Features

Equipment

To begin with you will of course, need a bike but these can go from as little as £200. If you're not sure about sticking with the sport then you could always borrow a bike from a friend, or hire one for a day. The most important piece of equipment is a helmet and other accessories are not essential, but you can spend more, on a full kit. Here's a quick guide to get you started:

Repairing your bike

Have you thought about what you should do if you get a puncture? I always cover this by having a saddle bag. These are just big enough to fit in a spare tube/a puncture repair kit, and maybe a bite to eat and a multi-tool.

A multi-tool will help you to fix your bike if something goes wrong mid-ride. You can get many varieties but most of them come with screwdrivers and a few different sized Allen keys. That is for a basic one, however some of the more expensive ones come with a carry case for them, and can come with chain tools, puncture repair kits and so on. 

Once you have repaired your puncture, you are going to need to pump it up! Simple pumps start at around £3.00 and if you want one that mounts to your frame next the bottle cage then they start at around 10-15 pounds.

Mountain biking

Accessories

Most mountain bikes come with mounts for bottle cages so you can carry a drink with you when you go cycling. Fitting a bottle cage is a 2 minutes job and bottle cages go from around £3.00. Alternatively, you can get a hydro-pack, which is a little bit more upmarket. A hydro-pack is a backpack that is specially designed for holding water and drinking out of when cycling or running. It has a little nozzle on the end of a hose which runs from your bag and normally clips on the front so you don't have to stop to have a drink. It definitely makes it a lot easier to get those extra miles in and gives you no excuses to stop!

Clothing

Going out in your ordinary day to day clothing is fine but you will feel the difference with some proper cycling clothing. There is a great range of clothing available ranging from gloves to shoes to zip-off trousers and shorts.  If you don't want to wear Lycra clothing and that doesn't appeal that’s fine, they do a great range of more casual looking clothing which equally as good.

As far as shoes are concerned if you are riding on standard pedals then normal trainers should be fine.  However if you fancy riding ‘clipped-in’ then they have a huge range of shoes to cater for you.  The idea is you have ‘cleats’ in the shoes and they clip into special pedals. The pedals (SPD's) are designed to improve the efficiency of your pedal stroke, so you are putting power in when your legs pull up as well as push down.  To ride 'clipped in' you obviously need the shoes and pedals. Beware of falling of when you first use them! However all you have to do it just twist your shoes out of the pedals to get out- it’s just remembering that!  You will be able to get more information on this from a cycle shop.

Now you have the kit and you look the part, it’s time to get to business!

Some useful tricks

The two main things you want to learn to get you started is the ‘track-stand’ and the ‘bunny hop’ which are both essentials for mountain biking.

A track-stand is to stay on the bike generally stood up (out of the saddle) staying on the spot without moving and just keeping balanced. As with most moves, it is all about balance. It may take some time to perfect, however the concept is fairly simple.

You will find it easier to balance if you slightly turn your handlebars to one side to help keep the balance, you may find yourself kicking your leg out to keep balanced - this is perfectly normal and helps a lot when learning. This is useful for riding slowly along thin obstacles and generally helps A LOT with bike control.

The Bunny hop is when you lift the bike off the floor whilst riding along. It can be used to hop over obstacles in your path such as logs or rocks. It's a very useful trick which is done by pulling up with the arms and using the calf muscles on your legs.

Where in Suffolk?

There are a few areas to check out that are within a couple of hours of Ipswich. These include Oulton Waters, Thetford and Rendlesham Forest.

Although you may find it more fun just to hit the road and try find somewhere yourself, sometimes that is half the fun of it. Just be careful where you go because some places do not allow cycling and are quite strict about it. If you abide by the signs and laws you will be fine.

Discover Mountain Biking.

After getting into it there are many different paths you can take, you may want to take up dirt jumping, you may just want to stick to short rides on a Sunday afternoon or get more into bike-trials or cross country. Whatever you do the bottom line is enjoy it, after all, that's why you're doing it!