A rock garden can be an intimidating section of trail to hit for new and seasoned mountain bikers alike. How should you approach one? How can you safely make it through a rock garden on your MTB without having to get off and walk? Read on to turn those rocky, uneven sections of trail from something you dread into something you can’t wait to shred.
Body position
Probably the most crucial aspect to riding rock gardens is making sure you’re riding them with the correct body position.
Ready position
If you’re serious about mountain biking you should already understand the importance of a ready position when you’re out riding and especially when approaching and riding difficult or technical stretches of trail.
If you’re newer to the sport, a proper ready position when riding is to get your weight low and keep it centered over your bike. Your ready position shouldn’t move your weight back or forward, but simply lower it to help lower your center of gravity.
By being in a low ready position while approaching and riding rock gardens, you’ll be able to shift your weight around as needed since you’ll be starting from a low, centered position on the bike.
This can mean shifting your weight back on descending rock gardens, forward for uphill rock gardens, and to de-weight and re-weight your wheels as needed to get up and over bigger rocks.
Don’t lock up
Going hand in hand with having proper body position while you ride a rock garden is keeping tension at bay. The last thing you want is to have your arms and legs lock up while riding through rough and uneven rocks. Being tense instead of relaxed will give you a much harsher ride through the rock garden because you won’t be using your body’s natural suspension, your arms and legs.
By remaining loose and athletic (instead of all tensed up) you’ll be setting yourself up for success. You’ll be letting your arms and legs naturally absorb the bumps from the rock garden and you’ll have the ability to shift your weight around fluidly as needed.
Line choice
In mountain biking, ,your line choice is always important, and nowhere is that more true than when you’re riding a rock garden.
Rock gardens consist of a collection of rocks that create an uneven surface to ride over. Usually a rock garden will have a variety of sizes of rocks creating obstacles of different heights and shapes to contend with.
Because of this, your line choice is going to be crucial to getting you through that rock garden both fast and smoothly.
Smooth, fast, or both?
Depending on what a particular rock garden looks like, you may have to choose between riding it smoothly or quickly. Some rock gardens will have a smoother line that requires you to take a less direct way through them, where the most direct, fastest line will be over larger rocks that create larger impacts and are rougher to ride.
On rock gardens where the size of the rocks rising up is smaller and more consistent, you’ll often actually find your ride through them smoother if you carry more speed into them. This is because on a series of small enough bumps, your bike will get caught up less and have smaller impacts when rolling over them at speed compared to if you hit them while riding slowly.
Straight lines work better in rock gardens
When riding over the uneven terrain a rock garden usually presents, it can be a serious challenge to try to make turns. This is because the uneven surface affects your traction and also makes it harder to maneuver the direction of your wheels.
For this reason, a straight line through the rock garden is usually the best way to get through it. A bonus of taking a straight line through is that it will usually be faster.
Importance of committing to your line
Whatever line you choose to take through the rock garden, you need to fully commit to it. While riding through it, you don’t want to be second guessing your line choice and suddenly veering one way or another, as sudden turns through a rock garden are much more likely to cause you problems compared to on flatter more even trail surfaces.
If you’re not committed to your line you’re also more likely to jam on the brakes, which can cause you to zap your momentum, lose balance, or even take a fall depending on the difficulty of what you’re riding.
You want to plan your line through the rock garden, and then execute on your plan.
Look where you want to go
In order to stay on track while you ride rock gardens (and mountain biking in general) you should look where you want to go. It’s amazing how much your bike will follow your eyes when riding your MTB, and you want to take full advantage of this, especially on challenging and technical sections of trail like rock gardens.
Pre scouting rock gardens
Pre scouting a rock garden before you ride it is always a good idea. If its relatively tame with mostly smaller rocks, you may be able to do this as you approach the rock garden without even getting off your mountain bike.
However, more difficult, unfamiliar rock gardens should be approached with caution, and its a good idea to stop, get off your bike and take a closer look at what riding that particular rock garden will entail.
Take note of “problem rocks”, meaning rocks that are likely to be difficult to ride over, that can kill your momentum, and that could increase your risk of taking a spill.
Once you identify the problem areas you DON’T want to hit, you can narrow your focus on the line you DO want to ride to avoid them.
Use visual cues
When pre scouting a rock garden, make mental notes of visual cues you can use to make sure you’re approaching and riding through the rock garden on a good line.
