What mountain biking benefits can you think of? Why do these matter?
Well, when we think of cycling in general, road biking comes to our mind, because of the stylish bike and outfit.
Or, for bike commuting or recreational cycling, you’d probably think of a cruise bike. That’s why you can see a lot of these bikes in the cities.
In contrast, mountain biking always equals DANGEROUS and DIRTY. Hence, some people are afraid of mountain biking.
But, why are some cyclists obsessed with mountain biking? There must be some unique mountain biking benefits that you’re unlikely to get through other types of bikes.
So, why do these matter to you?
Clearly, you don’t have to follow the crowd to pick a road bike or cruiser bike. Maybe a mountain bike is all you need?
Or, if you are a mountain biker, I am sure you’ll experience any one of the mountain biking benefits below.
So, let’s talk about these 8 mountain biking benefits and see why mountain biking is fun.
1. Exciting
You know the general idea of mountain biking. It is scary and risky. You can injure yourself and fall from the bike easily. – So, many cyclists are scared of mountain biking.
Ironically, this is the biggest reason of mountain biking. Some RISK TAKERS like the sensation of conquering risky activities.
They are often called ADRENALINE JUNKIES. They crave the adrenaline rush when mountain biking.
Again, you know adrenaline is a stress hormone, which makes you feel nervous or stressed out. – And we absolutely hate this unpleasant feeling.
Surprisingly, this is also the same hormone that makes us excited.
1.1 How mountain biking makes us excited
If you think about this, this hormone increases our heart rate, breath, and blood pressure. It makes us FOCUS on what we’re doing. – So, it makes sense where this hormone makes us stressed out and excited.
And the cool thing about this is, our body releases DOPAMINE in mountain biking. – The same hormone after orgasm.
That’s why some cyclists are “addicted” to mountain biking. We crave dopamine to make us feel great.
Just like bungee jumping or skydiving. Many are scared of them at first. But after the first try, some are obsessed with these and want to do these again.
2. Improve cycling skills
Once you’ve learned how to ride a bike, you already possess certain cycling skills, such as balancing, braking, cornering, etc.
Bear in mind you ride on flat road. So, you don’t really have to “master” these skills. Even if your skill level is quite basic, you are good to go.
Now, imagine you’re riding on an undulated trail or a gravel road. You struggle, don’t you? You know you lack cycling skills for this condition.
So, you can get injured because of that. And then you are scared of mountain biking and you claim mountain biking is dangerous.
Let’s think from the other side. Mountain biking helps improve your cycling skills due to greater skill threshold.
2.1 How mountain biking improves cycling skills
For example, you must be confident with out-of-saddle riding.
Then, you need to master balancing. Typically, you have to lean or edge a lot to switch the centre of gravity to suit the trail condition.
Due to its nature, you must expect bike damage. Hence, bike maintenance is a must for mountain biking. You learn how to check, fix, and preserve the bike.
After you’ve mastered, you won’t have any problems riding other bikes. You can switch easily. Even when you switch to a road bike, you can still adapt to the AERODYNAMIC posture pretty fast. – It shouldn’t be an issue for you.
Besides, an article on Frontiers in Psychology states that youngsters are more likely to enjoy the level of risk and danger in mountain biking.
Hence, they’ll spend more time practicing and refining their cycling skills. The results are shown in downhill riding, as this is one of the high-risk mountain biking types.
3. Agility
Cycling trains ENDURANCE. And better endurance makes us ride longer. At least this is what we know.
Mountain biking is unique in this sense. Not only does it improve our endurance, but it also improves our AGILITY.
3.1 Well, how does mountain biking make you agile?
You know there are many uncertainties on trails and gravel roads, don’t you?
These could be rocks, muds, ascending and descending, obstacles, unclear trails or roads, etc. This requires you to keep changing your riding posture.
Not only this, your “vision” is crucial as you need to SPOT and ASSESS the trail condition, DECIDE, and USE appropriate riding skills right on the spot.
This trains your RESPONSIVENESS and COORDINATION. Guess what, these are vital skills in daily life!
Thanks to this, this could give you an advantage at work as you think and process info faster than your peers.
4. Mentally strong
Have you ever run a marathon? If yes, how did you feel when completed the marathon? – You felt proud of yourself, didn’t you?
And then you wanted to do something more challenging. That is, to join an ultra-trail run. And then you completed the race, too. – Literally you feel like you are unstoppable.
Just ask yourself. Would the levels of achievement that you feel from both marathon and ultra-trail run be the same? – They won’t, as you will feel the level is greater for ultra-trail run.
Now, let’s take part in the next marathon. You’ll feel much easier to do this. Not only does your fitness improve, but also your MIND.
This is how our mind works. It gets stronger when we complete challenging task. Hence, it boosts our SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Same goes to mountain biking. You accept the risk of mountain biking. You are able to ride on trails despite the terrible condition. Even if you fall or get injured, you simply get up and carry on. – You build characters through mountain biking.
