If you asked a thousand mountain bikers from all around the world to explain the main reason they ride bicycles in the dirt, you're likely to get a ton of different answers. For some of us, it has to be the feeling of being in the air, be it off of a two-foot drop or over a gap that you could fit a small apartment building in between. It's about all-out speed for others, which is an entirely different test of skills and nerve that's judged with a stopwatch rather than a tape measure. Or maybe you're a person who lives to race against others for a few hours at a time, both up and down the mountain, instead of on your own for just a few minutes. I suspect that the most common reason for riding bikes, however, is just to ride bikes. This is a very, very good reason.
Regardless of your motivation for being on a mountain bike, I'm willing to bet that almost all of you are usually trying to improve in one way or another. Yes, even the people who only ride bikes to ride bikes want to be better. It's how our brains work - if you enjoy doing something, you probably want to do it more often and to do it even better than the last time you did it.
This is not a trait that's seen only in sports, either. People who love to cook will want to make better tasting food; artists practice for hours on end to improve their skills; those who sit on their ass and watch television probably want a more comfortable couch or more Cheetos.
I know that I'm not alone when I say that applies to me. Not the Cheetos part, but rather just wanting to improve. I love just being on my bike, but I sure as hell want to be better, and I bet that's a familiar feeling for a lot of you. So, with a new year upon us, can you name one aspect of your riding that you would most like to improve in 2016?
Everytime I get on my bike the head goes back to 14 year old BMX mode, an hour in the body is screaming and reminding me I'm 49- especially after a crash.
Mind you, cataracts, decreased skin elasticity, farsightedness, fibrous replacement of muscle, greying, poor recall, slowed intestinal transit, prostatic hypertrophy, wrinkling, reduced cardiac reserve, decreased hearing, immunity, and vision, increased weight, liver spots (age spots), osteoporosis, decreased short-term memory and decreased stamina tend to be slightly more independent of our positive attitudes!!!!!!
Yoga and denial rule. And what @skiwenric says!
Dragon: There is a guy here who is 63 years old and just about all of you would have a hard time keeping up. He doesnt go big anymore but he came shuttling last year on a single crown and kept up. He is currently out because he broke his leg trail building. My advice is suck it up, rub dirt in it and get back on. its going to take you twice as long to heal but a life without scabs is a life not worth living. BTW: I'm old than you and a lot of you would have a hard time keeping up.
Actually while talking about stepping off backwards, I recommend to start practicing that first. Pedal just a tiny bit to hard while pulling up your front wheel at slow speed (in a 1:1 gear ratio) and let your bike slide away underneath you and simply step off backwards. Once you get the feeling of this, it will make you so much more confident practicing the wheelie as you won't be scared to fall backwards, since your brain knows you can simply step off. you can keep holding on to your handlebars though, unlike I did (because my bars were still spinning) to prevent damage to your bike.
I agree with Mattin about getting used to hopping off the back onto your feet. But I think the better save comes from mastering the rear brake.
Get used to looping past the balance point and bringing it back down with the rear brake. To get the timing correct you don't have to start right off with looping intentionally. You can lift the front wheel higher and higher, each time tapping the brake. You'll soon be able to brake tap out of any over rotation situation. When you have total control over the rear brake safety lever you will have total confidence.
Then you can really start mastering the balancing - both side to side and fore/aft.
Now if only I could manual...
I have been mastering wheelies , trial, street riding, for many years so learning to " loop out" from them is something I have learned at a very young age.
Despite of my wheeling experience and confidence, I still managed to broke my back last summer... A combination of simple things that went wrong on that day, as I pulled to hard on that simple wheelie on a casual city bike path:
1- Bad rear brake adjustement, lead to failure to balance back foward ( Make sure your rear brake works really well and ajusted properly, mechanical stuff sometimes just happens to fail, no matter how expensive)
2-Failure to remove my feet from the CLIPLESS pedals ( Cliped in
pedals can be very difficult or impossible unclip once falling backwards, since falling backwards can take only fraction of a second, I do NOT recommend using clipless pedals for praticing wheelies, even if your good at it I think it's still risky business)
3-Failure to land of my feet and poor spine protection. ( Wear a back protector! your spine is worthy! Sharp and hard items carryed in a back pack is also to be a AVOIDED)
Luckily, I was able to fully
recover from a T9 fracture after about 5 long months of convalescence. I was very happy and grateful to ride again. First thing I did back on my bike...pulled wheelie! This time with good brakes, plateform pedals , a back protector and of course, a Helmet!
