Downhill Mountain Biking – A Dangerous Sport For The Strong Hearted

Mountain biking is a thrilling and exciting sport and downhill mountain biking is one such activity which is extremely dangerous and can be life threatening. Downhill Biking enthusiasts who have experienced this activity are well aware of the dangers it involves as well as the joy and high it offers. They also know that safety gears and precautions are the best shields while embarking on a downhill mountain biking course.

The sport of Mountain biking began as an ordinary sport where people living in geographic locations suitable for such races took up this as their pastime and later as their passion. However over the years, this sport has generated a huge fan following and despite of the major challenges and dangers that the sport poses, bikers are not ready to quit. Today this sport is termed as an extreme sport and for justifiable reasons. Mountain biking gives bikers the adrenaline high that they desire and which they experience while doing difficult stunts and races.

Mountain biking – a sport similar to snow skiing

Those who are aware and have experienced the thrill of snow skiing on icy slopes will have a little idea about the excitement of mountain biking. Downhill mountain biking is a popular form of mountain biking activity where the biker rides downhill on his mountain bike. On his way down, the biker gets constantly airborne and has to balance himself and the bike while trailing down the rough trails. However the thought of this high is enough to excite the biker to participate in such extreme downhill races.

Mountain Biking is a dangerous sport.

Those who presume downhill mountain biking to be as easy as biking on normal paved roads or riding in cross country biking are completely ignorant. Downhill biking involves high stress levels and the biker has to constantly keep control using his bikes rear and front suspension while simultaneously trying to balance himself and the bike. Bikes used for downhill mountain biking have sturdy frames and are thus heavier with the weights of such bikes ranging from eighty to hundred kilos.

Bikers aiming to participate in downhill mountain biking have to make themselves mentally and physically prepared to face the hardships associated with this activity. This is mainly because the biker has to start the race from the top of the hill and his physical energy is not required to pedal downhill but to maintain his body and bike’s balance on the tricky slope. This is physically demanding and its important that all safety gears and precautions are taken much in advance.

Bikers who have experienced the thrill and high of downhill mountain biking are always game to participate and care less for the risks involved. Downhill mountain biking is dangerous as the downhill trails are difficult, dangerous and the bike can jump almost to forty feet while coming downhill. Difficult trails excite downhill bikers and nothing can stop their eagerness to try such trails, not even the risk of injury or fatalities. However such bikers know the importance of using safety gears like helmet, elbow and knee pads, body suits etc. since these can ensure atleast some amount of safety against fatal falls.

BMX - Biking

BMX bikes are a special kind of low bike, with smaller wheels than normal, that can be used for racing. They are designed to be very light weight but also very robust, as well as streamlined for speed. They are also known for being easier to perform tricks with than normal bikes.

BMX stands for bicycle motocross, which refers to the origin of the sport: children saw motocross races on the TV in the ‘70s and wanted to emulate them. Since they had no motorbikes of their own, they used their bicycles to race around similar dirt tracks to the ones they had seen. Today the sport is notable for being one of the few sports that is taken part in almost exclusively by the under-10s. Although there are a few older professional BMXers, most good ones move on to other cycling or motorcycling sports.

Among children today, BMXes remain one of the most popular kinds of bikes around, even if they do not compete in competitions, and BMX magazines are some of the biggest-selling hobbyist magazines. This was a surprise to many, as the sport was considered pretty much dead in the ’80s and early ‘90s, only to undergo a dramatic revival in the mid-‘90s that is still going on now.

BMX is now one of the range of extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding, and similar tricks can be performed with the bikes to the ones the boarders do. The sport of Freestyle BMX was invented to allow BMXers to concentrate on doing tricks in skate-parks instead of racing, and has since arguably outgrown the popularity of BMX racing altogether – this is the style that the most famous BMX bikers, Mat Hoffman and Dave Mirra, compete in.

