British Columbia and a downhill camp they’ve got planned for the first week of August.
