AY Honors/Mountain Biking/Answer Key

1. Earn the Cycling Honor.

Answers to the Cycling honor can be found in the Recreation chapter of this wikibook.

2. Using a mountain bike and a road bike as examples, show and describe five differences between mountain and road bicycles.

        1. Tires - Mountain bikes have knobbie tires for gripping the trail. Road bikes have slick tires to minimize rolling resistance, increasing speed and ease of riding.
        2. Handlebars - Mountain bikes have a wide, flat handlebar to allow better control and a more upright riding style to allow better vision of the trail. Road bikes have a narrower, dropped (downward curved) handlebar to allow more riding positions and more aerodynamics.
        3. Gearing - Most Mountain bikes have three chainrings (44/36/22) paired with a 7, 8, or 9 speed cassette. Most Road bikes have two chainrings (53/39), larger than a Mountain bike, paired with a smaller 9 or 10 speed cassette. The larger gear ratios on a Road bike allow greater speed on smooth surfaces.

3. Demonstrate the function and advantages of cleats, bar ends and a front shock on a mountain bike.

4. List at least three materials that mountain bike frames are made from and explain why new materials are always being tested for mountain bike frames.

5. Explain differences between single track, double track, and fire roads.

6. Give the definition for the terms “hard tail” and “full suspension” and explain the advantages and disadvantages of a full-suspension bike compared to a hard tail.

7. Describe the basic rules of courtesy that should be followed when doing off road riding.

8. List 3 basic pieces of safety equipment that should be worn when mountain biking.

9. Know the 3 most commonly broken bones in mountain biking accidents and how to prevent these injuries from occurring.

10. Demonstrate how to properly clean, polish and lube your bike after you ride it.

11. Complete the following riding requirements: All rides must be done on some sort of off-road trail like single track and a given trail may be used for more than one ride or repeated to make a ride long enough to meet the requirements (if needed).

a. Three 5 mile rides.
b. Two 10 mile rides.
c. One 20 mile ride.

References