Forum menu
Your own words…
Well i'll admit yes, he's not keen on pushing his DH up some stuff 🙂
Horrible descents was more my description than his 🙂 , as i said earlier, sometimes i need to ride too, i can't just send him to the top of an unknown location and say "see ya, good luck". Hence why for example we'd rather do BPW than that. That was he can do a black, i can do a red and we meet at the next fire road. This would obviously be a lot easier if i was somewhere near his level.. but sadly i'm not. So it needs consideration at times. He may race, he may jump, but he's still only turned 14 a couple of months ago, i have to take a certain level of care before launching him down things. Some of the stuff at FoD he can ride that's outside of my depth, but i know where he will end up, so again, that kinda works, so over by the Quarry we play at times and it's accepted he'll ride some things alone.
That's also the great thing about racing, i can send him up in a van, he either rides down, or comes in the back of a van.. They've got marshalls, medical staff etc, so he gets to ride stuff i cannot.
Can you not see why people feel like you’re ignoring advice?
Sure, but advice is surely that... advice... to be given or accepted as needed/wanted. It's not mandatory. I listen and read all of it... but some is more or less practical than others.
For example, if it were just me this thread was for, "go to Risca and ride XYZ" that's one thing... but as my previous post, doing that with a 14 year old kid is a completely different thing.
Like I said groundhog day.
Like I said groundhog day.
Is it though ? Earlier in thread "You need to ride and race more techincal stuff", "You need to ride and race the harder events"
Is that not exactly what we've done this year with National, Gravity and Pearce ? I don't see how we're ignoring all the advice... Sure, we're not doing each and every aspect asked... but to say we're ignoring it is not correct.
Is it though ?
Yep.
Yep.
YOu know the simplest answer fella... don't open the thread. Plenty of people seem to be enjoying it.. So just don't open it, ignore it...
It's good for a bit of light entertainment while I'm waiting for the car to be serviced.
Ive not looked at it for a while TBH but just thought I'd dip in to see if anything had changed.
Predictably it hasn't. It still seems to be a give me attention type thread...
It’s good for a bit of light entertainment while I’m waiting for the car to be serviced.
Then lets keep it as that hey 🙂
HAve a nice pic of a daft kid on the last jump to the finish line
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/9144664/rider/111960
LOL see... you started off the post, wrote it, posted it and then edited it to be a dick once again.. why couldn't you leave it without the dickish comment ?
It still seems to be a give me attention type thread…
You say that as if it is a bad thing...
Looking at the cycling threads on STW I reckon there are only a few types of thread off the top of my head:
1) technical, how do I...?
2) Route info, where do I...?
3) Blingporn, look at this bike, tyre, chainset etc
4) Look at me, my weekend, route, holiday, son etc
There's nothing wrong with type 4 threads IMHO. The weekly pictures one is a staple example of this.
I post a few type 1 threads, loads of type 2 threads, which frequently morph into type 4 if I've had a good time.
Nowt wrong with that is there?
Weeksy and Son are doing some biking. He regularly posts on that biking.
That is so much better than all the tedious dull Blingporn threads that seem to be the alternative.
Look at me, we went biking again, and we learned this, that the other, he won, he lost, he DNF he crashed, he broke his arm, he's recovered, he's happy, I love biking with my son.... etc
I've realised im getting quite pissed here... 🙂
WTF shouldn't weeksy post that on a mountainbikING forum?
( PS . I totally understand your frustration that he isn't acting on your advice, but let's not let that morph into " having a single, easily identifiable thread to celebrate that I love biking and encouraging my son to race is a bad thing" thing)
Last post needs a like button
@weeksy I don't know you, nor have I ever commented on this thread, however I just felt the need to say I enjoy reading the progression of you and your boy and good luck to him for his future endeavors.
He's a lucky lad to have you provide what you do, but equally I see a Dad invested in spending time with his boy and enjoying that time in a hobby you both enjoy.
If that leads to more in the form of racing then good on you, ou've provided an amazing platform for him.
Life's to short and at the very least you have given your son amazing memories of time spent with you that he will cherish for the rest of his life.
