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New trail opened at Leith Hill. Table tops and jumps. Was up there today and was amazed at the number of riders who made no attempt to get air - not even on the easy low level table tops. Most people just rolled the whole trail! They're just missing out so much that is fundemental to MTB'ing. I'm not talking big stuff here. C'mon at least make the effort and ride the trail the way it was designed to be ridden... It's really not that hard. Just surprised at the lack of ambition and the missing desire to improve. Maybe the trail builders just wasted their time:-(
Your my hero....
Fear
It's fundamental to your mtbing.
I'd love to be better at those types of trails. Not fancying breaking myself is why I don't. Reckon I would have done when I was younger and breaking myself would have had less impact on my life.
They're just missing out so much that is fundemental to MTB'ing.
Well if you take away the first fundamental part which is riding bikes and having fun plus many others eventually you'll get down to you must jump off table tops. Interesting that table tops that were once seen as BMX style riding are now fundamental to mountain biking.
cos i'm a fat old bloke with shot knees who lands like a sack of spuds
Ain't fundamental to my type of riding nipper.
the lack of ambition and the missing desire to improve
I bet they have other skills in life. I bet they just enjoy riding their bikes as well.
Wow. And I had the teacher thread down as the troll of the night...
Jumps are usually very artificial - not fundamental to mountainbiking at all. People started off by riding the land as it lay...
Maybe they aren't as awesome as you are!!! 😯
Too radical for my riding style. Plus, my bike's too big.
Yeah, no-one likes a show off.
Been riding mtb for 20 years now. Small jumps I'm ok with, large jumps too risky when you're the sole earner (plus I'm a chicken). Don't feel I'm missing out.
Fear, lack of skills, not wanting to break any bones
Its not about missing out or being awesome its about pushing and challenging yourself. If you don't try and 'up your game' what's the point? However you dress it most riders, deep down, aspire to jumping they just haven't yet committed...
I once landed a jump on an earthworm and I feel bad that that earthworm now bears the tread of a Fire XC Pro, rather than a more niche tyre. Air is off-limits to me from now on.
What's the point? The point is going out and enjoying yourself, jumping or no jumping.
[quote=WaywardRider]Its not about missing out or being awesome its about pushing and challenging yourself. If you don't try and 'up your game' what's the point?
Yeah - and when was the last time you tried riding a unicycle off road, eh? What's the point if you're not pushing and challenging yourself?
probably because most folk that frequent this forum are beardy single speeder types that havent realised that the sport has moved on in the last 20 years and think that wheels leaving the ground is only for likes of josh bender on his carpiel apocalypse.
Wheels leaving the ground are ok, it's the landing that still brings up flashbacks of a trip to A&E in an neck brace that's the problem that causes me to ride up to a set of doubles like I mean it, shit my pants at the last minute, grab a handfull of brake and roll over in an undignified manner.
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Actually I do have a unicycle - still trying to learn to ride it though...
Sadly I think you're right b45her. Too many blokes with expensive bikes they're ill equiped to ride. What is truly depressing is the poverty of expectation and ambition they all seem to have. 'I like what I know and I know what I like' seems to be the mantra.
What we need is more youth on this forum... The willingness to challenge rather than accept.
It hurts falling on your face is usually the reason I avoid jumps...
I'm just not good at them, tabletops and small ones however are not a problem and fun but anything with a big drop/gap and "the fear" sets in
For full disclosure I am a yoof by STW standards
One day you will be old and broken too.
Maybe by then you might have developed a more live and let live attitude towards others.
But untill then you are so money supermarket.
I fink I have a new man crush.....
some people like jumps some don't. Amazing isn't it.
seems to be that the general consensus is you need to drop at least a grand on "skills courses" before you attempt such insanity as a 3 ft drop or a 6 ft double jump. most people i ride with learned how to jump and control bikes as kids on grifters and raleigh burners without a coach in sight.
Yeah got this one sussed out,
So stoked on this thread.
Big jumps for me are the best part of riding my mountainbike but you need to build up your skills gradually.
I'm nearly 44 and can clear 30 foot plus tabletops and doubles happily.
I'm not a hero, I've just taken the time to learn to do it reasonably safely.
Repetition and muscle memory are the key factors.
If you really don't like the feeling of flying then the risk isn't worth it but if you do like it and want to get better, find a well built tabletop and practice, practice, practice.
Being relaxed is the most important thing, which is difficult when you're (quite rightly) terrified.
Just make sure you get that whip reeled back in before you land 😉
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That's funny satchm00
seems to be that the general consensus is you need to drop at least a grand on "skills courses" before you attempt such insanity as a 3 ft drop or a 6 ft double jump. most people i ride with learned how to jump and control bikes as kids on grifters and raleigh burners without a coach in sight.
Most self taught people I see look like accidents waiting to happen 🙂 I was one of them, learnt the hard way, then spent a small amount of money on some skills coaching and got a lot better very quickly. I don't use the fishermans ruler to measure jumps and drops either 😉
People do mountain bikes because they enjoy it. People who don't enjoy doing jumps while doing mountain bikes don't do jumps while doing mountain bikes. Was that so complicated?
It seems to be a common affliction amongst what I'll term technical progressionists to be unable to see why others don't share their perspective or all the other reasons why people ride. I would have thought that all the different types of bike available would be a clue. If the point of your riding is to progress technically, does that mean that you stop riding when you can no longer progress?
These threads make me imagine that there's a STW trolling scoreboard over on Pinkbike or somewhere.
These threads make me imagine that there's a STW trolling scoreboard over on Pinkbike or somewhere.
It would be a small board, most of them can't count that high without taking their shoes off...
To give the recent flouncers their dues, there's some serious out from under-the- bridge ****hattery going on at the moment.
OP being a sterling example.
Air is not for everyone for many reasons, I'm sure the trial builders are quite content having people ride their trails at all without the ultimate gnarrrrrr factor you must bring.
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60 next year, 2 crushed vertebrae, Osteoporosis , told never to ride off road again . Since then a season in Whistler , riding in Moab and Crested Butte and my wheels hardly ever leave the ground .Grateful for small mercies , Captain Sensible is having a ball .FUN FUN FUN ! Each to their own .
swiss01 - Member
cos i'm a fat old bloke with shot knees who lands like a sack of spuds
Are you my doppelgänger?
surely wheels on ground equals XC, wheels in air equals freeride...i'm 29 and still shy away from airborne antics.
I see your troll and raise you:
I don't see why people go to trail centres. Surely they should be getting out the OS map, heading off into the hills and navigating their own path through the Great British countryside. They're just missing out so much that is fundamental to MTB'ing.
Northwind - Member
People do mountain bikes because they enjoy it. People who don't enjoy doing jumps while doing mountain bikes don't do jumps while doing mountain bikes. Was that so complicated?
POSTED 5 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
Sometimes dude... I think you read my mind.
sucking up a jump at speed and staying on the ground is actually a skill one can acquire too. Live and let live. Surely the attraction of mtbing is that it's so accessible to so many - lots of people can enjoy the thrill, all it takes is a bit of fitness.Then there's the bikes - at a guess - ubber light xc bikes aren't the best for jumping, although so many bikes now are so capable in so many areas.
I don't jump because I don't want to break this again!
Please let me be allowed to roll over table tops!
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Previous broken bones etc and now 47 and self employed! That's why I take care when riding these days but I do still let go occasionally.