KEEP PEDALING IN A LIGHT GEAR
The secret of riding sand is to stay on the top of the granules and float your way across the surface. Spin a light gear and maintain the same clip as on hard ground. Continue this tempo across the entire stretch of sand.

1. If you stop pedaling you will sink into the sand.
2. If you torque a big gear you will dig into the sand.

STAY CENTERED
If you enter at a rapid rate, stand up and get your weight over the back as you enter. When the bike begins to slow, center your body and gently sit and start pedaling a light gear. Keep your body firmly planted in the saddle and maneuver the bike by making shifts in body weight at the hips.

RELAX
Confident riders are relaxed riders. Don't fight the bar as the front tire hunts for the path of least resistance. Ease your grip on the bar and keep your arms limber. Let the front tire find its own way while generally keeping the bar straight with a light grip. Control the direction of the bike by using your hips to pivot on a seated posterior.

LEAN, DON'T TURN
How do you turn in sand? Very gently. Cocking the front wheel by turning the bar will bury the front tire and halt progress. Instead, keep a loose grip on the bar, hinge at the hips and lean the bike slightly without turning the bar. Maintain a quick, 80-plus cadence and use appropriate body shifts with the upper torso to stay in control.

KEEP IT AFLOAT
What do you do if the front tire crabs and starts to bury? Keep pedaling
lightly and forcefully, then shift rearward while pulling up and straightening the wheel. As soon as you regain composure, quickly settle back into a seated, center-of-the-bike position.

STAY OFF THE BRAKES
Sand already offers so much resistance that using the brakes is counterproductive. Suddenly disrupting the spinning wheels will instantly throw off any semblance of control that you have. If you are heading into a sandwash with too much speed, size it up and scrub the speed before entering.

LOOK AHEAD
Stay on the lookout for harder sections of ground and smoother sections of sand. Aim towards wide, packed down paths but avoid deep, V-cut grooves. Deep grooves in sand offer even more resistance against the tire. Without taking the long way through, stick to the firmest and smoothest spots that you can find.

When to Sit or Stand on a climb

There are some situations where standing is best. Refined climbers can smoothly alternate between standing and sitting without wasting a heart beat. Those who make the most of their climbing effort scale hills the quickest and last the longest.

Sit: Approach the hill in the middle ring and select a gear that maintains a moderate, 70 to 80 rpm cadence. Hydrate at the bottom and before the aerobic effort becomes too extreme and breathing too heavy to sip fluid.
Shift early while seated: If you are running out of gears in the middle ring, shift early to the granny while still spinning a moderate cadence and apply light pedal pressure.
Assume the cosmic crunch: Move up on the nose of the saddle and crouch down over the handlebar with your head forward and the elbows low. Keep the rear wheel churning and move the upper body forward to keep the front wheel down.

Stand: On long, consistent grades, it is sometimes helpful to stand to relieve pressure off the back and to relax the legs by shifting the load to another muscle group. Select the next taller cog before standing.

Remain seated: Continue eying straight up the hill for the firmest packed and smoothest route. Steer around soft terrain and overly difficult sections. Relax and use gears to sustain the healthy pedal tempo.

Definitely stand: If you find yourself entering into a roller or moderate grade in the big ring at speed, rise out of the saddle, sprint and use speed to bring you up the rise. Back off the pedal pressure or sit before making chainring shifts.

Corners

When you first learned how to ride a bike, you had to try to keep balance. That is exactly what you have to do on a mountain bike. You have to learn how much you can lean without tipping over. Try this on some soft grass. You should eventually be able to hit a turn from the outside, then swing to the inside, and exit the turn on the outside. Try to teach your body to lean rather than turn the handle bar. You will be able to carry more speed through a turn.
There are a couple of things that you need to know before you can attempt cornering. You must always extend your outside leg and lean into the corner. Also, keep your eyes focused on the farthest point of the corner as you turn and don't forget to brake BEFORE the turn!