That's a very kind post..thank you.
I love the "type 4 threads" on here they're awesome and if I lived in the UK, I'd probably be dragged around to the same race venues by my girl so I can relate to many of your thoughts, @weeksy.
If I were to start a thread it wouldn't be all that different, just generally a bit more mundane. There would be less fettling and certainly less bike buying, but that's half the charm of this thread and it's interesting to see how other parents in the same situation operate.
Getting sucked into the purchasing is very easy. But it's mostly been for sizing reasons over anything else. The Sworks was sold for a DH bike, but it was 50-50 on getting a DH bike as it's more suited to DH tracks and 50-50 for getting it bigger than the Sworks was, which was getting too small.
The 2nd DH was a complete extravagance of course, i'm the first to admit that... but it was a £0 cost swap from his 'trail' bike that didn't get used. I know one of the posters was commenting that he should be using that to ride different locations, but it simply wasn't happening... it wasn't getting used and i don't think swapping that bike for anything other than a 2nd DH bike would have meant it got used more often.
I’ve realised im getting quite pissed here…
Weird time of day to be drinking! You may have an issue 😛
I enjoy the thread, too. Tend to skip over the "dickish" (Weeksy's word) stuff (it's easy to spot and I'm not sure why some of it is even engaged with). Be great to see how the lad progresses over time.
The 2nd DH was a complete extravagance of course, i’m the first to admit that… but it was a £0 cost swap from his ‘trail’ bike that didn’t get used. I know one of the posters was commenting that he should be using that to ride different locations, but it simply wasn’t happening… it wasn’t getting used and i don’t think swapping that bike for anything other than a 2nd DH bike would have meant it got used more often.
I was one suggesting getting an Enduro bike. I will admit that this came from a position of ignorance in not knowing just how many DH races were available to you! I thought you would soon be lamenting being unable to go to an enduro race (or buynig a new bike to do so).
But it seems you have enough of a race calendar to suit your budget and travel radius with just downhill.
For my own curiousity, at the "easier" end, like 417, FOD etc, how many of the top riders, both in youth category and overall, are racing downhill bikes?
I’m quite liking this thread, watching your lads progression is great to see.
It was early in the early pages that you need to be careful not to be a pushy parent and make it a misery for him…it’s clear that you’re not. You’re listening to what he wants to do and responding appropriately.
I feel some people maybe forgetting that all of this is for fun and enjoyment, not an all out push to be as close to the top spot as possible.
For my own curiousity, at the “easier” end, like 417, FOD etc, how many of the top riders, both in youth category and overall, are racing downhill bikes?
417 is 25% DH bikes
FoD maybe 50-50
Pearce 95%
He may not be the fastest on the planet.... but he looks bloody stylish to me
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52403515556_4ccd46d6c1_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52403515556_4ccd46d6c1_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2nQHHsU ]2022-10-04_08-21-25[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Smooth.
What's funnier, admittedly in my head alone, is knowing that I would not have made the 2nd jump. I would still have others picking my teeth out of the ground somewhere on the face of the landing of the first jump 😳🤣
You're far from alone fella. There's another line next to it with 3 much less brutal gaps, still 10-12' gaps but less severe consequences if you're short, they're the one I was doing. His gaps, I stay way way way away from.
Recovery day for both of us tomorrow and early start of 6ish on Sunday for Stile Cop race.
Good luck for the race. Hope he enjoys it. (You are permitted to enjoy too 😉)
I always enjoy it. But my enjoyment may go up or down depending if I rode. Lol.
That may depend on his legs as it's a non uplift race, so we're considering taking the ebike to uplift him, which woul of course mean I'm not racing.
That’s a great photo up there weeksy
we’re considering taking the ebike to uplift him
Please don’t be that guy on a sub-1min course at a grass roots type race. Would it not be better to have a relaxing time pushing up chatting to other riders and sectioning anything that’s worth sectioning?
Please don’t be that guy on a sub-1min course at a grass roots type race.
When was the last time you went to one? There'll be literally dozens of people being ebiked up.
