For the new year I’ve decided to tackle a major problem I have with balance or rather the fear of falling.
Though it’s not that straightforward. i.e take the same xc course. In the dry I can hoon it, in the wet I’m off the back.
The other exception though is mud as I don’t have an issue with it.
And finally heights, even a man made path on Mam Tor causes problems when I’m on the bike as I tend to lean away from the drop which cause more balance problems.
On Sunday I had three stupid offs during my race and yesterday I had trouble keeping up with novices in the snow as the sudden small slides were making me tense up.
People talk about looking well forward, is this for real. I tend to look right down in front of me, say about 4′. Is this the first thing I need to change?

I should add my balance problems go way back to early childhood, and were a big problem during airborne training.

I suffer similar issues.

From what I understand the best way to solve this is a skills course with someone who can look at what you’re doing, analyse it and suggest changes.

I think trying to solve the problem yourself you’ll fail because you won’t understand what to change and why.

[Edit] I’m relatively happy mincing along ‘at the back’ because a) I tend to ride on my own and b) I don’t race.

i always find i’m wobbling more when loooking just in front of the front wheel. looking further down the trail always seems to produce more stable riding.

so yes, look “further forward”

It will be difficult to self-diagnose. So a skills course or just deliberately going out with a friend to work on this aspect of your riding will help.

The solution is likely to be a mix of the mental and physical:

Looking ahead, having your weight in the right place, getting your feet right – all that stuff.

And feeling comfortable – this transmits to how you interact with the bike. If you’re tensing up mentally, you’ll likely be gripping the bars too tight and stiffening your muscles. Imagine someone’s watching, imagine no-one’s watching, visualise success. Whatever works for you.

The main thing is that if you haven’t solved on your own thus far, get a second opinion (paid or unpaid!).

Get on a course with Jedi. It’s one of the main skills that he teaches. He’ll have you looking into the middle of next month never mind 4′ in front of you.

Seems you may have a degree of “unconscious incompetence” about this aspect of your riding. You only know that it’s a weak aspect but not why or how to improve. A second opinion can turn this to “conscious incompetence”. From that position you are better able to improve.

conscious incompetence

Yay! I already know I’m rubbish so I’m half way there 🙂

oldgit, perhaps old age brings wisdom and an enhanced survival instinct. A fear of falling is a reasonable survival instinct; falling can hurt and the hospitals are busy at this time of year.
If you you get left behind by people who have a less well developed survival instinct then is it really a problem?

Surrounded By Zulus – Member

Get on a course with Jedi. It’s one of the main skills that he teaches. He’ll have you looking into the middle of next month never mind 4′ in front of you.

heh heh heh 🙂

Basically sounds like your a brake dragger. Prone to over thinking things are you? sometimes it pays to be a meathead with minimal self preservation instinct…. inertia and over confidence normally make you look ahead, read the trail and tend not to worry as much, tense up and drag your brakes.

Slightly off on a tangent to the OP, but slacklining is a great way to gain ninja like balance skills, and weirdly also helped make me look further ahead. Mainly ‘cos it’s impossible if you’re looking at your feet!

I’m pretty much like that too, my balance is terrible, but I have an astigmatism which screws my balance up completely.

Aidan, you mention getting your feet right. I’ve always had this feeling it was something to do with my feet, it’s like I want to move them slightly, but as I’m locked in I can’t.
The reason I think it’s a mental thing is that I’m fine in the dry i.e same xc course, 11th one week and last’ish a week later because it was damp. Also I’m pretty quick in the mud, but give me terrain with wet roots and rocks and ice like last night and I tense up, like I’m waiting for the unexpected slip to take me down. Whilst a muddy course is more consistent? and therefore more predictable.
I’m going to make the effort to look ahead more, see if that helps.
And Jedi, like I said to him we’re like chalk and cheese. Might pay to have a word with Mr D though.

chalk and cheese???? you ride bikes don’t you? 🙂

True, but in that old blokes two wheels on the ground way.
Ladders are only used for cleaning windows in my book.

Also I’m pretty quick in the mud, but give me terrain with wet roots and rocks and ice like last night and I tense up, like I’m waiting for the unexpected slip

sounds like a few issues perhaps related to not looking ahead, tony will see you reet – i’m sure.

and if you have actual problems with balance you can train it just like strength or speed. wii fit has balance stuff on…

you don’t need to be riding a ladder to balance! you do it on very ride.

I found this useful:
Wise Man With Beard

My riding mantras are “chin up, look ahead, heavy feet, light hands, elbows out, attack, attack!”

And finally heights, even a man made path on Mam Tor causes problems when I’m on the bike as I tend to lean away from the drop which cause more balance problems.

I share most of the issues above, particularly with the drops. It’s my eyes I think, I have a lazy eye. With a drop on my left I am fine but with a drop on my right I can’t ride with any confidence.

Anyway, here’s to a new year with confidence and balance in all conditions.

peripheral height fear 🙂

I need blinkers. There’s one for father christmas 🙂

“People talk about looking well forward, is this for real. I tend to look right down in front of me, say about 4′. Is this the first thing I need to change?”

Oh yeah. This is something I have been working on and it aint that easy to break the habit of looking down at where you are going to crash. I keep worrying that my brain wont remember what’s just in front of me – but it does. Trust your brain, it’s ace.

Yes, looking at where you are wanting to be, and by the power of the force, you get there. And another weird thing happens: everything around you slows down and become more predictable. Very much a jedi mind trick. S’weird but powerful.

