Mountain biker nearly falls off cliff

A mountain biker was left red-faced and counting his luck after attempting to leap a rock gap and nearly falling over 100m off a ledge in the US.

Hitting the dusty trails of the Gooseberry Mesa trails in Utah, the rider was traversing the top of a canyon when he attempted to hop over a series of gaps in the rocks.

Riding only metres from a sheer drop to his right, the biker managed to successfully clear the first gap before coming unstuck when his front wheel hit a ledge as he tried to bunny hop a second stepped gap.

The man was sent flying over the handlebars and finished dangling over the edge with the bike, still attached to his feet.

Amazingly the rider was left laughing as his brother rushed to his aid to pull him away from the drop off and retrieve his bike.

"Ah, bad idea," said the rider's brother. "I think it's about time you started listening to your little brother.

"You can't rehearse that kind of crap."