Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes.

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories: Cross Country (XC), Trail Riding, All Mountain, Downhill, Free Ride, Slope Style, Dirt Jumping and Trials. The vast majority of mountain ...

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories: Cross Country (XC), Trail Riding, All Mountain, Downhill, Free Ride, Slope Style, Dirt Jumping and Trials. The vast majority of mountain biking falls into the recreational XC, and Trail riding categories. This individual sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. XC type mountain biking generally requires a different range of skills and a higher level of fitness than other types of mountain biking. Advanced riders pursue steep technical descents and, in the case of freeriding, down hilling, and dirt jumping, aerial maneuvers off of specially constructed jumps and ramps. Mountain biking can be performed almost anywhere from a back yard to a gravel road, but the majority of mountain bikers ride off-road trails, whether country back roads, fire roads, or single track (narrow trails that wind through forests, mountains, deserts, or fields). There are aspects of mountain biking that are more similar to trail running than regular bicycling. Because riders are often far from civilization, there is a strong ethic of self-reliance in the sport.