Low-speed Turns

1. Keep a loose grip on the handlebars so that you can make any last minute changes if needed. Also, begin breaking before you hit the control to control your speed.
2. Try to find the smoothest way around by focusing as far ahead as possible. Don't worry about finding the fastest line, that's not needed when going at a low speed. Most importantly, follow a smooth curve.
3. Take caution on wet trails because it may be slippery. Especially large rocks or roots which can cause you to skid.
4. If you shift down one gear before leaving the corner, you will be able to pick up acceleration and regain your normal riding pace.

High-speed Turns

1. If you suddenly approach a sharp turn and are going really fast, try to slow down before entering the corner.
2. Take as wide of a turn as possible. This will give you more time to turn and make it around the corner. Remember to keep your outside leg extended.
3. As you are going through the turn, aim for the center of the apex and keep all of your weight on your outside leg to prevent from skidding.
4. While in the turn do not pull your brakes because this will cause you to lose control. Try leaning into the corner as well: this will help you continue through the corner.
5. Once you make it out of the corner, stand up and pedal hard until you have regained your speed. Keep in mind that someone or something could be just around the corner so proceed with caution.

Roots

Roots can be a tough obstacle, and difficult to negotiate if they are large, off angle, or wet. The problem you can have is after you lift your front wheel over them, the rear wheel may slide along the front or top of the root and pitch the bike over sideways. As you approach the root, keep a 90 degree angle, speed up slightly, pull the front wheel up and over the root, and then lunge your upper body forward for added momentum to bring the rear wheel up and over. Be prepared for the rear tire to slide sideways a little as it goes over the root. Several roots in a row require concentration, good balance, and timing.

Mud

 Mud presents one of the most difficult terrain types, especially combined with hills, rocks, logs, or roots. Avoid any sudden or quick movements, and as in sand, use momentum as your friend. You may want to lower air pressure in your tires for increased traction. Serious mud can accumulate on your bike and add 5-10 pounds in a hurry, as well as prevent your wheels from rolling and turning properly. With heavy mud accumulation, your front tire may not want to rotate at all, but tend to skid and slide without the wheel moving! Steady pedal pressure and strength are required, and try to avoid the brakes if possible. Hit any obstacles as close to a 90 degree angle as possible, and keep your weight centered between the wheels. Ride light, be balanced, centered, and ready to slide out.

River crossing

As a general rule, you can ride through most streams if there is less than a foot of water. This may depend upon the type of bottom (sand, gravel, rocks), and the entry and exit. As you approach the stream, size it up to see if it is possible to cross without dismounting. It's nice if you can see the bottom and the type of underwater terrain. It will be difficult to pick out the exact line, as you should be focusing more on the entry and exit to dictate this. Make sure you are in a low gear before entry as you will not want shift once in the stream. You also may need a low gear to climb out of the stream on the opposite bank. Make sure your entry is obstacle free, and that you build up speed.


Keep in mind that it is not a good policy to submerge the bottom bracket or hubs under water for any amount of time. The water may leak into the seals and cause some damage to the bearings, and help to wash out the lubricant (grease).

As you enter the water, get up on the pegs in the "pounce" or "attack" position.  Lock your elbows and get ready to hit the first rocks. After you hit the first rocks, get more upright out of the saddle and start to pedal. Grip the handlebars firmly and try to keep the bike dead straight. Your feet may be pedaling through the water on each down stroke, just ignore this if you can. Select your exit point, which can mean a steep, muddy bank. It may require good pedal strength and traction to make it up the opposite bank, assuming you made it through the water. Use whatever momentum you have, and keep standing while pedaling. If you begin to loose traction, shift your weight a little to the back wheel and stay in the crouch position. The River Gods may let you pass, you may have to touch your foot down, or you may end up taking a bath! This uncertainty is some of the fun of mountain biking through a water or creek crossing!

