Everything you should know about free ride

Free ride is an extreme type of cycling, which consists of overcoming natural and artificially created obstacles (drops, jumps, sandy areas). In cycling, the concept of free ride is most often associated with riding down an unprepared trail. This style combines all extreme cycling types at once.  Free ride was born in the U.S. in the 1980s, the biking style was named by analogy with a type of skiing. What else do you need to know about this discipline?

Types and disciplines

Classical free ride is an extreme cycling in the mountains on unprepared and not intended for this slopes with jumps, mud, rocks, and other extreme joys. The greatest advantage of this sport is the opportunity to spend some time in the natural environment, as the main places of free ride are located away from metropolitan areas.

Yet, apart from the classic free ride, there are other disciplines. What are they?

• North shore is riding on specially prepared bridges and wooden structures. Initially it appeared as a way to overcome very difficult sections of tracks.
• Slope style is a relatively new discipline in free ride, which involves performing a bunch of tricks on the most complex sections of a number of figures.
• Enduro is a less complicated version of free ride. It is perceived more as an extreme type of cross-country. In fact, the only difference between endure and classic free ride is that there are no completely inconceivable passes.
• Dirt-jumping is a full-fledged and independent discipline of mountain biking. The athlete performs various tricks on limited sections.
• Urban free ride is a symbiosis of extreme mountain biking and urban space. Athletes use the urban landscape for thrills. They jump off spans (ladders), and perform various beautiful tricks while riding.

Overcoming obstacles

Free ride implies the presence of such obstacles as dirt, gravel and sand. Before entering such areas, it is necessary to make sure that the weight of the rider is distributed as evenly as possible. After feeling the balance, the weight is shifted to the area of the rear wheel to prevent slipping.

The speed should be moderate in order not to lose control over control and to be able to react in time to unforeseen circumstances. The pedals should be pedaled at an even cadence. If you feel that the bike begins to be sucked into a sandy or muddy envelope, you need to downshift.

When tackling such obstacles, an important rule is to avoid stopping. The movement of the bike may be critically slow, but it is prohibited to stop completely.

Drops

Drops involve descending from an elevated surface to a ground plane or slope.

When approaching such an obstacle, you must visually determine the point of landing. The sequence of further actions is following: you approach an obstacle, perform an abrupt lifting of a front wheel upwards, then perform the flight itself, and land on the back wheel.

If you do not tear off the front wheel, it will fall forward and the bike will hit the bottom of the frame. Even if the frame does not touch, the bike will fall at too great an angle and you will fly over the wheel. At each of the steps, it is important to observe certain nuances.

If you are riding a hardtail, it is important not to overdo the height. When you approach a drop on a hardtail, let you arms and legs relax, without slowing down enter the air by lifting the front wheel. During the flight body weight is shifted back, arms are straightened, legs are tucked, back is tensed as much as possible.

When riding on a two-pod bicycle, it is important to consider that the higher the speed of entry into the obstacle, the softer the landing. When approaching an obstacle, you should crouch low in the frame, bend your knees and elbows, then drive into it with the handlebars slightly up. The landing is done on both wheels at the same time.

A technically important point in drops is the correct positioning of the bike in the air (as parallel to the slope as possible).

Driving off curbs and ramps

When driving off a low obstacle, it is necessary to transfer weight to the rear wheel by leaning backwards as much as possible. This will relieve the front wheel and allow you to overcome an obstacle as smoothly as possible.

An important point is braking. On a very steep slope, you should perform this movement with the rear wheel almost to its complete blocking. You can additionally brake with the front wheel, but it is important not to block it. On a steep slope, the front wheel is blocked very easily.

Regardless of the technique of jumping or dropping, it is important to remember that the rotation of the pedals is unacceptable, and their location, when overcoming various obstacles, should always be parallel to the ground.

Bicycle

Since free ride became a separate sports discipline, special requirements for bicycles have been announced. The key features of free ride bikes include:

• strengthened durability;
• lightweight;
• reinforced cushioning;
• powerful brakes;
• tires with a wide profile.

The importance of the first feature cannot be overestimated. When riding on difficult and dangerous trails, the bike, along with the rider, experiences enormous loads. For this reason, the strength of the frame here is much higher than in the average mountain bike, because the safety of the cyclist is at stake.

Durability is very important as well. Modern manufacturers produce models made of lightweight alloys that can reduce the weight to 14-15 kg without losing strength.

Free ride requires performing various jumps, so bikes are equipped not only with several shock absorbers. Here it should be noted that the amplitude stroke of shock absorbers significantly smoothes the shock loads.

And, certainly, the braking system is one of the key factors leading to success or failure in free ride. It is necessary to pay attention to this mechanism, because brakes are able to keep the situation on the track under control. In most cases, disc brakes are installed on both wheels.

Clothes

A bicycle helmet is an essential part of an outfit for free riding. Full-face motocross helmets are mostly used for this purpose. The helmet is designed to protect the cyclist from serious injuries.

Since the helmet cannot fully protect the sportsman against fracture of the neck and other parts of the body, there is a special protection for it. The device is attached to a special design that provides protection for the spine, ribs and other bones.

Athletes also use elbow pads and kneepads as protective equipment. In addition, it is necessary to pick up cycling gloves, because they prevent damage of the hands in case of falling. Gloves are recommended for a better grip on the handlebars.

Safety

Free ride is one of the most dangerous and traumatic disciplines. The most common injuries include:

• concussion due to a hard blow to the head;
• cervical spine fracture;
• damage to joints.

It is necessary to concentrate on one point concerning the cyclist’s equipment. Remember that you cannot reuse the helmet that has suffered a blow. You may not notice the micro-crack, and the next time it will not withstand even a minor blow. That is why the protection should be your top priority. Even if you are only thinking about practicing this sport, first buy protection, and then choose a bike.

All in all, free riding is an exciting discipline. Yet, it is very dangerous, which is why it requires a lot of training and concentration. Moreover, protective ammunition is a must for all riders.