If you have only started mountain biking then you may have come to realize that there are certain things that are considered to be simple etiquette on the single track trails. Maybe you know this because you have gotten yelled at for unwittingly breaking one of the rules of etiquette, but hopefully you are reading this before that happens.
The mountain biking etiquette for single track trails is what determines who has the right of way among other such things in order to avoid accidents and keep the trails fun. This is especially important for single track since there is only place enough for one person on the trail more often than not.
But there is a lot more than that to the etiquette of mountain biking, as well as more than a few reasons why you should try to learn all of these rules by heart if you can. There are also some rules of etiquette that, although considered to be very nice, are more on the optional side of things, and you should know which of these rules is which.
Why Is Trail Etiquette And Why Is It Important To Know?
While some trails are almost solely devoted to mountain bikers, other trails can have hikers who walk down them or even horseback riders on the same trail as well. When all three of these options are on the same exact trail, knowing who has the right of way can possibly mean that you don’t collide with a several hundred pound horse – not to mention the likelihood of getting yelled at if it was your fault, having to pay for any damages to the animal, etc.
So, since getting into an accident of any kind is definitely something that any mountain biker wants to avoid, knowing trail etiquette becomes more important the more people there are on a trail. This is not only for your safety, but for the safety of the other mountain bikers, hikers, and horseback riders that you might be sharing the trail with.
Even if no one gets hurt when you break the trail etiquette, it is still a good idea not to try it. Imagine for a moment that someone cut you off in traffic. What would you do if you were able to see who that person was and then ran into them on the sidewalk somewhere just a little while later? Yeah, odds are that you would not exactly feel inclined to be friendly.
If you were a forgiving person and they apologized, you might decide that it was no big deal. However, if they didn’t apologize, and worse if they even bragged about how they slipped in front of you without any problems, then odds are that you would not be friends with them even if they tried particularly hard other than that to be friends with you.
While I know that was a long explanation, it is a very accurate description of what can happen when you are mountain biking. Sometimes noobs to the sport (if you don’t know what a noob is then you probably are one) may break trail etiquette for whatever reason without even knowing that they did so, and then later when they are talking about it brag on how they did it.
While one of the more experienced mountain bikers may take that person aside to show them what they wrong and explain the basics of trail etiquette, that noob has already made it a whole lot harder for themselves to make friends among the other mountain bikers around. After all, how easy do you find it to brush over a breach of etiquette even when you know that the person in question may not have known any better?
All in all, staying safe and being friendly to the other people on the single track trails are what the rules of mountain biking etiquette are all about. Knowing these rules can make you seem a little more like you might actually know some of what you are doing, and they offer a great start when it comes to making friends with other mountain bikers.
The Laws Of The Trails – Right Of Way And Passing
If you are still wondering whether a mountain biker or a horse has the right of way on a single track when the two are coming from opposite directions on the path, it is the horse, of course. Mountain bikers should also yield to hikers as well. However, if the trail is specifically marked as being for mountain bikers only, then if a biker meets either a horseback rider or a hiker then it is the biker who has the right of way on the trail.
Since not all hikers are aware of the fact that they actually have the right of way – and some are simply afraid of getting crashed into by someone on a mountain bike – if they do step aside off of the path it is perfectly acceptable to pass them. When you do so, you should slow down to a moderate speed if you were going fast and say thank you to them as you pass, picking your speed back up once you are completely past them.
Another piece of etiquette when it comes to mountain bikers interacting with hikers is to let the hiker know if you are passing them if there are any more bikers in your group right behind you. This spares the hiker from starting to step out back into the trail only to have another biker coming by. The simplest way to do this is to say: “Two more,” if there are two more bikers behind your or: “Just me,” if you are the only one.
When it comes to a mountain biker coming up to another biker when there is an incline to the trail, the mountain biker that is going uphill has the right of way unless they are on a downhill-only trail. However, sometimes if a biker is going uphill and they see someone going down, they just as often pull over to the side to let the downhill mountain biker past them.
While this is done fairly commonly on steep climbs, the downhill biker should not expect this. Sometimes the person going uphill may simply be feeling generous, or they may decide that it is the perfect opportunity to take a breather, but when you have a good rhythm going when you are heading up a hill it is a whole lot harder to stop and start back up than it is for someone who is going downhill.
