Ever been out of your depth on the bike?

i was today….well and truly.

went to Revolution bike park for a days dh fun.
place is fantastic, the 2 blokes who run is are great.
we even met a pro dh ride, who made it look oh so easy.
but for a unhealthy cowardly numpty like me, it was far too steep, far too rooty, far too slippy.
for anyone with some dh ability the place is awesome…….get yourselves down for a visit, cos the 2 lads deserve this place to be a success.

when my 200mm forked dh beast lands, i shall be returning…… 😀

Oh yeh, 1st time i rode Llandegla, i was on a bike that was too big for me and built more for banging out XC miles, it had a knackered old high roller on the back and a suicidal Conti Speed King on the front – both pumped up to the max.

I still did all the black sections at full pelt and just about filled my shorts during the process.

I was chuckling to myself well into the the next week at how fortunate I was to get away with not having any kind of off.

😆

i will be getting a bmx (you cannot get more out of your depth,when you have zero bike skills 😳

Me on the WC DH run at Champery. I was on a 120mm XC bike & pushed it down in front of me & slid down on my arse.

Frequently. I have a tendency to not pay attention at bike parks. 2nd run in Whistler I ended up on the A-Line in my 2nd year of mountain biking. Few weeks ago in Lac Blanc I somehow ended up on the black without knowing how. I muddle through though

WC DH run at Champery

yes tried that a few days after a monsson downpour, not fun….well it was quite amusing trying to even get on the bike at times.

Yip. Last two times I’ve been to the Nevis red, and had one run on the big dh. Tooooooo much!.

yep, sounds like the day i rocked up to Tavi Woodlands on my hardtail, expecting some kind of XC. whole place is at 45deg and was wet. felt genuinely lucky to get out alive and unhurt after attempting most runs, slowly!

Ever been out of your depth on the bike?

Frequently. Most times I ride it actually.
😳

Yes I have, at Revolution bike park!!! It was a mud bath. basically slid down 3 runs on my arse/face/knees and went home!

I agree, they are very nice blokes. I might go back now its dry, but even then it will be beyond my ability. But sometimes thats the best way to get better.

I rode the Megavalanche last week. Lined up on the second row on qualifying, kicked off nicely. 5 seconds later a bloke’s bar is stuck behind the chest-pad of my body armour as we elbow around a loose corner. As we got to the snow I realised I probably hadn’t been breathing, my legs were absolutely jelly and my hands were shaking, mainly with fear. I was passed by something like 85 people as I struggled just to get my head back into a place where I could ride the bike forwards and down again. Massive respect to the lunatics who thrive on that sort of competition. 🙂

Frequently. Most times I ride it actually.

this

Pretty much on any continuously steep DH trail

Frequently. Most times I ride it actually.

this

+1
The red route at QECP frustrated me so much yesterday I gave up and went home..

Went on a 40 mile ride inthe Chilterns at the start of summer… made it about halfway and had to drop out and take the train. On the DH vein, perhaps Super Morzine on a Chase with 100mm DirtJams.

but for a unhealthy cowardly numpty like me, it was far too steep, far too rooty, far too slippy.

for your own good, I hope this experience has opened your eyes a little, Ton. I tried to explain this to you back when you were asking about uplift DH venues to get back into cycling.
Don’t go near Glencoe, Dunkeld or Alwinton even in the dry if you hear about upllift days. The long travel bike won’t help you anywhere near as much as you think, even in the UK a proper steep/rough/technical DH track can be extremely physical to get a bike down in control. You sure you’re making a wise choice getting a DH bike? DH would be the last sort of mtb riding I’d recommend to someone in the UK with a heart condition.

I guess lots of us have had a really bad day. My worst was when all my technical skill seemed to desert me on the Ullswater shore path, on a day out with our club, up from the Chilterns. I couldn’t seem to find any grip anywhere, lost my bottle as a result, and actually really knocked my confidence for a good while.

For the next day’s riding I swapped out my 2.1″ Conti Vert Pros for some great big 2.5″ Bontragers and kind of salvaged my weekend, but I was really knocked back by it.

What tyres for………… 😉

^
That’s an ordinary winter ride in the southern Chilterns.

Glencoe Black DH middle section certainly had me flummoxed not being a DHiller and all that but got my mojo back enough to nail the jump at the end much to my relief 🙂
The Scottish DH tracks are not really for me they are bloody steep and unrelenting and it’s more relief in getting to the bottom without having mashed my bike.Respect for the folk who do it.