Of course I don't go riding thinking about broken bones, we all know where this leads (actual broken bones).
Now I just ride with 40-50 crazy year old guys that have crazy skills but they deep inside know that have to go work monday morning, and they feel their limits and help me to feel them as well.
Everybody here has to work monday morning, unless your work partner is Gwin
So yeah @justwan-naride , same words as @somismtb got get used to the height and jumps step by step... and never jump something you didnt inspect the landing line.... sounds boring but those fukin rocks are hidden in the grass
www.pinkbike.com/photo/12986387
Being 'more fit' will contribute to improving your skills - being stronger and able to ride longer(b4 you get tired, it's generally not a good idea to try to acquire a new skill when you're tired) will let you spend more time on the bike improving your skill. It will let you move your body faster, higher, with more control etc.
You will be more resilient to injury and illness compared to someone less fit and less strong - trying to improve your skill( jumping is a skill) if your on the sidelines with an injury is pretty hard to do.
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Improving your fitness, as part of a consistent routine, will add time to your rides AND years to your riding - the riders that invest a little time in their fitness, off the bike, are able to ride at a higher level and for longer than their less fit peers. But you already know this stuff!
That is all, Thanks for reading!
Perhaps a better example would be my trail bike, Its a 2008 specialized SxTrail, weighing around 37lb. 9 speed, older coil suspension front and rear and although I really do still love it, I'm racing a few enduro's on it this this year, I know that regardless of my fitness a modern geo, lighter more modern bike would be faster. maybe not a huge amount, but I think enough see a difference in results.
Also, don't skip stretching folks! Very important for injury prevention. Ask me how I know...
It would allow me to ride more often, and would would give me more spare energy to work on my handling skills which in turn helps you to get better at jumps and drops
So, answer A helps to solve the other requirements.
Also 2 eggs at breakfast are very good, as it is not only healthy and a good source for proteins (which builds muscles), but it also very effectively reduces your hunger for at least until the lunch, making you skip eating that chocolate because you feel hungry at 11:00AM.
Another thing I like to do is to replace unhealthy snacks with things like cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumbers. Still tasty, but much healthier than eating a bag of chips or popcorn during the movie.
For take away I often choose wok instead of pizza. Since at most places you can choose what vegetables, meat and sauce they put into it, it can be made to your exact taste while still being healthy.
I do eat hamburgers, but I prefer to make them with chicken thigh spiced to my own preferences. I actually found I like that even more than with beef (tried it at a local special hamburger bar once and got hooked ever since). Make sure you make it with the thigh, not any other part of the chicken, because this is most tasteful in a hamburger.
When you make something in a pan, don't use butter but use olive oil instead. Olive oil actually fastens the way your burn calories, so evenn though it has a couple of calories, in total after the faster burning, it will be even more effective than not using olive oil at all.
And things you use the fry for, just put it in the oven.
Just look around for what things you like that are healthy and slowly replace ingredients one by one.
Healthier eating does not mean you're eating less tasty stuff.
:p
My problem is mostly line choice , I know what I'm supposed to do but, yeah enduroelite hit the nail on the head. I go in with all the best attack but, end up through lack of confidence.at the low point, fighting my way back up the camber to get back on line. I jus suck at real DH, I only ride Park
Any ideas anyone?
This not only is stylish, its faster and reduces brake bumps that str8 line brake drag creates.
Also, does anyone have any tips for manuals?
@jewsef you can get fit on any bike right? but maybe with limited time you can have more cycling time on a road bike depending on where you live I guess so I've just got a turbo to get some fitness, its dull but ! my rewards are on my MTB
@J-Mc Bride In the countryside round here the lanes are windy dark and dangerous! I wonder where is the best places for road, probably my mates in Hampshire, suburban and then peopple are used to seeing bunches out on the road so they adapt their drving