[BluesHarpBiker]

Regarding hills, I think it depends on the trail. When I lived in Massachusetts, I pretty much always stood up on the pedals for power, balance, and agility. Most of the trails I rode had frequent small ups and downs with lots of roots and rocks, so standing up was extremely helpful on most of the uphills. In fact, I only used my seat when I was riding at low speeds on flat terrain. When I moved to Colorado a few years ago, I found that standing up for a 3 mile long climb at 6,000 ft was impossible, for me at least. Now I sit on uphills most of the time, and usually only stand briefly for technical obstacles, i.e. a large step-up onto a rock or root. It’s just too tiring for me to stand on extended climbs. If I went back to the trails I used to ride back in MA, I’d be standing up a lot more once again.

Now, if you’re looking for advice about what to do in a race, that’s probably different, but this has been my experience as a recreational rider.

edit: I just realized I barely touched on your original question about downhills. Always stand for downhills, it greatly increases your ability to shift your weight for balance and maneuvering, which means you can go faster and still be in control. The book "Mountain Bike" by William Nealy (I think that was his name) has an excellent explanation of this that utilizes a cone showing the possible locations of your center of mass relative to the bike both standing and sitting. The cone is way bigger when you’re standing.

2nd edit: If you have a full suspension bike, this is less of a factor, but if you’re riding a hardtail, standing up also means you can utilize your legs as suspension to absorb bumps, further adding to your control.

[BluesHarpBiker]

@brianw:

Nope, it was just a short ride for a few hours around the base. I was looking through their website and it looks like they don’t offer that anymore. I bet it would be fun. But I did get to ride the Whole Enchilada last year, so I don’t mind too much about missing Loon.

[url:39jqjamv]http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/enchilada.htm[/url:39jqjamv]

[BluesHarpBiker]

It was the summer of ’95, on a family vacation in NH. I was 9 years old and had pretty much lived on my bike for years already, so when my dad asked me if I wanted to try out mountain biking on the last day before we went home, I was excited. We showed up at the Loon Mountain rental shop when they opened early in the morning, with thick morning fog hanging in the air. My dad told me how to use the 5-speed shifter, and the dual hand brakes, and we were off exploring the trails around the base of the mountain. I have vague memories of stopping on a lot of rocks and never actually making it up any of the steeper hills, but from that one ride I was addicted.

The following spring I got my first mountain bike for my birthday, a Fuji Sandblaster. It was fully rigid, 21 speeds, and heavier than a Huffy, 😮 and I loved it. A couple months later, we moved to a more rural area, and except during hunting season, I was riding trails just about every day. I memorized the locations of all the wild blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry patches along the local trails, and in the summers I’d ride around to them with my friends, taking breaks from mountain biking to stuff ourselves until we either couldn’t eat anymore or had exhausted the supply of berries.

15 years and 3 bikes later, living in Colorado and making the occasional trip to Moab, I’m as hooked on the sport as ever, and it all began on that happy, foggy morning in New Hampshire. 😃

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