So I went to Forrest of Dean yesterday. Did the first red which leads to launch control a few times. Really enjoyed it. I then attempted the double red start section to the left of it which leads to the first firefroad and the start of GBU etc.
This ended in me going over the bars, yay. The bit that i find really tricky is the very end of said top section leading out to the fire road. This section contains about 3/4 drop offs, non of which are too big but they drop into an awkward small muddy channel.
I was hard on the breaks and going slowly - speed certainly isn't my friend so i reckon my front wheel just kind of dug into the channel and over the bars I went.
What the correct way to attempt this section? Man up and fly down at full pelt? Unweight the front wheel just before each drop?
First advice would make sure you're riding heels down.
This help keep your weight and body position back and lower on the bike. 2 major factors the make the difference between OTB and managing to ride it out.
But yes, likelyhood is that just going that bit slow through the section means you are not having the momentum to just roll over things.
Practice is the only real thing that helps here, as it's catch 22 for some.
Can't ride fast as dont have the confidence, but can't get the confidence as riding slow is actually harder and harder or you on some tracks.
Can’t ride fast as dont have the confidence, but can’t get the confidence as riding slow is actually harder and harder or you on some tracks
Yeah that has hit the nail on the head really. Cheers for the advice!
Not ridden them for a bit so they could have changed over winter, but unless they have got a lot more washed out those drops could be rolled or dropped. I generally drop them whether slow or fast, unweighting the front more if slower. Though if there are roots/holes to hook up the front wheel too slow might not be ideal especially when rolling. Since I last went over the bars two coaches have emphasised that it's all about weight and body position, the key thing being dropped heels as already mentioned, dropped can wrists also help push through the bike and avoid over rotation.
Learn to drop off, and stop braking at these kinda features. If ye wanna wipe off speed, do it just before, then set yourself for it.
Dropper post. And stay off the front brake.
Can't you just manual the section? 😉
going too slow has been my downfall quite a few times.
Thing is I'm generally too scared to go faster.
I also used to ride a hardtail with medium setting on front forks, also quite a long travel for the bike; what seemed to happen was that I'd roll over things, forks compress (26" wheels, too) and centre of gravity just goes over front axle.
I'm not much better these days, but slightly bigger wheels (27.5+ or 29r) and rigid forks helps, and taking things at faster than I'd like pace seems to work..
There’s plenty of coaching available at the FoD and from talking to people it’s worth doing.
Heels down, head up.
Dropper post.
Little bit of speed.
Pop slightly off the top and aim further down the trail.
Stay loose and float it.
Sometimes too slow is no good. Go and find a small one, practice and get a mate to film it so you can see what your doing wrong.
"going slowly" and "hard on the brakes" sounds like a sure fire way of ensuring you exit the front door on a regular basis!
Next time you go there, stop, get off, and take a good hard look at the section. Identify where you can brake, and where you can't. Split it down into segments, when in a segment, you can't brake, so you'll need to practise getting your speed right before you enter those segments.
Given that the FoD isn't crazy steep, there are plenty of places you can scrub off a bit of speed, meaning you can stay centred, not braking, and just roll through the rough stuff. And as you will now exit the previous section with the correct speed and stability, it'll make each subsequent section even easier.
IME, you can be the best, most technically capable rider in the world, but unless you can correctly read the trail and apply those skills at the right moment, it's not going to help 😉
Get yourself some quality coaching. A decent coach will sort your bike setup and body position, so that when you hit an obstacle you aren't pitched over.