So, I’m in a big lull at the moment. Not getting out much, not much motivation. Same old story these days, and for anyone that has seen some of my posts of in the past, the reasons are quite long. It’s not news that we’re all getting older. I’m 37, and I growing more concerned that I can’t get better. I’ve been trying to plan some rough targets for this year, but even after writing them down, I’m already doubting them. Two other targets that keep raising their heads are wheelies, and jumping. I suck at both. But they really get to me, knowing that I can’t, and that I really want to master both techniques. I’m not looking to beat Wyn Masters on wheelie Wednesday, or take on the biggest bike park jumps at Revo, but to be competent and comfortable with them. Believe it or not, they both rank higher than getting stronger, and building my endurance!

So, is it possible to be a better rider the older you get? I know this mountain biking is generally a young persons sport.

I didn’t really start mountain biking until I was 46, so yes.

I certainly improved thru my 30s and 40s. Starting from a pretty low base I will admit

I ride stuff now without thinking, that my self 15 years ago would simply not have managed.

The wheelie thing really bugged me for years, a couple of summers ago I decided to put the effort in and did 10 minutes a day most days just up and down the road. It took ages as I’m not a natural but I can do some pretty decent ones now, few hundred metres if I get my eye in although need to practice more again. I was 43 or so then and I learnt on a FS 29er so yes it can be done.

Still working on the jumps though!

I’m better at 42 than I was at 18,thanks mostly to the massive difference between a 1993 Marin Eldridge Grade and my Bird Aeris 145 😆

I’ve gone downhill skill wise since turning 40 but so has my fitness so I accept they are correlated, so until I get fit I won’t worry about the other side of it

There is no reason why you can’t keep getting better. I know lots of people older than you who have significantly improved since I’ve known them.

Both jumps and wheelies are good targets as wheelies can be learnt literally anywhere, even just outside your house in the road. Watch YouTube videos and ask other people you know for tips.

Jumps, I just built my own in the local woods. This meant they were the exact size I wanted (tiny) and the run in/out are straight and smooth. Then I’ve just built them up bigger and bigger over time. As the increase each time can be quite small, progress is sped up.

Start small, keep at it. I’m older than you and not ashamed to admit that I still get a wave of enjoyment from clearing a stick I’ve placed after the jump further than I have before.

Also, skills course.

Skills-wise, I went through the same kind of lull as you (51 at present) a while ago, and had a wee think about all the things I thought I couldn’t do. Made a little list, and then just went at it one at a time.

The answers are out there- there’s nothing in the world of MTB that doesn’t have a course, video, tutorial, or someone on here that knows how. Just take it a step at a time, practice, and dont give up.

With fitness- I’m finding that my recovery is longer now I’m older, and I’m not as fast- but my endurance seems unchanged. I think you’ll be the same.

I think the trouble is, if you didn’t learn these things as a kid when you had all the time to spare you won’t make the effort to learn. Once you have restricted time to ride, it feels a wasted opportunity if you didn’t go out for x miles. As per the poster above you need regular practice.

I’m still crap at wheelies and can’t get significantly airborne. One weekend me & a mate didn’t do the usual Sunday am ride and just spent some time in a local skate park for a few hrs. At the end I was getting further in the air and more confidence than before.

I still get a wave of enjoyment from clearing a stick…

As I was reading that I initially thought a stick was how high you were bunny hopping!

I went to see Jedi when I was about 45 and he unblocked everything that was stopping me getting my wheels off the ground. I’m still not very brave but will get airborne when I see a suitable chance.

Just take the brakes off the bike and go down a hill – mandatory air!

Got into riding when I was 34, was fitter through my 40s than I’ve ever been. Though I’ve been injured since turning 50 last year.

A guy at our cycle club in his 40s decided to take it seriously and give it a year flat out training and diet etc. Now wears a National Champions (age group) jersey!

Embrace mediocrity. It’s better that way all round.

