Riding in loose sand

[2Old2BFast]

Now that summer conditions are upon us, I've noticed a lot of people seem to be having trouble navigating all the loose sand (at least from their tracks). If you're not one of those people, don't bother reading any further.

Many years ago when I rode dirt bikes, I learned one simple rule to ride loose sand -- Keep the weight off the front wheel! If you do that, you will go straight through the sand patches with ease.

There are three simple things you can do to keep your front wheel light:

1. Sit back -- Assume the same body position as if you were going down a steep hill. If you have a dropper, use it in the sand
2. Pedal hard -- Yeah, that sounds kind of sketchy when you might be afraid you're going to fall, but it really helps
3. Don't brake -- And definitely don't use your front brake. Braking transfers your weight forward.

[mtbdudex]

And don’t turn in the sand ... you simply want to float thru it
You can slightly carve a turn, but definitely nothing sudden .

Btw, thx for posting the above, my sons Boy Scout troop is planning a mountain biking Campout at Brighton in September, boys will be riding Appleton and Murray lake . There are a few sand areas on Murray lake.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Roy]

Yeh, I remember learning that lesson the hard way. I rode Yankee Springs for the first time. At that time the trail started on a sand down hill. I got to the bottom and ate a lot of sand and hit a small tree. After that I found out, " get the weight off the front wheel!" The sand pit after Spring Lake at Island Lake was always a good practice spot for sand riding. I hope that section of trail has not been rerouted.

Roy