Here’s why mountain biking is PHILOSOPHY. It simply is the reflection in life.
5. Versatile
We all have this stereotype in our mind: cyclists ride mountain bikes in the wild. The trails are so unpredictable, which makes mountain biking risky. – Your heart beats even faster just thinking of it.
It doesn’t mean you must ride a mountain bike on trails or gravel roads. You can ride a mountain bike on flat roads just fine.
That’s what makes mountain bikes versatile.
Mountain bikes for bike commuting or recreational cycling? – No problem.
Mountain bikes for road biking? Sure, but minus the speed, as compared to road bikes.
Now, let’s turn the table. Would you ride bike other than a mountain bike on trails or gravel roads? – Obviously, you wouldn’t, unless you don’t mind damaging your bike.
6. Mindfulness
Are you sick of the mean gaze of drivers while cycling? Guess what? Road cycling isn’t the only option for you. You can ride without enduring the disastrous gaze.
Let’s ride on trails and embrace the Mother Nature! Those reckless drivers don’t respect you, but not the Mother Nature.
You instantly feel refreshed once you enter the woods. It is so peaceful that you only hear the sound of nature. – And of course, no annoying car and honk sounds.
In the article on Frontiers in Psychology, they found that
- 90% of participants believed they feel more connected to nature through mountain biking
- 80% of the participants agreed where mountain biking helps deal with worries and anxious thought.
6.1 Is that all?
Surprisingly, some even claim mountain biking is MEDITATIVE! – And this is beyond our knowledge.
I mean, meditation is when a person sits cross-legged, closes his eyes and focuses on his breath.
And mountain biking is so DYNAMIC. You have to let your guard up and focus all the time. Seems like the exact opposite of meditation.
But, I start to realize where they are coming from. You see. Mountain biking makes you focus on the PRESENT moment to notice the trails and surrounding.
You are being AWARE of riding a mountain bike in the present moment. – So, you just let your intrusive thoughts and worries go.
Here it is. Being aware of the present moment is literally the essence of meditation. And as long as you are doing this, you are meditating.
7. Workout
In general, cycling is workout. So, how is mountain biking different from others?
Let’s talk about workout. If you have a personal trainer, I believe he would advise you to combine ENDURANCE and high INTENSITY workout.
Not only does high intensity workout help build endurance, but also makes losing fats more efficient. Plus, it helps build muscles. – So, you’ll look athletic, rather than slim.
That is the purpose of mountain biking. While cycling builds endurance, mountain biking is a high-intensity workout.
7.1 Why is mountain biking high-intensity?
Based on an article from Sports Med, the intensity of off-road cycling is higher than on-road cycling. This is due to:
Factor 1: The trail condition itself makes cycling much more challenging. The trails are full of ascending and descending. And compared to a flat road, you know how difficult it is to ride on trails.
Factor 2: This relates to Factor 1. The uncertainty makes you change your riding posture a lot and apply different tactics and cycling skills.
Factor 3: Weight of mountain bike. Usually, a mountain bike is heavier than a road bike. And the heavier the bike is, the less responsive it is. So, we need greater force to pedal.
Factor 4: Air resistance. In on-road group cycling, cyclists can reduce air resistance through drafting. In mountain biking, however, it is not quite possible due to the width of trails. So, mountain bikers sustain greater air resistance than road bikers’.
All these factors make you engage more muscle groups to ride on trails. And this consumes more energy. Hence, you’ll shed more calories in mountain biking than regular cycling.
Thus, mountain bikers are LEANER than other cyclists, such as road bikers.
8. Community
Road bikes are the star in cycling because of the popularity. Everyone crave road biking as it makes them stylish.
When it comes to recreational cycling, cruiser bikes are the most common. You literally can see them anywhere in bike friendly countries.
Mountain bikes lie between these 2 spectrums. And sadly, mountain biking is less common than road biking and cruiser bikes.
Thus, it is harder to find LIKE-MINDED person who shares the same interest as you.
Besides, due to the risk of mountain biking, cyclists always ride in group.
This makes forming an ideal mountain biking community much harder than other cycling community.
But, this is the perk too. When you are able to find the like-minded people, it is like finding a gem. You guys TREASURE each other more.
So, you guys motivate each other to go mountain biking together and help each other. In short, you guys are more connected to each other.
Final thought: mountain biking benefits
Mountain biking may not be suitable for all cyclists, but the benefits shouldn’t be overlooked.
If you are a risk-taker, mountain bike should be your choice as you can reap the benefits above.
But, if you aren’t into mountain biking, that’s fine too. At least you can consider mountain bike for recreational riding or bike commuting. – Well, at least cheaper than a road bike.
Having said that, you can try mountain biking and get the hang of it. Who knows you might change your mind and are excited about it?
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