Manuals!

I can only do them well enough so that I can do drop offs and get over curb sized trail obstacles but I would love to be able to manual and pump through dips.

I totally suck at….. Fitness, it’s sooo bad. I’m not a bad rider for the first 30 seconds.

Plus one.

It’s something i’ve been trying to work on this winter. I’ll know i don’t have what it takes to be super fit but if i can get to the top a bit fresher, i reckon 45 seconds could be on the cards. 😀

Happy enough with my riding in general but there’s one trail i ride, maybe once every 18 months, which makes me forget how to ride a bike. A nasty combo of steep, twisty, rocky and slippery. Oh, and narrow trees.

So fitness and mental fortitude then.

Fine with….

Drop-off’s
Going really fast
Roots
Rock gardens
Climbing
Trackstands (to a fashion)
Berms (to a fashion)
Small’ish jumps
Riding beyond my skill level

Suck at….

Doubles
Big jumps
Steep stuff (especially when wet)
Wheelies
Manuals
Anything wooden and more than a foot off the ground
Being fit
Actually being properly good at anything

I like totally suck at not being able to wince every time I read the phrase totally suck in the UK. I totally suck at this increasingly often.

manuals & wheelies
doubles
big anythings
stuff a long way off the ground, actually I don’t know if I suck at it or not, I avoid it

Gap jumps give me the fear, although in generally ok on smaller ons. Flat or tight corners are my nemesis too, I can get round a berm on but suck at flat corners.

I can normally manual enough to get through a puddle but other than that I suck. Never been able to wheelie for more than a few pedal strokes.

Often struggle with trail centre jumps due to the lack of a lip. Most if the jumps I’m used to have decent lips whereas trail centre jumps need to be rollable so tend to need lots of speed to clear.

What do I suck at on a mountain bike? Everything and nothing.

Everything in the sense that I have limited fitness, hardly any bike handling skills and will walk down anything I find scary, which includes plenty of stuff that lots of other riders would rate as easy.

Nothing in the sense that I don’t care. I can still enjoy getting out and riding my bike in some beautiful scenery and I have no real interest in turning my leisure activity into another dick measuring contest.

I’ll probably continue to try and practice things like cornering, trackstands, wheelies and manuals as I think they will add to my enjoyment of the trail. But I’ll leave the daredevil stuff to those that enjoy it.

Drops over about 30cm
Flat corners
Pedalling uphills
Proper bunny hops

Flat pedals – keep trying them, keep going back to SPDs

Pump tracks – exhausting and feel totally unnatural – especially the ones at Lee Quarry.

Staying off of STW, heh.

Low speed wet roots on flat/slightly pointing upwards ground.

How I tackle wet off camber roots and rocks is that I go fast enough that when my wheels start sliding they should find firm ground before I get dumped on my arse. Take the speed away, I don’t find the firm ground, I get dumped on my arse, atleast it’s low speed so not too painful.

Pretty poor at loose off camber steep in a controlled manner, I cant get the braking right. The moment I get a little worried about something, I just try to do it, normally going too fast and again get dumped on my arse. I try to control the speed with braking, but it always gets carried away from me. If I get down something steep, loose, off camber with lots of tight turns, it’s normally instinct and luck that gets me down, all game plans go out of the window.

ndthornton – Member
wheelies / manuals

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Yup, also doubles and probably jumping in general if i were to be honest but i think thats more of a confidence issue as i have hit some with no issues just so long as im not expecting it so dont have time to freak myself out about it beforehand…

Climbing, manuals, bunny hopping and jumping.

As such, I’m quite good at not falling off!

As such, I’m quite good at not falling off!

That reminds me of something else I’m crap at – falling off.
When I fall I always just splat and hurt myself.
Some people seem to bounce/roll and come out unscathed.

Steep left hand corners and berms. Fine on right handers.

Off-camber roots and steep bits.

Riding slow above the ground, aka north shore.

I’m not fussed about the last one, but will be working on the first two this year.

Double post.

Jumping in general, any sort of gap jump or tabletop terrify me of landing wrong :/ pretty sure its a confidence thing ,drops dont faze me though unless its something mental .

… siphoning petrol from a car, coz im too scared to suck hard

^^^^ true story

Gaps and doubles. Drops on to a steep landing.

The vast majority of the above.

And never taking what i need on a ride.

No spare tubes = 7 punctures
No Waterproof = torrential rain
No spare gloves = dog eats my glove
No lunch = all cafes shut