Anytime that you are yielding the right of way you should never go off of the trail at all if you can help it so that you do not damage the scenery and grass. Simply pull over barely onto the edge of the grass at the edge of the trail, step off of the bike with the foot that is away from the trail, and lean your bike over some so that your handlebars will not be in the way of the handlebars of the person who is passing you.
When passing up a hiker that is going the same direction as you are, if there is enough room on the trail you should pass to the left of the hiker and alert them as you get closer by the warning: “On your left,” to let them know that you are going to be passing them to their left. You should also slow your speed down to moderately slow as you pass them and, like before, you should also let them know if there are going to be any other bikers that you know of coming along behind you.
Stating this same phrase of: “On your left,” is also used when passing up slower bikers in the places where there might be room enough in the trail to do so, but in this case you will not have to slow down at all as you pass them. Along these same lines it is also considered rude not to let someone pass you if you can safely do so and they are clearly going faster than you are, just as it is rude to try to force your way past someone ahead of you if there is not really enough room to allow you to pass safely.
Finally, when it comes to technical features, the person who is trying to do these technical features has the right of way and should not be passed while they are doing it either from behind or from the opposite direction. To try to pass them might distract them which could get them hurt, or at least might make them angry at you.
When you are allowing a horse to have the right of way it is your job to give them plenty of room and to make no loud noises or sudden movements which might startle them. If in doubt as to how much room that you need to leave or anything else, always ask the rider.
Other Laws Of The Trails
Other rules of etiquette fall more into the range of common sense. For example, if a trail says it is closed then you should not ride it anyway. It is most likely to be closed for one of two reasons: either a wash out or rock slide or something has happened to make the trail unsafe, or the trail has just been repaired and needs some time for the dirt to settle before it can be ridden – think of it the same way that a sidewalk needs the cement to dry on it before you start walking all over it.
If the trail is unsafe to ride for whatever reason, then you are putting yourself in danger by riding on it. However, if it has just been fixed then you will effectively be ruining hours worth of work that a whole team of people put into working on the trail. Simply put, I would not want to be you if they ever hear who did it and you may get a little blackballing from them.
Some trails has speed regulations or there can be other regulations that say that there is only to be one direction of traffic flow on the trail, while other have recommended speeds, and these should be followed as well. You do not want to go the wrong way on a single track trail any more than you want to go the wrong way on a freeway. While mountain biking against the flow of traffic may not be as dangerous, it could still end up in a pretty bad crash depending on the terrain.
Holding up “traffic” on a trail in pretty much any way, shape, or form is also not only impolite but is just asking someone to run into you. It is never alright to stop in the middle of the trail to catch your breath, you should move over to the side. If a part of your bike breaks, you should take your bike completely off of the trail before you even start looking at it better to see what is wrong. You should also carry whatever repair tools that you might need and you should always being wearing you bike gear which at the very least must include a helmet.
Along this same line, you should also never stop to talk someone and take up any space at all at either the entrance or the exit – even if they “can get past you” it is still rude and you should take your conversation somewhere else. Sometimes this can be done in thoughtlessness when you stop tell each other what a great ride that was or something else, but what if the next person behind you happens to be trying to beat a record of some kind of how fast they can do the trail and you are blocking the exit?
While it is only polite to check with someone if you see that their bike is broken to make sure that they are okay and that they have everything they need, it is not okay to give pointers to someone who is struggling uphill and to tell them how to do it better! Also, squeaky bike parts are just plain annoying to those around you, so try to take care of these as soon as you can.
Common sense should also tell you that spitting when passing another biker is rude. If you have an extra amount of body odor – whether stomach related or sweat related – you should try to be downwind of the rest of your group. You should also at least try to keep your distance as much as possible and use something to help with the smell.
You should also know your place in a group and start off there from the very beginning. For example, if you know that you are the slowest person in your group, you should start at the back so that you are not forcing literally everyone in your group to pass you up, not try to get a head start on the others. The same goes for you if you know that you are the fastest one in the group; do not start at the back and thereby force everyone to pull over once to let you by them.
On a dusty trail, try not to brake so hard that your tires kick up a cloud of dust for the people behind you or the people passing you to have to ride through. Some of dust is inevitable but you should try to minimize it as much as possible. On that same note, if it is muddy you should never pass someone by at a speed that splatters them with mud.