At 50 I’m the fittest I have ever been. Able to keep up with younger riders, just need more recovery days! Even won my first cup last year

A started about 10 years ago aged 27 and whilst not trying to be a hornblower I’ m a much better/fitter rider now…though still faaar from the best even in my local groups. Though TBH my confidence on tech drops off quite quickly when I’m not riding much (The joys of being self employed, cant be spannering mesen)

Ultimately just ride to have fun though, its a hobby not a competition.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I’ve had some skills courses in the past, one covering jumping in particular. Keep the practice going is always difficult. That’s done to me, nobody else. Maybe a refresher will help.

Embrace mediocrity? Completed it mate 😉

I’m 51 and always try to do stuff better, line choice, effort etc. Sometimes I race the clouds home too

Better now at 48 than I’ve ever been as a rider and speed

I didn’t start mountain biking till I was 50 and for the first few years I would take the chicken line on most things but since I got the T130 the game has seriously upped and at 55 I’m doing things I never would of dreamt of 5 years ago. I still can’t wheelie and I’m pretty poor at jumping but I am trying to get better everyday I ride, for me riding with people who are far better than myself has been the best way to improve my pretty poor skills.

its a hobby not a competition.

I like that.

I’m not the greatest rider as you know Colin, but I have got better this last year by doing strength training and riding a bit less – which has helped me enjoy it more.

Don’t think I could motivate myself to learn to do proper wheelies, but I do keep meaning to work on my jumping. Shout me if you wanna do some sessioning sometime.

I’m not the greatest rider as you know Colin

Well I usually struggle to stay with you when we ride together. So I’d say you’re not so bad 😉 Definitely agree that strength/core training can have some real benefits.

One of the issues is that I think ever ride has to been done as fast and as good as possible. Rather than just enjoying it for what it is. I rode the off piste stuff around Ladybower a few weeks back and tried to follow a group of guys down one of the trials. Was chatting to them just before we set off and one of them said he can’t ride it cleanly and that he usually has to walk a few bits. So I tried to follow the, in and they had all well cleared off by the time I got to the bottom. Immediately lost my head and kept to trials I knew than try the harder stuff.

I think the strength/fitness thing is a good shout, the minciest folk you see on bikes are usually biffers.

BMX 35 years ago, I could wheelie around corners and clear a 3m gap on the ghetto track we built in the woods near my mams house,,, I can’t do either now,
BUT a typical loop nowadays is 40m and I piloted a HT down revs red tracks last year with no probs.

WGAF 😁

Absolutely but my mid week ride is “training” to keep me going at the weekends. Can’t wheelie to save my life but who cares.

You’ll never has as bigger balls at 50 as you do at 20. But you sure as hell can be fitter, stronger and more skilled. It just takes work and effort.

Keep the practice going is always difficult

That’s a massive factor and one i’ve recently been working on with myself. Over the years i’ll do something like go to Jedi and get training, but then spend the next 6 months riding nothing but the Ridgeway. So recently i’ve been working more on FoD, Swinley Skills and BPW to keep my skills going, keeping my eye in etc and it appears to be working well.

after years of cycling with bad technique, failing to wheelie and jump, i invested in a skills course. Having some analyse your bike setup, positioning, technique etc is really helpful. Changed how i brake, corner and during lunch we practiced wheelies for fun. Basically dropped into easier gear, practised jumping off the back, then covering brake and bringing wheel down, then covering brake and finding balance. 30 mins over lunch and i felt i could do it and now practice when i can. Starting to get better now i know the technique. coaching = best upgrade ever! Im 45 and did the coaching last year.

Wheelies are are target of mine too. Asking people for tips is usually no good because most people don’t really know exactly what individual skills to teach you, they probably learned when they were kids so can do it without thinking.

I’m following the Ryan leech 30 day wheelies course and it breaks the wheelie down into lots of little techniques then brings them together in stages, building the skill set gradually. I’ve gone from zero to about 50m at just over half way through the course. It’s honestly the most fun I’ve had on a bike in ages.