Laggan Wolftrax Black,on a 80mm lightweight hardtail..what was i thinking!

Went for a week with Switchbacks DH last year having never been on an uplift day before. Steep learning curve on the first day but after that it was epic until I woke up in a ditch having acquired a 2nd elbow on the 3rd day!

Best of luck with the new niche!

I was there with ton today. Really enjoyed it but found it pretty tough too, actually much harder than the WC DH track at Fort William for me. Part technique, part fitness, and part lack of bottle made it hard – it was such a struggle to get down some bits that I was knackered by the time I got to bits where I should have been more comfortable.

Just generally very steep, muddy, rutted, rooty tracks with lots of steep tight off camber corners etc. It was much easier when you could work up the confidence to let off the brakes a bit and let the bike do the work, easier said than done though!

Good eye opener though and makes me want to improve at that kind of stuff.

Did you get home ok ton? Took us about 5 and a half hours in the end (plus 40 mins for me back to Lancaster) cos they closed the M56 and everywhere was mega-jammed up.

Doing Snowdon tomorrow evening so hoping I’m not out of my depth 😉

Yes, riding CBC on a 21″ Rocky Mountain ETSX that was two sizes too big. Stayed intact though.

[otThe red route at QECP frustrated me so much yesterday I gave up and went homee]

stupidly decided to ‘warm up’ by doing 15 miles of the south downs before trying to ride the red route at QECP yesterday. I was sh!te, and I nearly hit a tree.

Ok I give up, how do you do that quoting thing? Trying to refer to freeagents’s quote up there ^^^^^

Another vote for Champery WC track.

There was a group of us riding it, all experienced racers, including some proper fast DH boys, and we all concluded that we had never felt like such a bunch of clueless amateurs, bumbling down like we were on slick tyres.

Put Danny’s already spectacular Worlds run into ridiculous perspective…

Crack Addict and Tech Noir at Whistler. Just about survived but I don’t like steep techy stuff!

grum – there’s nothing technical or steep on Ft Bill WC track (the only technical section is only open for races BDS/SDA/WC etc.)
Place you were at sounds great, whereabouts is it? looked on their website but couldn’t get a page with contact/location info.

Another vote for Champery WC track.

There was a group of us riding it, all experienced racers, including some proper fast DH boys, and we all concluded that we had never felt like such a bunch of clueless amateurs, bumbling down like we were on slick tyres.

Put Danny’s already spectacular Worlds run into ridiculous perspective…

Funnily enough Neil Donoghue was there today. He described the course today as mostly quite easy, but he said the WC track Champery after heavy rain was terrifying, and had quite a few pro DHers freaking out.

GW, it’s at Llangynog. You would probably find it too easy though 🙂

Every time I feel like I’m finding a good level, I end up trying something different and getting out of my depth again. Seems to be a key part of riding

not too far from Oswestry, eh?
a DH tracks doesn’t have to be that technical/difficult to be fun! 8)

Yup near Oswestry. Think it’s normally only open for uplifts at the weekend but if you can get enough people together they will do them midweek.

Went to Nantmawr quarry years ago on my GT LTS 2 thiking I could ride any DH stuff – soon learned it’s not the same going fast down “normal” hills

Many times! Part of the fun as long as you know when to draw the line at pushing yourself. Being attached to a load of metal/carbon means that this threshold is lower than, say, on a pair of skis!

But that may because my experience and skill level on skis is considerable higher. But I have a few mates who say the same thing ie we are more cautious on a bike because we perceive the likelihood of injury to be higher. The mind, the mind…

when my 200mm forked dh beast lands, i shall be returning

My worry would be that I’d just get further out of my depth before I realised I couldn’t cope and that I’d just end up with a bigger accident.

Most of the time I don’t ride stuff that I couldn’t mince my way through on my cross bike. Gives far greater margin for error when I’ve got fat tyres and a bit of suspension to help me out 🙂

tomorrow, doing the coast to coast with camping gear in 3 days. considering i have never riden more than 40km in a day this may hurt 😀

grum, i got home at 7pm…..took a detour thru mersey tunnel and liverpool.
enjoyed the day, and i will be going again on a more suitable bike. 😀

Clever! Yeah cheers for organising it ton – let’s get a date at Blaenau Ffestiniog sorted. Check these vids out.

Antur Stiniog – New Trails for North Wales

Online booking here:

http://www.anturstiniog.com/booking/availability.aspx