MTB Etiquette

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Just as a heads up Red Hill's trails are very unforgiving to people learning on a bike. They are steep and techy single track (track is only as wide as 1 rider) with roots, ruts and blown out corners everywhere. Also It's a steep climb back up to the top as well with a climbing track that will be difficult for a beginer to navigate and maintain cadence on the roots.

Definitely give their skills park a good go and make sure you can do everything confidently there before heading to their actual trails (probably be fine on their green trail though).
The roadside stuff is a lot more forgiving, just be mindful that you can cover a lot of ground, which might overcook the young dude a bit. Just about every major and several smaller roads has a trail in the scrub one side or the other. These aren't marked as part of the "proper" trail network, but they're all part of the Shire's shared-use trail system.
 

tobbogonist

a registered member
Being only relatively new myself i've gotta say, biggest thing that has come up which hasn't been covered already required toilet paper.
Not to me directly but twice now I've taken friends out mtbing for first time and we get about an hour in and they be needing to poop. Something to do with the jostling of logs.. first was during the winter and leaves where plentyful/pleasantly moist to the touch, second, summer.. my mate spat it, used a sock then walked back to the car.
I have no idea on the etiquitte and due to a high fibre, predominantly vegan diet (I eat the odd fly and there is always those spiders in your sleep..) I'm pretty much all over when I do my poops.

Maybe someone here could shed more light on the matter.
 

FigBo0T

Puts verniers on his headtube
Being only relatively new myself i've gotta say, biggest thing that has come up which hasn't been covered already required toilet paper.
Not to me directly but twice now I've taken friends out mtbing for first time and we get about an hour in and they be needing to poop. Something to do with the jostling of logs.. first was during the winter and leaves where plentyful/pleasantly moist to the touch, second, summer.. my mate spat it, used a sock then walked back to the car.
I have no idea on the etiquitte and due to a high fibre, predominantly vegan diet (I eat the odd fly and there is always those spiders in your sleep..) I'm pretty much all over when I do my poops.

Maybe someone here could shed more light on the matter.
Why did he walk back to the car?
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Also are you up tight or loose? You have to be one of the other. No other possibilities exist. Once you decide which it is we can work out your wardrobe. Up tight? Well some tight fitting Lycra will be just the ticket. Loose? You'll want to dress like you're in sound garden.
You're a harsh man Poodle, what if he's like me, tight on the bike but loose on the loose?
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
Get up early, have coffee and brekky, shit before you leave. That's the etiquette. Unless you're on some kind of epic. I've never had to take a shit in the bush on a ride, an epic where I might need to would be over 3 hours, but I've always planned that shit, see above, repeat step 3 if required. How long are these fellas riding before they have to lay cable?
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Get up early, have coffee and brekky, shit before you leave. That's the etiquette. Unless you're on some kind of epic. I've never had to take a shit in the bush on a ride, an epic where I might need to would be over 3 hours, but I've always planned that shit, see above, repeat step 3 if required. How long are these fellas riding before they have to lay cable?
This. Coffee. Drop the kids off at the pool, then go for a MTB ride

Sent from my INE-LX2 using Tapatalk
 

Lazmo

Old and hopeless
Just as a heads up Red Hill's trails are very unforgiving to people learning on a bike. They are steep and techy single track (track is only as wide as 1 rider) with roots, ruts and blown out corners everywhere. Also It's a steep climb back up to the top as well with a climbing track that will be difficult for a beginner to navigate and maintain cadence on the roots.
Yep, that's true... but, Red Hill has heaps of fantastic roadside trails, used by riders, walkers and horses. Some that come to mind are Purves Rd, Baldrys Rd, Mcilroy Rd, Stanley Rd, Mornington-Flinders Rd, Browns Rd, Merricks Rd, Shands Rd, etc. With Red Hill, there is always climbing, but it is pretty easy to string some fantastic trails together, without to much effort. BTW, if you come across horse riders, just simply stop, dismount and let them go past. Horses hate bikes and almost all of the riders are total newbies and have no horse skills. Getting bucked off hurts a lot, so let them go past. The roadside trails are not as techy as the mountain bike park, but there are still plenty of challenging sections. You won't come across too many riders either, as all the sessioning enduro bros are in the park.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
In response to the original question, as others have said, in general mountain bikers are a pretty considerate bunch, especially when there are kids involved. There are some self-absorbed knobs, but thankfully they're pretty rare (they're in all probability self-absorbed knobs off the trails too).

Yes, keep your ears tuned to what's going on around you. If another rider is sitting behind you for a while, it's likely they're not riding much faster than you and will wait for a safe place to pass. Even more so if they know the trails and where the passing spots are. Still, call out, "want to pass?", then act according to their reply. Significantly faster riders will appear behind you pretty suddenly but will usually call "track please" or similar to let you know they're there. If there are several riders, the leader should tell you how many are in the group so you know to leave enough space. Let them know you've heard them, and you'll call them through when you feel it's safe. There isn't really a preference for left or right, it's dependent on the particular trail; when you've found a safe spot to pull aside just call out "go left" or "go right" so they know which side to pass you on. With a well-picked passing spot, you don't have to stop to let them through..If you stop for any reason, pull off the track, no exceptions. OK, unless you're really hurt and can't move. For anything else, move aside to keep the trail clear for others.

Riding around Red Hill there is a fair possibility of encountering horse riders on some of the roadside shared trails. Meeting head-on is usually OK, as the horses are less prone to be spooked because they'll see you. Pull aside & stop and let them past, or if the rider says it's OK, slowly keep riding until clear. Approaching from behind is more dicey, because the horse may hear you before you've seen it and get spooked. As soon as you see a horse,speak out to let both it and the rider know you're not a predator; horses are generally trained (to varying degrees depending on age) to recognise human voices so they'll be less likely to take fright. Wait until the rider calls you through before passing. However, sometimes you may encounter larger groups and in these instances it's better just to duck out to the road for a few hundred metres to get past them safely, then cut back into the trail.
 
Top