🙂

Think it might just be old age 🙄

Finding as I get older I am starting to have similar problems, good days and bad days. Pills for the high BP have not helped much and since breaking and damaging 2 fingers on my left hand things are getting worse atm. 4mths on and can still only hold bars with 3 fingers making braking/steering etc interesting at times. Again as I get older the body is getting stiffer, I find myself riding to protect my back, neck, knees and dodgy ankle. The old grey matter is slowing and reaction speed is slowing. Could never enter races due to never knowing what state my back/neck might be in on the day 🙄
But you do not seem to have these issues and what the guys above are saying about psychicing yourself out is probably spot on and a bit of practice away from a competitive environment may be what is needed.
seen this?

4′ ahead is very short.. by the time your brain and body have processed.. planned.. sync’d and reacted.. balanced.. reacted.. adjusted and re-adjusted you’ll be furthur along the trail than the 4′ ahead that your confused body/brain is trying to deal with… If not then you’re probably going a bit too slowly to let centrifugal force and thaa’ do it’s job.. (I don’t have any scientific evidence of this.. it’s just bleedin’ obvious) so try and look furthur ahead

You want to have the balance I displayed today…..

Danny Mac eat your heart out…..

see… classic example of not looking far enough ahead

see… classic example of not looking far enough ahead

I aim to please 8)

Best bit of advice I ever got the transfers to mountain biking and Road biking was from Motor bike racing (or more specifically tryiong to get better at it with the California Superbike school).
One of their core principles is that the bike will get around a corner much better without you on it – its natuarally in a perfect state of balance
Now applying that to Mountain biking the principle I use is as long as I’m going fast enough I just pick roughly where I want to go and let the bike sort itself out underneath me. I just try to give it a bit of gentle persuasion.
Most of the time it works out ok (it does rely on being able to look far enough ahead though to not end up in trees ditches and hedges and apply the right persuasion) it does also make you pick smoother lines as you try to let the bike take the most balanced and least “upsetting” route.

It was a bit of an epiphany moment for me on the motorbike and still seems to apply well on humna powered bikes too.

For the record though I was still fat and a bit slow on a motorbike !

oldgit – I don’t know if you remember but I think we rode together once at Woburn when I was temporarily living in Bedfordshire.

Anyhow, it’s difficult to say how you could change your footing without seeing you riding. Everything is connected and some people will swear blind that they’re doing the right thing until they see photo/video evidence that they’re not!

Having itchy feet as you approach something that’s psyching you out is pretty normal and might have nothing to do with your feet at all. It could be as simple as running your tyres too hard.

My OH was having issues with downhill turns especially to the right. Left was on but right wasn’t good at all. Had been on skills courses etc and had done some practice but nothing really improved. She went to the doctor’s about something else, potential migraines, I think, and he said to her, ‘Let’s sort this balance issue out as well.’ And she really does have a balance problem which is different on either side. It’s also noticeable at yoga especially in twisted balances, which I guess is similar to turning on a downhill.

So, in short, I guess I’m saying it could be made better by the lovely advice above but if that doesn’t seem to help it might be worth discussing it with a doc if the issue seems sided.

Firstly I don’t think you should be put off by Jedi riding on wood work for his leisure. He seems pretty customer focused and is local to you.

What’s even more weird is that Woburn grip is very seasonal with the dry summer not being that grippy.

I have been working on looking thing and does seem to be working. At the moment I think I look ahead when I’m feeling confident. The moment I hit something I’m less confident on I look at me front wheel and it all goes wrong. I tried to correct this in the snow on Monday and I did a few corners better than before the snow.

The other game I played in the snow was walking round the car park with a bike wheel and trying to push it side ways in the snow. Put it on the snow at a cornering angle and push gently it just slides. Shove the wheel hard and it bites and grips. I’m sure that has lead to me falling off. You worry about grip so get the weight off the wheel your worrried about then it slips

I was also told that looking was the key trick on wood work (for me trail centres not North Shore). I was warned that people stair at the edge and that takes them towards it. Stair at the middle and its much easier. This has helped alot. But next time I’ll look further away

Jamie 😆 I’m fond of a little lay down myself these days.

Aidan, that rings a bell. Was a wet day when some of the stuff was out of bounds?

buzz-lightyear – Member
“People talk about looking well forward, is this for real. I tend to look right down in front of me, say about 4′. Is this the first thing I need to change?”

Oh yeah. This is something I have been working on and it aint that easy to break the habit of looking down at where you are going to crash. I keep worrying that my brain wont remember what’s just in front of me – but it does. Trust your brain, it’s ace.

Yes, looking at where you are wanting to be, and by the power of the force, you get there. And another weird thing happens: everything around you slows down and become more predictable. Very much a jedi mind trick. S’weird but powerful.

Its not the force, its to do with the 2 different kind of photo-receptors in your eye, rods and cones. The cones are concentrated in your fovea and are used for sharp focusing, colour and daylight vision. The rods are located outside the fovea and are used for peripheral and night vision – they also keep track of moving objects as cones don’t have this capability at all.

So, when your hammering down a trail, you are using the fovea and cones contained there to spot any potential obstacles – as you approach the obstacle, it should now have moved away from your focal point and is being tracked by the rods in your peripheral vision. #

hope that makes sense!

After it being suggested on here to look out for a skills video from ‘Fluidride, ride like a pro’ Just search on google.com.
I think its a good start in the right direction, but not a replacement for somebody watching you and pointing out what you are doing wrong.

Im saving my pennies for a session with Mr Jedi, just need to sort out some accommodation and some warmer weather 🙂