Living in Southern California allows you to do summer like outdoor activities pretty much all year round. And this is great if you are an avid mountain biker. If you live in the Ventura County or Los Angeles County areas then you know how many mountain bike trails you have at your disposal. Sure they may not be as exciting or scenic as trails you would see in the mountains or other states such as Washington or Colorado but when it comes to convenience and variety you can't beat them.

In this article we will discuss some of the best trails in the Ventura and LA County areas so you can go out and try something new if you have been looking for some different rides to do. Keep in mind that there are different types of rides and not everyone may be interested in the best downhill trails in the area so we will discuss different types of trails.

Let's start by talking about the Backbone Trail system. The Backbone Trail stretches over 65 miles from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu State Park and offers a variety or riding conditions from smooth rolling singletrack to steeper rocky downhill sections. One good thing about the Backbone trail is that you can ride various sections since it has many road crossings so you don't have to try and do it all at once. One of the best sections is the part that goes from Etz Meloy Mtwy to Encinal Canyon Rd near Malibu. It has sweeping smooth turns with banked berms and is a lot of fun to ride down and not too difficult to ride up.

So you are thinking of adding a little more excitement to you mountain biking activities because maybe cross country riding is not cutting it or you have watched too many Red Bull Rampage videos and want to see what all the fuss is about. Well if you want to add some thrills to your riding experience then downhill mountain biking is the way to do it. Let's just begin this discussion by saying that in order to partake in downhill mountain biking you have to want to do it or else you will just end up hurting yourself.

Downhill mountain biking involves taking your bike and riding it fast down steep hills with obstacles such as rocks, roots and trees to avoid on your way down. Of course there are various degrees of downhill riding with events like the Red Bull Rampage on the extreme end of the spectrum. You don’t need to go down the steepest most difficult terrain to enjoy downhill riding and can work your way up to harder runs as you get more experience.

As the sport becomes more popular there are more and more downhill trails popping up as well as bike parks that offer chair lift or shuttle service to the top allowing you to save your energy for the ride down. Plus there are many unofficial downhill trails all over the place depending on where you live as well as groups of dedicated trail builders make more every year.

The growing popularity of online video sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo it makes it easier for people to share pretty much everything they do and that may be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. If you are an avid mountain biker then you have most likely been to these sites to check out the latest Red Bull Rampage video or to research a local trail to see what you are in for before you ride it.

But what if you want to make our own mountain biking videos? What is the best way to go about it? And how hard will it be to make something that someone will want to watch? It's not too difficult to make a decent mountain bike video as long as you are willing to invest in a camera or cameras, some video editing software and most importantly some time to put it all together.

First you will need to get an appropriate camera suited for filming mountain biking. There are a few models out there with GoPro and Contour having the upper hand on the market. These cameras offer HD quality footage while providing many ways to mount the camera on your bike or on your helmet. In general expect to pay $200-$400 for one of these cameras. You can also pick one up used online if you look around.

If you are a regular mountain biker then you most likely wear a helmet and know that staying protected is essential to your safety and continued future riding. One thing you may notice when out on the trail are the people riding without any eye protection. And many people who may be wearing eye protection are not using the right kind for the riding situation.

Eye protection is not just about wearing your sunglasses to keep the sun out of your eyes even though that is a very important type of eye protection to avoid damaging your eyes or keep you from seeing the trail and other people when you get the sun’s glare in your eyes. Always make sure you have a decent pair of sunglasses on when riding if that's your preferred method of eye protection.

Once you figure out your riding style you can start to try and figure out the best bike for your budget. Of course there are the big names such as Specialized, Giant and Trek but there are other lesser known brands that offer great bikes as well such as Yeti and Scott. And once you pick a model many times there will be different levels of components for that model that will affect the price and performance of the bike. So once you have your price point and know the type of bike you want whether it be cross country, all mountain, freeride, downhill, 29er and so on, then it's time to go shopping.

One of the most well known brands of mountain bike manufacturers is Specialized. They make a wide variety of bikes for different riding styles and have something for everyone. If you want only plan on going downhill then check out the Demo. If you want some cross country action then have a look at the Camber for full suspension or HardRock for hardtail action. If you want something that does a little of everything then you may like the Stumpjumper which comes in 26 and 29 inch versions.

Whether you are in a car, on a motorcycle or on a mountain bike, being able to stop is more important than being able to go since not stopping can be a painful thing in either of these situations. We rely on our brakes to stop us when we need them to and not to fail on us when we are counting on them.

In order to get the best stopping power from your brakes you need to choose the type that is best for your riding style and riding conditions. These days it’s all about disk brakes on mountain bikes so if you are still using V brakes then it’s time for an upgrade! Of course not all disk brakes are the same either. There are mechanical and hydraulic disk brakes which each have their advantages and disadvantages. There are also various size rotors which perform differently as well.

No matter what type of disk brakes you use it’s a good idea to choose the type of brake pad that works best for you and where you ride. For the most part there are 3 types of brake pads available and they are metallic, organic and sintered and they each have pros and cons. For the most part we will group metallic and sintered together since they are similar and differ by how much metal is in the pads. Also you should keep in mind that certain brakes\rotors require certain types of pads so make sure to check on that before you replace them.

With technology advancing at such a rapid pace it makes sense that it would eventually find its way into the world of mountain biking. There have already been bike computers around for years that allow you to measure things like distance and speed but nowadays things have gotten a little more advanced. Now people want to be able to do things like map their ride, measure elevation drops and gains and even get an idea of how many calories they have burned.

Now that almost everyone has a smartphone and there is just about an app for anything, taking technology on the trail is easier than ever. There are many apps out there that claim to be the app that will take care of everything you need but they don't always come through. Then again there are some apps that work really great to get the job done when it comes to giving you information you want out of your ride.

We will be discussing 2 apps in particular that we found work really well for mountain biking and they both happen to be free (can't beat that!). The first one is called My Tracks by Google and is only for Android devices. The other one is called Strava and will work for both Android and iPhones. They both do about the same thing but each one has some unique features.