Using Apps to Enhance Your Mountain Biking Experience
For both experienced and novice mountain bikers, navigating unfamiliar trails, tracking your progress, and connecting with fellow riders all at the same time can be a challenge. This is where mountain biking apps come in – these handy tools can elevate your riding experience in a number of ways, which we’ve detailed in this blog post.
Trail Exploration and Navigation
- Discover New Trails: Popular apps such as Trailforks and MTB Project offer vast databases of user-generated mountain bike trails. Find trails near you, explore routes based on difficulty and type, and download maps for offline use.
- Stay on Track: Never get lost again; use GPS navigation features to follow trails, see your location in real-time, and find your way back to the start point.
- Trail Conditions: Stay informed about current trail conditions reported by other riders. This helps you to plan your ride effectively, and avoid muddy sections or unexpected closures.
- Record Your Adventures: Track your distance, elevation gain, ride time, and calories burned using popular apps like Strava and Komoot.
- Analyse Your Performance: Gain insights into your ride data to identify areas for improvement, and track your progress over time.
- Challenge Yourself: Set goals, compete with friends virtually on segments, and push yourself to new limits.
- Find Group Rides: Discover group rides organised by local clubs or fellow riders on apps like Meetup and Strava. This is a fantastic way to explore new trails, meet fellow mountain bikers, and build a riding community in your area.
- Share Your Rides: Share your adventures with friends on social media directly from your app.
- Get Help and Support: If you encounter problems on the trail, you can also use apps to connect with the riding community for assistance.