Firstly, respect to all the effort, support and chance you are giving your lad.
Perhaps your lad needs to have a think and be more honest about what he wants from riding and racing, and adjust his expectations to match.
Does he enjoy racing because of the atmosphere and buzz he gets whilst between the tape? Or is he more competitive and want to improve and climb the results?
If he just enjoy riding his bike at races, then keep cracking on with what you're doing, but be realistic that he may not progress as much as he could and may not get the results he thought. Race for the sake of it, enjoy it and almost ignore the results.
If he wants to race to be competitive then unfortunately he will need to "train" and ride tracks/places that are not his first choice (it's so easy to choose to ride places which play to your strengths). Racing varied tracks isn't enough to be competitive, he won't get enough runs or enough time to session his weaker sections over a race weekend. Be more selective about what races you go to, and spend the other times at varied tracks with the intention of sessioning tracks that he's weaker on (it may be that he only rides the same track all day).
Riding full laps of longer tracks with no stopping or resting to build endurance
Also don't neglect pedaling, spend time building sprinting power and stamina
I used to race in my 20s (Dragon, Pearce 1or2 NPS etc) and was a mid pack rider, all my non racing was steep and techy tracks local to me and I rarely practiced my jumping or berms, as result I always lost time on the berms and jumps in races and didn't progress very far up the tables.
Updates on the above will become more forthcoming in the next weeks and months regarding next years plans.
But I don't disagree with you at all.
The one thing you do need to keep in mind however, is time, money, expense. There isn't a completely unlimited budget to allow weekend after weekend with 2 uplifts @ £50 each, a hotel at £90, food and drink at £50 and petrol at £100. That's a £350 weekend with only one day of uplift, but with the places generally being further away often necessitates an overnight stay. There's limited places closer by of course, but as I say, details on that will come to light in due course we hope.
Regarding what we want from it all, it's impossible to say. We'd like to progress of course, but not at the expense of enjoyment. I don't want to make it a chore for him to get on the bike, I want the excitement of getting up pulling on the full face to remain.
He's got a new membership at a place with multiple circuit type classes to work on fitness, core, strength etc
Along with an additional cycling plan for 2023.
When was the last time you went to one? There’ll be literally dozens of people being ebiked up.
Well that’s the saddest thing I’ve read in a while. People really need to calm down and let kids play with the kids
Well that’s the saddest thing I’ve read in a while.
Kids don't necessarily always mix in that sense. Last weekend my lad made a pair of friends on the uplift though, one of them broke his brakes and I invited them and their parents to out gazebo where I removed a brake from the spare bike and fitted it to his so he could get out and race. He finished lady, but he was beaming. On Monday, they came to our house and I repaired and bled both their brakes, but due to the span adjusters being broken, I fitted them a brand new set of brakes I had in spares instead.
But that's not always how things are, the lad generally meets and befriends someone each race, but it's certainly not because they necessarily walk up together, they spend a lot more time at the top chatting due to delays etc.
Of course his enjoyment has to be the priority and if he enjoys racing then keep racing. It's how much he races and where he rides between the races that can lead to bigger improvement and potentially "better" results. Would he enjoy racing more if he was more competitive?
On the money side of things race weekends are terrible value for money compared to uplifts/bike parks. More riders to share the track and uplift/bike park with and race day usually 2 or 3 runs tops. But if the races are more local than the uplifts/bike park then that does alter it slightly.
Whatch some YouTube videos of what the pros do in the off season, lots of varied riding: structuted training, pissing about in the woods and everything in between.
Good luck with it all pal
On the money side of things race weekends are terrible value for money compared to uplifts/bike parks. More riders to share the track and uplift/bike park with and race day usually 2 or 3 runs tops. But if the races are more local than the uplifts/bike park then that does alter it slightly.
That depends though, Pearce and Gravity are say £90 for Sat and Sun, last weekend he got 9 runs of practice of the Sat and 3 (could've done 5 but was tired) on the Sunday, plus 2 races.
But I'll agree that on a non uplift race day there's a lot less.
