Silly or not?

I fancy having a go at some proper DH tracks but I don't really know many people round here who would be up for it. Silly to do alone? I did the Shredder at Ae on my tod yesterday and really enjoyed it but felt I was holding back a bit thinking about what would happen if I stacked it with no-one about. 🙂

I ride solo a lot. I like it as I can explore without worrying about expectations. But hold back on the knarl.

Do an uplift day?

Lots of other people about to call you an ambulance then. And you'll get loads more riding in.

Go on to a DH forum and find some like minded folk. I've moved about a fair bit with work and never had any hassle finding folk of all levels to ride with.

On the subject of riding alone, I came off the FW freeride last weekend (yes on the boardwalk) and broke two fingers. My mates waited while I picked myself up, but due to a genuine misunderstanding thought I was okay and buggered off. A very sore and fairly intimidating half hour followed in horrendous weather , and that was only sore fingers. Even on a busy track like that, you could lie on your own for long enough if you were immobile – I don't think riding solo is a great idea if you are properly going for it.

I ride alone all the time.
In Blighty I used to ride at Aston hill a lot, and during the week it was just me and the guy on the gate (who had a bad back so couldn't go down the hill). Often wondered what I'd do if I crashed. But to be honest I didn't hold back, breaking a leg hurts the same if there's someone there or not.
Over here in Aus it's another matter altogether. I had a crash a couple of years ago that I stayed down for (alone). Did wonder what would happen to me, given I was in a closed off forest area on a trail that's rarely ridden at the best of times. Still, ribs weren't broken (x-ray check) so all good.
Just last week I ended up going down a gully descent that I'd enjoy on a DH bike on my hack bike – friggin scary but was no more dangerous for being alone, you ride it as you see it… My only concession is to sometimes take a second water source (backpack and bottle) in case one is damaged, but even then I don't bother most times.
The thing that slows me down now is two kids, being crippled for a period of time would not be good for them, so I guess that's my out…
Having said this, I'm off to do some solo DH in a national park tomorrow. Wish me luck!

But to be honest I didn't hold back, breaking a leg hurts the same if there's someone there or not.
True, but a broken leg could well turn into a life/death situation if your left in the middle of nowhere.
I would never ride DH alone, partially for safety, but mostly because its lonely!

but mostly because its lonely!

That's the one that does it for me! – not riding DH alone that is

yeah i do think having others around gives me a bit more confidence…
was at aston H yesterday with the intention of sessioning a few DH runs, but after only 20mins i hit a bad line and face-planted big time onto a log. thankfully the full face helmet did its job otherwise i'd have a hefty dentist bill….
knocked the stuffing out of me and twisted the neck a bit. hand too painful to grip properly after so my ride over straight away! boo….
it was pretty sketchy there, just dry enough to be loose and powdery but showers also gave nice greasy surface beneath!
its kind of weird sitting there seeing stars sat on your own by the trail.
i was most definitely over-stretching my ability so next time i'll deffo go a lot easier.

i ride Dh on my own all the time. i dont push it too hard and I don't do anything silly. I have to tell myself to slow down every now and again.

i've just been out for a session on my own, wasn't feeling it. had a couple of small crashes and packed it in early.

So, in light of the comments I made above, I'm now sporting a graze that goes from wrist, up my arm, over my shoulder and down my side to my hips (think superman flying postion then touching down).

Oh, and a painful bruise on left thumb (can't grip now) and one on hip.
Basically a bit broken following a DH speed stack.
I'll continue to ride alone, but perhaps I'll go back to wearing full armour…

I never do mad stuff on me own but do ride it, just that you dont get the same amount
of people on the extreme or DownHill stuff so get it wrong and your on your own.

Sounds like ur in a right mess mate
Speedy recovery 😉

breaking a leg hurts the same if there's someone there or not

yes but if somebody is there they can phone or run off and get help. You certainly won't be going anywhere fast with a broken leg and it could be that the accident is such that you cannot reach to your own phone.