Proper single track mountain bike etiquette also says that you should try to be watchful when going around corners and things in case someone might be coming from the other direction. It is also good etiquette to leave a certain amount of distance between your front wheel and the back wheel of the person who is in front of you. This distance is about two bike-lengths behind.
One very important rule of etiquette is sometimes referred to as the Leave No Trace rule. No, this is not the rule that means that you should pick up behind yourself and not to throw any trash on the sides of the trail – though this is a part of trail etiquette. This rule means that you should never go off trail to make a shortcut when the ground is soft.
This is because wet or muddy ground will leave the imprint of your bike tires there. Not only will this slightly mar the scenery, but it can also act as an encouragement for other people to take the same shortcut you did and thereby make it worse. Making your own trail is something that should be done only when and where you will leave no trace at – when it is done at all.
Finally, there are also a few rules of etiquette in regard to collisions. While these are avoided as much as possible, they still sometimes happen regardless of everyone’s best efforts. Sometimes this means that you collide with a tree or something else that is stationary and not alive, at other times collisions happen between two different mountain bikers or between one biker and one hiker.
In any event, if you see one or more people go down you should always stop and assist. The first order of business is to check on the people and see if they can be moved off of the trail without adding to their injuries. While you do this you will want to keep an eye out for anyone else who might be coming down the trail and not warn them if they are not paying attention.
If at all possible, you should help take everyone and everything off of the trail as soon as possible so as to not to obstruct the trail and to let everyone past. Even if you are not the first person to come up you can still help with this and it is the job of the one of the first people to come up to call an ambulance if needed.
If you do not come upon the scene until everyone and everything is already off of the side of the trail, then is it perfectly acceptable to slow down and ask how everyone is doing or what happened. However, unless you have medical training or something then you should not come to a complete stop if there are people behind you. If you do have medical knowledge and want to help you should get both yourself and your bike off of the trail.
While asking how the people are is all well and good, if there are already people there or everything is under control then stopping to stare will accomplish nothing besides slowing down the flow of the trail for everyone behind you. Letting them know that you hope they will be okay or some other encouraging remark as you go past them is often much better suited to the situation.
Optional Etiquette Rules
While not necessary, these optional etiquette rules can give you great ways to show how much mountain biking means to you and may even give you a chance to make even more friends in the mountain biking community. Going the extra mile in regards to etiquette is a great way to make a good impression on the people around you and can make both you and those around you to have a better day.
The first one of these is that if you ride it, you dig it. While you might have no clue what this means, it is actually pretty simple. Mountain biking trails do not either make or maintain themselves, so somebody has to do this. Often a trail will set aside a day referred to as a dig day where it will be closed and volunteers can come and help to get it back into shape again.
These are sometimes made into quite the event, with mountain bikers of all ages helping, and sometimes even with a picnic or some form of food to go with it. This being the case, if you ride a trail often you should at least consider helping out on a dig day and it will give you a great chance to hang out with other mountain bikers like yourself.
Another optional etiquette rule that you should know is that it is a perfectly common practice for people to greet each other on or off of the trail even if they are complete strangers. While this will likely seem odd to you at first, most people generally catch on and start doing the same it is still not something that you would do if you were walking down the sidewalk in a town.
The next one may be optional, but in many cases it can still be considered highly rude if you don’t do it. If see someone with their bike beside the trail, see them working on their bike, and ask them how they are doing, then be prepared to stop and actually help! What is the point of asking them if you have no intentions of providing any assistance?
This can be much worse if they ask you for help when they reply if you just keep riding on or do not stop to help them. Besides just helping them out, however, it is mountain biking etiquette to “pay it forward” and help them out with more than your time and the use of your tools if need be.
If their inner tube burst and you happen to have a spare tube then this means that you should let them have it to get home with if they do not have one of their own. Who knows, maybe someday you will forget to pack something that you end up needing due to your bike breaking on the trail.
Finally, there is one optional rule of etiquette that almost no one adheres to. This one is to never brag about how grand you mountain bike is and to try to convince other people to get it themselves. I know, it can be so hard to keep this rule since when you have a bike that you think is awesome you just want to share it with everyone so that they all end up getting one too!
Firstly of all, you should keep in mind that what works great for you and your body and build may not work as well for someone else. Secondly, no one likes a bragger. And thirdly, it is far better to show and not tell. If your bike is working great for you on the trails enough so that other people notice, you will have other bikers asking you what you are doing; you won’t have to go out and hunt for an audience.