These visual cues could be different colored rocks, different shapes of rocks, or even trees in the background that you can use as an aimpoint for your bike. Anything you see that is identifiable will work. The point is to be able to identify where the best line through the rock garden goes.
Having visual cues already in mind as you approach a rock garden will also help your confidence since you’ll be less likely to second guess the line you choose.
Maintaining your balance through the rock garden
Keeping yourself balanced on your mountain bike as you ride through a rock garden is very important. To be in control through these technical sections, you need to be balanced. You can accomplish this by entering rock gardens in a low ready position, with your weight low and centered and arms and legs feeling loose and athletic.
To maintain your balance, shift your weight around as needed. On descending rock gardens, shift your weight back some while making sure you stay low. Move your weight forward on rock garden climbs.
Carry momentum into the rock garden
Another way to stay balanced and in control riding rock gardens is to carry momentum into them, and keep it all the way through. This can be easier said than done, but the more you can rely on momentum to get you through a rock garden, the easier it will be.
This can be difficult on uphill rock gardens. While momentum will hopefully get you part of the way there, you’ll need to rely on strength and skill to get you through without having to get off your MTB and walk. Learning a pedaling technique called ratcheting – where you only give a half or quarter pedal stroke here and there to avoid striking your pedals on rocks can help a lot.
Braking
As a rule of thumb, you”ll want to avoid braking too much while hitting rock gardens. Remember, momentum is your friend in these situations, and braking works against that momentum.
On downhill rock gardens, braking can be dangerous, because you could find yourself stopped on steep rocks with no good place to put your foot down. For this reason, its usually best to stay off the brakes on descending rock gardens until you get to more of a smooth surface, but you can brake still if needed – just make sure you have an adequate place to put your foot down and stop.
Extremely technical rock gardens with lots of big, awkwardly shaped rocks may require some braking too to avoid sharp or unrideable rocks, which means you’ll need to rely on strength and skill to pedal through these challenging sections.
Bike setup for rock gardens
You don’t want to set your mountain bike up with only rock gardens in mind, because that’s only one type of terrain you’ll encounter on the trails. But there are a few things you can tweak that can help make riding rock gardens a bit easier for you..
Suspension
Having your suspension set soft enough (with low enough air pressure) to soak up the bumps from a rock garden can be quite helpful. Your suspension absorbing the rocks will help you to hold your momentum better throughout. But you don’t want it to be so soft that you’ll be bottoming out your suspension on big impacts elsewhere, whether that be big rocks found in the rock garden, or simply another section of trail.
Having a full suspension mountain bike can help even more, as a rear shock will help to keep the rear of your bike from bouncing around through these technical sections.
Tire pressure
Your tire pressure can also make rock gardens easier or harder. A lower pressure in your tires will allow them to better conform to the rocks you’re riding, and almost allows them to act as a form of suspension themselves.
And while lower tire pressure will usually mean a smoother ride (especially over rocks), it can also mean another thing – flat tires. You need to be careful to not go too low on your tire pressure and doubly so if you’re riding sharp or jagged rocks.
Getting your tire pressure right for a rock garden (and for mountain biking more generally) is always a balancing act, where you want that compliance between your tires and obstacles, but not so much that you have to deal with flat tires all time.
Frequently asked questions
A rock garden in mountain biking is a collection of rocks, either manmade or natural, that create a more challenging and technical section of trail for mountain bikers. A rock garden is an all rock section of trail that can range from mildly challenging to highly technical requiring advanced MTB skills. Rocks in a rock garden can be uneven and shaped and oriented in ways that require precision to navigate by riders.
Climbing rock gardens is a major challenge in mountain biking. It requires you to have the strength and stamina to pedal up steep, uneven terrain, while also having the skill level to time your weight shifts and use your momentum to push yourself up and over rocks. It also can require precision in your line choice.
To go over rocks on your mountain bike, there are a few key points to remember. You want to de-weight your front wheel just before it contacts the rock, which will allow it to go up and over the rock more smoothly. Then de-weight your rear wheel as it hits the rock.
Make sure that you are in a low, centered position as you approach the rock, which will give you more mobility to shift your weight around. Practice will help you get the timing of your weight shifts down.
Conclusion
There you have it – rock gardens don’t have to be so intimidating after all! Just remember to approach them with a low, centered body position, shift your weight back on descents and forward on climbs, keep your body loose and athletic, and plan and commit to your line. Remember to pre scout rock gardens that are new to you and approaching the edge of your comfort zone. Now go out find some rock gardens near you – practice makes perfect!