Kev

I ride quite a bit on my own too. riding DH on your own is (like making love to a beautiful… oh, sorry, no it's not) just the same as riding any other discipline on your own. you don't tend to push yourself as much when not with others anyway so I def crash far less when on my own.

Grumm? where are you? I'm guessing somewhere near Ae? if you venture over towards Innerleithen I'd be happy for you to tag along with me (and others)

There is a lesson I learn't very quickly when I first moved to the alps. No riding buddies at first but there was no way I wasn't goint o get out there (Italian lakes area so not a busy uplift resort area). I had a stack while riding something I shouldn't have attempted on my own, 3 inch gash on my forearm followed by 1.5 hours riding down an alp with my riding shirt as a bandage (this was 10 years ago), through town traffic and straight into casualty!.

What did I learn:

-Body armour (especialy arm pads) are cool
-First aid kit v.important
-Most importantly: when on your own ride within your limits and take more conservative decisions on what is ridable and what isn't. Take easier line choices or god forbid walk the most techie sections – the time for risk taking and pushing it is with a group – end of.

So I would say yes, ride on your own, take a first aid kit, be conservative with speed and line choice, reign in the adrenaline and concentrate on riding smoothly and in control rather than on the edge. Basically get down in one piece!

a 3" gash? 😯

top advice on here

Hiya,
I ride DH too. I am in London and if some of you are from London, I am happy to join and go for some DH fun. You can find my email in my profile.
Cheers

Thanks for all the comments. GW would love to but I'm in Lancaster so Innerleithen is about 2.5 hours from me. Still might take you up on the offer at some point though.

I suppose the thing is for me that DH is about pushing your limits and doing things outside your comfort zone so I think doing it in a group would be best. Think I will try and get to an uplift day.

I don't have a proper DH bike btw – am using my Pitch with Fox 36 Vans and 2.5 tyres. Is this silly too? 🙂

I think it depends where you ride. I was doing the Blackwater descent near Kinlochleven on my own, and I had an over the bars moment and just completely lost my bottle. This was down to the remoteness of my situation, I was about 10 miles from the nearest road and I hadn't seen a soul for about 4 hours. If I'd had the same crash in my local area it wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest.

I do love riding solo though, it's great for clearing the mind

Get yourself upto hamsterley forest on a sunday, theres usually a fair few folk knocking about and the dh track is pretty good fun. You can ride the 4x too and the xc loop.

I think it's a very bad idea to do any riding on your own. The last time I rode on my own I came of quite badley and knocked myself out, I have no idea how long I was out for but nobody was around to help me. Luckily I was ok aside from a few scrapes a black eye and a fat lip. That was about 4 years ago now and I've never gone riding solo since.

I've done it alot and yes it is risky. I found out just how risky last summer doing a season and after a mate went home injured, was riding alpine trails/dh alot alone. On my last run a few days before going home I had a bad crash and had to ride down with a fractured back. However this hasn't put me off. Risk is part of the thrill, don't think about it too much.

Grumm – Do you know about the Scratchmere Scar uplift days? It's near Penrith.

Haven't been myself but my Lakes friends say it's great.

2nd chakaping.

Scratchmere Scar is great fun!

Alas, I still persist in my heresy.

It is more challenging to ride UPHILL! 😈

Btw, Grumm, doesn't Kev (YH) ride DH?

I always ride on my own when downhilling ….

…. because no bugger can keep up with me 8)

Cool will try and get up to Scratchmere.

Kev does indeed ride DH but he is often off racing at weekends and I seem to be working lots during the week these days.

When on my own I often find it hard to get motivated to ride what I want, how I want. I usually just hold back ever so slightly and on a dh trail that can really put you off.

Still though I do occasionally like to get out on my own. Clears the head, you can ponder the imponderables and agonize over line choices for as long as you want.