Climbing

When climbing up a hill, you have to have a positive attitude. You have to think that you are going to make it up that hill and conquer the beast. Besides having a good attitude, you have to have the correct position. This position is when you have your nose close to your stem. You are slid up towards the front of your saddle, in an easy gear, and you are gripping bar ends (if you have them). You should also by now have taken a sip of water. This will help you on the climb. Although there has been much debate as to whether to stand or sit on a climb, sitting, according to the lab rats, is the most efficient. This is because your bike is supporting your weight. However, by standing you will get more power. When riding on a trail that has many hills, alternate, standing and sitting.

Downhill

STAY OFF THE FRONT BRAKES
When you're faced with a steep descent put your seat low and get over the back of the bike. Your front brakes give you most of your stopping power, but stay off them in the steep parts. Slow down beforehand, if you can. If you get caught in a rain rut, stay off your front brakes and use your back brakes and ride it out.
Turns are another place where you have to be careful about using your front brakes. You'll learn from your mistakes about when you can and can't use your front brakes.  As a general rule when you're entering turns, stay away from the front brake unless you're slowing down fast on a safe surface; if you're on rocks or roots, you're asking for trouble.

PLAN AHEAD & LOOK AHEAD
When riding downhill, stopping distances are greater, so you need to see trouble spots earlier. Look ahead.  Don't look directly in front of your wheel. If you're going really fast, look farther ahead, because stuff is coming up quickly.

STAND UP & FLOW
As a general rule, stand up on descents. Stand up when riding a hard tail (unless you're on a gradual descent or a smooth turn) to get some weight over the rear wheel.

USE THE SEAT & YOUR LEGS
When you're standing, you can brace your legs against the seat to help control the bike. Use pressure on the seat to balance and bring the rear end around.  Learn to use the seat to get a better center of gravity and better traction from the wheels to the ground.

DON'T ALWAYS USE THE BRAKES
When you find yourself coming fast into a section of loose dirt - stay off the front brake. Stay off both brakes if possible. Keep your weight off the front wheel and keep the wheel pointed as straight as possible.

TO JUMP OR NOT TO JUMP
Most of the time, try to keep your wheels on the ground, but there'll be times when it's faster to jump a set of rocks or roots.

WET STUFF
Riding in wet conditions is the most difficult thing in mountain biking.  It's the hardest to predict, and your balance has to be on. Over rocks and roots, you need to unweight your bike to minimize sliding. The biggest thing is learning when to use your brakes. You have to learn where to touch your front brakes and where to let off. It all depends on the terrain of the turns and how fast you're going. You have to learn that through experience.

Don't ride faster than you can handle.

Pedaling

Although you want to transmit energy to the pedals through as much of the pedal stroke as possible, scientific studies have pretty much proven that it's impossible to apply force in a complete circle. There are always dead spots. But trying to pedal circles makes you think about your stroke-and will improve your consistency.

Simply pushing down on the pedals-chop, chop, chop, chop-robs you of power because you're delivering energy through less than half of the pedal stroke. You lose potential speed, oomph, and traction. This inefficient stroke also wastes your body's energy. And the uneven pressure causes your bike to sway. Your balance and control aren't as sharp as they would be with a steady stroke. All of these factors are most noticeable on climbs (where spinning is especially useful), but they'll detract from your cycling even on the flats. Remember to pull up.

If you're as fit as your friends but can't hang on the hills, your sloppy stroke may be to blame. Fix it and rage.

The easiest way to diagnose a dud pedaling style is to pull up on the pedals next time you ride. If the motion feels strange or a few minutes of the effort blows your quads, you'll know you're not used to spinning.

On your next ride, focus on one leg at a time for 15 minutes each and try to pedal through as much of the stroke as possible. Then stop, forget about it and have fun. Do this a couple times a week and your stroke will smooth out in less than a month.

Here are the 4 steps to the ideal pedal stroke:

1. Push down.

2. Before the pedal reaches the bottom, pull back on it as if you're trying to scrape mud off your shoe.

3. Pull up.

4. Before the pedal reaches the apex, push forward on it. (The entire sequence resembles a square, but think circles.)