The pros are not 14 and need daddy to drive them places lol. We've got 2 race weekends left and then playtime begins. We'll be getting plenty of winter fun in. But there's also school, homework, GCSEs etc, along with night coming earlier, then just general fatigue and seeing friends in the park. It can't be all about the racing or riding. Sure, you need complete dedication to make it, we get that, but that's not how we see the world.
Would he enjoy racing more if he was more competitive?
I think that's a given, but that's why at times we cherry pick events too, right or wrong, it's nice to see the pointy end of a race every now and again.
Don't know how to use the quote function 🙄.
Absolutely he still should race and ride the tracks he enjoys the most, just don't neglect to work on tracks/terrain he's weaker on.
Again maybe be more selective with the races he enters alongside the ones he enjoys. If he has aspirations of national level racing or even international, then focus on races that emulate those tracks as best as possible
After a season of racing you'll both have a good idea with what his weaknesses are and he can work on them over the winter. That may mean riding his weaker tracks more than his stronger tracks... But still riding what he enjoys.
It's bloody difficult even with enough cash, time and access to varied tracks. Again it may come down to managing expectations
Again maybe be more selective with the races he enters alongside the ones he enjoys
Aye, that's next years plan.
This year was always about trying new series, new places and new groups.
So we've raced this year
417
MIJ
100%
Southern Enduro
Woodland Riders
Pearce
National
Cornwall cycling project
Gravity DH.
It was learning which type of series we want most and both what our strengths and weaknesses are, but where we sit in the grand scheme of the game.
Several of these organisations will be dropped for us next year and we'll be focused on 2 DH series rather than a scattergun approach
I can tell you where his weaknesses are and the plans we've already got in place to work on them both on our own and with his coach, tech. That's what he needs to work on. The main issue, that's not as much fun as launching into space with a whip lol.
Knowing them and focusing on them are not always easy ha ha.
Sounds like you have a good plan in place, just stick to it over the winter. Good luck.
No matter where your lads racing takes him, as long as you both had fun then it's been worth it 👍
I was always, and still am, the opposite, happier with tech and terrible/terrified in the air.
Thank you. We are massively enjoying it and have a bond I think many parents don't quite manage. We spend pretty much all weekends together and never have a cross word with eachother. We get the good days, the bad days, the podiums and the crashes.
Today, we rode Rogate together all day, he taught me a little on how to jump less badly, then home for Chinese and Zombies lol. It's not everyone's idea of paradise, but it's pretty damn close in my book.
Sounds great, race results are secondary to all that
Imagine an E Bike uplift being the saddest thing you’d heard recently 😀
We had guys uplifting with mopeds on a 30 second BSX track in the 90’s and early 00’s FFS. It’s just a way to get racers to the top of the hill and not be knackered. People really do need to get over themselves.
Early coffee, race day for the boy. Load car and then off out for the day. He's still snoring.
pimpingimp
Free Member
Imagine an E Bike uplift being the saddest thing you’d heard recently 😀
We had guys uplifting with mopeds on a 30 second BSX track in the 90’s and early 00’s FFS. It’s just a way to get racers to the top of the hill and not be knackered. People really do need to get over themselves
If you’re knackered from pushing up a 30s track people need to have a look at themselves 😉
Also, context, yes there are sadder things happening elsewhere. This is about racing
Maybe, but you can practice a 30 second track a lot. All those push ups add up over a weekend, especially for younger kids.
Can you not see why people feel like you’re ignoring advice?
Maybe he isn't asking for advice? I see this as a sort of personal blog of a dad and son doing stuff together, not a place where they are asking for others to tell them how to live their life, that's how I see it, others maybe see it differently including the OP 🙂
FWIW I failed with both my teens in the biking area. At 14 they both just stopped riding as I had not considered what they wanted, I had just assumed they wanted to do what I was doing, turns out they didn't. Fully understand the fine balance Weeksy is working with here, teenagers are hard work and it sounds like he is winning at the moment so doing a lot right.
Practice done. 6 runs. Ebike paid it's dues as most got 3 runs, a couple got 4.