We have all been there: Ready to shred and stoked to get out there with your friends, just to be stopped by something that could have been an easy fix or easily avoided. That‘s why we listed five things that will guarantee your day to take a turn for the worse. Why? Because it‘s easier to remember what not to do and build a checklist off that!

1. Forget about Hydration!

Look at it this way: Water is to us what cooling and lubricant liquids are to bikes! Why would you let your body run dry and overheat, when you spent hours figuring out if the blue or the green cooling liquid is better for your bike? Differently to our bikes however, we as humans need some time to get the water from our stomach into our cells, so start drinking ahead of time! Now that you know how important it is to be hydrated, you should learn how to know if somebody is starting to dehydrate. Easy tell tales include overall fatigue, yawning, muscles cramping up, arm pump, loss of focus and migraines. So do not wait till its too late and a headache ruins your day and start drinking small sips early on. Downing a bottle in a short brake won‘t make riding any easier, as your body will have to decide between performing and assimilating all of the water, so drink bit by bit but often. We suggest to invest in a good hydration pack early on, this way you will get used to drinking from the hose. Of course you could just pack water bottles in your old gym backpack, but there’s two reasons why we would urge you to choose differently. Firstly because these backpacks tend to bounce around and this is not only going to be annoying, but also painful for your lower back (considering you will be packing at least 1.5L of water). Hydration Packs are better secured and designed for these environments. The second reason is just convenience: You think you will just take a break every now and then to take off your backpack, get your bottle out, take off your helmet and drink some water. In reality you won‘t. You will get home with most of the water untouched, still dehydrated, because you didn‘t want to stop riding, not even for a minute! Or you will try to get in as much as possible in one go. With a hydration pack you get to just put the mouthpiece in and you can drink even while riding! No need to take off the backpack or even the helmet! This way even a short stop to check where to go next, can be used to stay hydrated. It makes a world of a difference and you will not want to go back once you do the change, so what are you waiting for? Drink up and get home happy and energized instead of destroyed!

2. „The Bike runs on fuel and I run on fumes!“

Similar to the first point, we need to give our bodies fuel just as well as we do with our bikes! The most important part is not to run too lean or too rich. Lean referring to having no calories for our body to burn and too rich meaning your body being overloaded with food. In both situations the result will be the same: You won‘t be able to perform at your best.

Thats why we don‘t eat a huge plate immediately before riding. Eating a reasonable amount of rich and healthy food 30-60 minutes before riding will put your body in the optimal position to perform. Then by just having to maintain said state while riding, we don‘t need to saturate our stomachs! Drinking is a huge part of staying in the optimal state and covers at least 2/3 of what you need to perform. But when it comes to snacks you can never be wrong with some trail mix, (dry) fruits, cereal bars, gels or even some chocolate if it isn’t too warm that day. The idea is to give have fast absorbing and fast acting options of protein, fat and some carbs. We love our CamoFit, a blend of sweetpotato, honey and Maca, but any kind of the before mentioned options will do! Don‘t be that rider that has no power left on a ride out with your crew! Just pack some of your favorite snacks in your backpack ahead of time!

3. „I thought you brought the tools“

Just long enough into the ride, for it to be a pain to get the bike back, and you manage to get a flat or into any other kind of technical issues. No problem, since you know the mechanical basics of your bike and even have a spare spark plug on hand (let‘s just pretend this makes a difference)! But as soon as the first problem arrives, you have to call on the guy with the biggest backpack to see if he is carrying the tools you need. Naturally you get mad at him/her if they don‘t have the exact tool your bike requires to get even the easiest of things fixed. Who would have thought ruining a trip could be so easy! Bottom line of the story is to at least carry the stuff you need in most cases. Just by following Pareto‘s rule, 20% of the tools should do 80% of the job. It’s all about knowing what you need and getting tools that have more than one function. Plus you want to be sure to carry odd  and special tools your bike might require. Preparation is key, but don’t worry once you have your kit together you will be set and can just toss it in your backpack and replace as you go (Zip ties, Duct Tap, epoxy, etc). Nothing wrong with needing a hand or helping others, but we like to carry our own weight and so should you, so come prepared and learn the basic maintenance stuff ahead of time! We love teaching how to fix the usual things, so just send us a message if you have any questions!

4. Not planning enough time for the Challenge

Though we know not everyone would love to spend everyday in the outdoors, it is always a good idea to plan in a few breaks or just to have enough time to enjoy the ride without having to stress. There‘s nothing worse than being out with your friends trying to make it up a new line, with one of you keeping an eye on the watch, cause he needs to be back in town 45 minutes after you guys finally started riding. Most of the times this fellow specialist also doesn‘t know the way and requires the whole crew to escort him back. Please don’t be that guy and make sure everyone has more or less agreed on an estimated time of return, and stick to it!

5. „I brought the snacks but my bike ran out of fuel“

Don‘t even get me started on this one… Although this must have happened to everyone. including me, at least once, it is just as easily avoidable as all of the things mentioned above. This may not ruin the day at first, as it will most certainly make your buddies laugh when you finally figure out why your bike doesn’t start, but will quickly end in less time spend riding around. Always check your tank before your ride!

Now that you know what not to do, it should be fairly obvious how to make sure you will have a decent time out there! Remember to stick to these five easy points, because with enough fuel, water and snacks as well as the right tools you will be able to keep riding for longer! Let us know what other things are guaranteed to ruin you day out riding some trails! This way you help us and the rest of the Moto community to avoid them! Plus we wouldn’t say no to a good fail story!