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  • Exposure – wailing and gnashing of teeth content.
  • pymwymis
    Free Member

    OK, simple issue:

    I’m technically competent without being any kind of superstar and have no problems with steep descents per se, drops (small) no problem but not jumps and I’ve done a couple of skills courses.

    If you asked me to I could follow a line marked on the ground no problem.

    I don’t have any particular fear of heights though I’m not one to stand on the edge of a cliff for a laugh…..

    So why the chuff do I get “the fear” as soon as I have a drop to one (or both) side/s of me ?

    I recently had to dismount rather than go over a wooden slat footbridge (in fairness it had no handrails and a 6 foot drop to rocks) that was 3 feet wide and 12 ft long ! I should have been over it in 2 seconds but a combination of slow, rocky and off square entry just put me right off

    Typically I tend over compensate and eventually dab on the opposite side but it’s really getting on my wick. I’m sure it’s just a mental thing.

    Does anyone have similar issues and if you’ve overcome them how did you do it ?

    Does anyone know if Jedi does anything like this on his courses ?

    tinribz
    Free Member

    Sounds perfectly rational to me. Don’t know why the sort of drops you describe have to be so tall, it’s an unnecessary risk.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    It sounds more like it’s not completely rational in that the fear/panic is disproportionate to the actual level of risk and you need to find a way of dealing calmly with the real risk level rather than panicking and tensing up.

    I know there’s a course in the Peak District for people with a general fear of heights, but I’m not sure how much it’ll help here with bike riding, some of the psychological stuff, I guess is the same.

    One of the best riders I know is petrified of heights when he’s on his feet, but totally indifferent to them when riding a bike, which suggests that for him it’s a focus/relaxation thing.

    Not much help I know, but it does sound basically psychological, which you knew already.

    My experience with climbing/mountaineering is that you get used to it gradually and relax, but without losing a sense of what’s genuinely dangerous, which is what keeps you alive after all.

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    vincienup
    Free Member

    out of interest, leaving the bike out of the question, what are you like on top of buildings/ladders/trees/cherry pickers/whatever?

    Do you have a problem with heights in general or just when on a bike?

    I’m technically quite poor at the moment but still have no problem with the top of ‘that’ red at Fort Bill (a typically Fort Bill timber bridge, but against the rock to you left and nothing on your right)

    Only asking because if it’s heights on a bike only it’s going to be much more specific than heights in general.

    Personally if I get the fear on a feature it’s usually because I crashed last time I tried something similar and I’m not certain of my ability to cope with it – I think that’s where you’re going at the start of your question.

    pymwymis
    Free Member

    No problem with heights in general, ladders and cherry pickers I can do all day. So I guess its generally on a bike, though I do remember a windy crossing of Striding Edge which I did on my hands and knees !

    jedi
    Full Member

    Its called peripheral fear. You balanve receptors are adjusting to the new hieght and thatmakesyou wobble. Like standing on a step ladder

    penguinni
    Full Member

    I am very similar. Even any type of board walk has me veering to the sides regardless of the drop.

    pymwymis
    Free Member

    Jedi, thanks for that. Any thoughts on how to manage it ?

    Lester
    Free Member

    I went to Jedi, and i wasnt confident of doing woodwork on the floor let alone at heights.
    by the end of the one day course i was doing woodwork 4ft high, admittedly it was a soft fall either side, but it did have a small drop off at the end which i hadnt done before either.
    now i am 50/50 on whether i complete the run, but im much more confident of trying and im going further and higher 🙂

    jedi
    Full Member

    As you get scared you will move back on the bike and that will make you wobble more so focus on being central. Gently drag a brake and release itwhen you wobble as that straightens you

    grum
    Free Member

    My missus is quite bad with heights – a few years ago we got into climbing and she improved massively with it.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    It’s like northshore, give me a 3 inch wide plank on the ground and I’ll ride along it for miles, but give me a 3 foot wide boardwalk 3 feet up and I’ll fall off instantly.

    patriotmike
    Free Member

    Hi there I instruct Mtb skills in the north of England and many of my clients share your issues. One of the drills on my courses concentrates on slow speed turns using a drag brake technique. This usually reduces their turning circle by half and the same skills comes into board sections and skinny singletrack. Feel free to give me a call re more info mike 07971275184

    offthebrakes
    Free Member

    Assume the same technique would help for tight switchbacks patriotmike?

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