[ Trials Explained - Everything Else - Rocks]

Rocks, boulders, logs, hillsides and other natural formations offer some of the greatest challenges to the trials rider. They are always uneven,often loose and sketchy, and always tricky to ride on. A series of big rocks provides a lot of ways to go over them, there are always new ways to get up or go across due to their random angles and protrusions. Logs or trees (usually laying down) can give you some good hopping practice. Hopping up hillsides covered in dirt, roots and leaves is probably the most tiring things you can do in trials. The other thing to keep in mind is that almost all competitions will have some natural sections, and if you exclusively practice on manmade, predictable things, you'll be in for quite a shock when you learn how different it is. Of course, if you don't ever compete, and there's no natural stuff around, then I guess you're not missing too much. For all you XC riders, learning a few trials techniques could save you some time. If you can just hop up a small log or over a rock, you can gain some ground over all those other guys.