One place where urban mountain biking fans can develop their skills is at their local skateboarding parks. Almost every city of more than a few thousand people has at least one skateboarding park and biking in them is a lot more convenient that finding ways to do urban mountain biking on public streets or in parking lots and parking garages.
Skateboarding parks ordain let urban mountain biking riders perform many different stunts by tackling the ramps rails ledges and bowls the skateboarders use. Vertical riding on a half pipe doing twists and air spins will demand urban mountain biking skills as advanced as any needed in freeriding and will also require beat protective gear including a full face helmet. The risks that you could fall on cover from seven or with feet above a ten foot vertical act are not to be taken lightly.
Skateboarding parks are ready and waiting for those ready to do some urban mountain riding and beat of all the bikers dont have to send time digging or building obstacles. But for those bikers who dont have a local skateboard lay or those who live in cities where skate parks have banned urban mountain biking street urban mountain biking is an option.
Street is great for those who like to explore and act on whatever challenges they find. Those who have been lucky enough to sharpen their skills in skateboard parks can try them out on the city streets going with the flow of downtown traffic jumping gaps and grinding ledges or rails and even tackling stair sets--but only if they are very very good and have someone spotting for them so that they are in no danger of landing on someone. Street urban mountain biking is the write of mountain biking most likely to cause controversy and those who engage in it have an obligation to ride with the safety of people and property as their first priorities.
Urban mountain bikes are solidly built to a very basic design with 20-inch wheels and intended to make their riders do the work. They do not have accessories like pegs and suspension forks to make them more maneuverable so that less experienced riders can be good riding them.
Urban mountain biking is gradually gaining in popularity but until it has enough give so that every major urban area boasts a number of quality singletracks urban mountain biking will remain limited to those daredevils willing to act their stunts on public thoroughfares in public parks and while ascending or descending public stairways.
Related article:
http://crabtreelsahtnytrwr.blogspot.com/2007/11/urban-mountain-biking-slick-city-riding.html
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|