Assume you mean Longridge near chipping?
I can't think anywhere I would consider steep in there but I totally accept everyone is different.
The one thing I think of is 'organised falling' in that I let the brakes off totally if I think they cant stop me and concentrate on the next area I can see in front where I can stop - that might be a less steep bit or dry rock patch or a bank. I effectively stop go my way down
Confidence in my brakes plays a huge effect on this process
I think the whole ‘weight back’ stems from bikes with short top tubes and long stems.
That and saddles that were always UP and you chose early on when faced with a feature whether to be on top or behind the saddle.
Colournoise has it about right, but you need to bear in mind that those both represent a steady speed - you might well hit the trickiest bits of trail letting the speed increase a bit, so your weight would then go a bit further forwards (to the point that your position relative to the bike would stay the same as in the flat picture if off the brakes completely). Conversely braking on a flatish you might move your weight back.
I don't think the weight positioning is the most important thing unless you're sturggling to turn/avoid going OTB though. The main thing is letting the wheels rotate, even if this might sometimes mean allowing the speed to increase. I remember a local drop that the first time I tried I attempted to stay at a constant speed, skidded everywhere and ended up hugging a tree. If you can stay calm and be delicate on the brakes, let the speed increase if needed, it makes it a lot easier. (Of course that particular drop has a fairly straight run out at the bottom)
Whilst everyone is here. Where’s the best place to park for Whalley/Longridge trails? And then to access them?
cos all my locat trails arnt that steep i find i have to make an effort to move my arse further back the bike on proper steep stuff compared to my usual position on local 'steeps'. It takes me a couple of goes on steep trails to work it out then i'm fine up to 'pretty darn steep'. Weighting teh back wheel for grip is key for me, as is steering with teh hips and not locking the front wheel.(this may not be as per teh tutorial but it works really well for me!) there was one local trail that was mental though (cunning labelled the flat track) and i only made it down once or twice without coming a cropper.
I think the whole ‘weight back’ stems from bikes with short top tubes and long stems.
It's all about keeping your weight centred between the wheels - having a short bike and long stem makes that harder though as does having the saddle up.
Whilst everyone is here. Where’s the best place to park for Whalley/Longridge trails? And then to access them?
Part at Hurst Green and take the bridleway to to Longridge fell, if you've not ridden there before it can be tricky to find the good stuff and there's been some logging which has blocked some routes.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1591918135#43313069577.
Assume you mean Longridge near chipping?
I can’t think anywhere I would consider steep in there but I totally accept everyone is different.
I'd hate to see what you consider steep then.! The one we went down was 30% according to strava and there a few steeper
30% ?
There's roads steeper than that.
I’m just waiting to see what the STW riding God has to say.
@DezB, i’m curious about that too
Come on! Where is he?
There’s roads steeper than that.
Sure, but tarmac is a completely different ball game to dirt. Steepest near me is probs "black Pig" which is average 30% and 45% at it's steepest, but is loose loam and pretty tight turns, there's nowt much else to do than get low and comfy, heels down, commit and look as far ahead as possible.
45% is only about 30 degrees. Stairs are 42 degrees typically and even they aren't that steep compared to some features on trails.
The 30% is Strava's rating not mine. I guess it's an average as the start of the run was ridable even for me.
Doesn't alter the fact the steep bits were steep and I struggled to ride down it 🙂
Thanks for the parking knowledge Windysurfer. Went up there yesterday, nice to ride somewhere different and the bottom of DH2 is quite steep. Especially in the wet.
Late to the party, but i try to think about momentum rather than angle when it comes to steep trails!
ie, if there is a REALLY steep bit (and it might actually be vertical, so you need to pop / hop off it) then in order to limit your momentum on exit, you need to enter it going really slowly. If you brake a descent up into sections, stop the parts where you can trade momentum. Ie, i can brake their, so i am going to gain momentum, but there is a small root/berm where i can loose that momentum i have just gained. At some point, depending on your skill, you can't see enough places to loose the momentum you will gain, and hence the drop becomes "impossible"......
LLS bikes deffinately help here, because the middle of the bike is so much wider thanit used to be, meaning you can concentrate less on balance and more on momentum.
For those saying that 30/40% isn't steep, Strava rates Champery WC track at an average of 26.1%. Even at it's steepest it never goes over 50% from what I can see.
Obviously this is Strava , so taken with a pinch of salt, but anything I've ridden over 40% (by Strava) in the alps I've considered steep.
Yeah, average steepness is meaningless, you could have a mile long trail with a 20 metre drop in it and on average it's basically flat.
Back side of Longridge is fricken steep. I'd compare it to a much shorter version of Gawton in places. Well worth a visit.