Getting Some Air in Cherokee County: Bike Park Gives Woodstock a New Place to Play

Sure you can ride your mountain bike just about anywhere but there's nothing like riding miles of winding hand-built single track (just wide enough for one) through the forests of North Georgia. But where? Unfortunately, mountain bikes have been unceremoniously kicked out of public parks all over the Southeast for their tendancy to erode paths built for hikers and even collide with the hikers themselves. The solution? Well if you live in Woodstock Georgia, you wrangle your own park and build your own trail.

The Southeast Off-Road Bicycle Organization (SORBA) is responsible for the wildly popular Blankets Creek trail system that skirts Blankets Creek at the edge of Lake Allatoona. Other nearby SORBA projects include Atlanta's Morningside Nature Preserve trail that links Midtown Atlanta with Buckhead through a 30 acre forested trail, and Big Creek Park in Roswell.

BLANKETS CREEK

Almost entirely built by hand by a team of volunteers, Blankets Creek Park is Cherokee County's only designated bike park and is proving itself to be one of the state's best rides. Right in Woodstock, just off Sixes Road, not too far from downtown and just 25 miles outside of Atlanta, the park draws over 100,000 bikes annually. Kids, men, women, families, couples, lone wolves, seasoned riders and even hikers all converge here for the great trails, a good workout and fun times.

The park has three short loops that let you choose your own adventure - from beginner trails to hair-raisers that demand technical skill. The group is currently building a fourth for a total of 16 miles of off-road goodness. The North Loop will be complete in spring 2008 and is going to bust the guts of all but the most experienced cyclists. With breakneck climbs and headlong descents, you really have to know how to handle your bike if you want to make it to the end of this four mile trail. Fortunately there's plenty of opportunity to train up.

The Mosquito Flats trail and the slightly more challenging Mosquito Bite Trail (1.3 miles total) are fun easy rides perfect for kids and beginners or to get your heart rate up before taking on the more challenging trails. Intermediate riders can try the Dwelling loop (3.5 miles) and advanced riders can try the South Loop (4 miles) for a steady stream of switchbacks, climbing, rock gardens, roots and log crossings.

Though all previous trails were built by hand with rakes, shovels and a lot of back-breaking labour, the new North Loop trail is being blazed by a mini-excavator. The main benefit is that the trail will be complete in less than half the time it would take to build it by hand.

GETTING HERE

Blankets Creek is located in Woodstock on the shores of Lake Allatoona. To get here, take I-75 north to I-575 north and take exit 11. Turn left on Sixes Road, go about 1.8 miles and turn left into the trail head parking lot. The park is open every day, but closed for rain. Check the trail direction before you begin as it changes daily. Admission is a $1 suggested donation.

WHAT TO BRING

- A helmet. You can't ride the trails without one.
- Tool kit and tire pump

A General View About The Bicycle

A bicycle, pushbike, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle which has two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. They were first introduced in 19th-century Europe and then quickly evolved into its familiar, current design. Numbering over 1,000,000,000 in the world today, bicycles provide the chief means of transportation in many regions and also a popular form of recreational transport in others. The bicycle is amongst the most notable of human inventions. However there is a lot of confusion regarding when and who invented the very first bicycle. According to general belief, the earliest bicycle was a wooden scooter-like contraption named ‘celerifere’ and it was made by Comte Mede de Sivrac of France in about 1790.

An Overview of the Bicycle –

The basic shape and configuration of the frame, wheels, pedals, saddle and handlebars of the bicycle has hardly changed since the first chain-driven model that was developed in around 1885, though many important detail improvements have been made since, especially recently by the use of modern materials and computer-aided design. For example, the conventional design of the saddle or the seat of the bicycle has remained more or less the same. Though there have been experiments with noseless seats, people still prefer the conventional size.

Lights are another important yet ignored factor in bicycles. Even if one does not intend to use ones bicycle during the dark, one must have a precautionary lighting system. Lighting in the bicycle will serve the purpose of seeing others and making yourself visible to others both of which will help in avoiding any possible casualty in the dark.

As far as the frames are concerned, different materials have come to be used. Carbon, aluminum and magnesium are frames which are very popular. Even titanium frames have been promoted but as they are quiet expensive, they are used only by the cream.