Cost about £25. He has a massive library of online skill courses, including jumping. If you want to improve it’s a good place to start. Manuals are next for me

The short answer is yes, you can improve with age. I’m 45.

Are you near a pump track?

If you are, N+1 and get yourself a jump bike. Great for skills, fitness and really good fun.

I’m 48 and without doubt fitter and more confident on the bike than I was 10 years ago.

This is all sounding very positive. Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to start being positive and be prepared to put in more effort than I would have 10 years ago. Will check out that Ryan Leech course, I recognize the name, have stumbled across his stuff before.

Unfortunately I’m not near a pump track, or any decent trials. I need to travel 40 minutes plus, to get to anything decent.

I’m more confident in my 50s than I was at 40, 45 etc. but strangely I’m not a lot faster. I reckon I’ve stopped kitting my bikes out with mincer tyres and obviously the bikes are LLS these days. Bars are wider.

Been MTBing since the early 90s and I had no technical skills to speak of before ~2011. But I’ve lost some gung-ho over the years. Perception of speediness is fake news. I think I’m going faster but in more control (because skillz), but reality is probably that I’m more in control because I know better where the dividing line between triumph and disaster lies because… better tyres, better suspension, better brakes, better fit. Those grippy tyres on a heavier bike mean I’m (to some extent) just going slower.

Time is the enemy. My physical output is nowhere near what I could do in my 20s. The spurts of training I indulge in can yield ok results but its nothing like being active all the time with a younger body’s recovery.

That said, I got my first ever MTB podiums last year (Scottish enduros) after 27 years of trying so compared to my peer group I’m holding on.

I think you can get better as you get older but it’s down to time on (and familiarity with) the bike more than anything else I reckon, being comfy with what the bike’s doing underneath you and knowing what it’ll do, that sort of thing. I’m happy doing stuff now that I wouldn’t have even looked at 10 years ago (I’m 45 now) but I’ve definitely plateaued and that’s perfectly fine by me.

Going out on your bike, from the door, and just messing about on it is fun and is a really good way to get ‘better’ quickly.

I may have started from a low base, but at nearly 50 I’m better than I was 2 years ago which was better that I was 10 years ago, so still improving.

It takes two things though, the desire to do it and time.

I’ve noticed with other riders if they don’t want to try new things and push themselves, they never improve. You’ve got to want to give it a go.

Then it’s the time to practice new skills and the time to keep those skills sharp, which for me doesn’t come from a 30 minute skills session, but doing it again and again over weeks until it’s muscle memory.

Unfortunately I’m not near a pump track, or any decent trials. I need to travel 40 minutes plus, to get to anything decent.

Look again at what’s outside your door, there will be urban features you use for skills.

I pop up and down kerbs, jump steps, work on my body position in every corner, try to ride benches and walls etc. It doesn’t have to be purpose built or forest trail.

One other thing is after a big crash a few years ago I stopped trying to be faster and worked on being better – putting wheels and weight where I wanted them – and generally ride at no more than 90% though with the better skills I’m now faster than when I was pushing 100%.

FB-ATB

I think the trouble is, if you didn’t learn these things as a kid when you had all the time to spare you won’t make the effort to learn. Once you have restricted time to ride, it feels a wasted opportunity if you didn’t go out for x miles. As per the poster above you need regular practice.

Don’t know if it needs to be regular but both of these are things you need to decide to set time for and practice and so it’s a decision to do that or go ride.
It’s really a matter of priorities…but if it’s important for you set aside the time somehow.

Interesting points there fooman. I have tinkered with the idea of going out to ride like I used to before the days of Strava and Garmins. Leave all that at home and just go out for fun. I have some woods nearby which I can utilise, although there is no elevation (not that it really matters).

Colin, I think you’ve got my number on whatasap – once the evenings get lighter and the woods a bit dryer there’s plenty of scope for jumps practice (and pub, nach) locally