It can be a bit soul destroying to always be at the back and get to the bottom of a descent to find your group having a chat and a laugh while they wait for you. You almost feel obliged to apologise for your lack of pace.

I know this from a few years ago and my first visit to the Alps riding with people far better than me.

Surely the best way to integrate yoursel into a group is to go in the last couple of riders for the first section and if you find yourself up the backside of ther person in front, you go ahead of them on the next section and so on until you find where you’re not being held up or doing it to anyone else.

Oh, and this ^^

“I may be a Gormless Mincer but I’m in front of you for the foreseeable future”

if i had a chainstay long enough i`d have that as a sticker.

A short?

Just one leg?

I’ve fitted two forward facing .50 calibre machine guns for this type of bastard (and a rear flame thrower for the other type).

I thought you may be referring to me chiefgrooveguru but I haven’t seen you in months so unlikely. If it was perhaps we can pick this up in person rather than on a forum.

N.b. My experience is that those that think they are great riders shout the loudest – the really good riders just enjoy themselves.

😯

And this is why I ride on my own 😉

A short?

*is grateful he didn’t hit a k instead of an h*

Fair enough. In person next time please….

I also think you need to see it for what it is. A ride in the woods…

*feels awkward*

Oh come on everyone!

If you’re held up by someone on a descent then a good bit of piss-taking should be standard!

Next descent again? Then repeat! Always with a smile!

All good banter between mates at the end of the day

…..you sure ?? 😯

😆

I like to hammer into the top of a downhill like I’m going to “Steve Peat” it and then slow right down and get in everybody’s way.

Is this me STR?

Obviously not, I’m amazing on a bike. But is this someone who was new out last night? Can’t say I’ve noticed anyone in the group doing it, except the lad who’s normally fast but is on a crap hardtail while his good bike is fixed but he’s stayed at the back.

Otherwise it sounds like he’s already stopped doing it. Maybe he eyed everyone up and thought we all looked slower than him? In which case surely that makes us mincers the problem?

Haha – of course it’s not you Luke. An old mate from Wirksworth came out at my invite – he usually rides with MMBC. I kept trying to get past him over Stanton Moor from the corkstone, then he shot off in front again round the edge of the moor, so left a gap and caught him up. I told him before we went down to the old traveller site that he had better get a move on on his ht (banter) or let me go in front – he intentionally gave a virtual two fingers and set off after Dave & Fergs. He gave up on the rocky section though and let me past. I went first on Sheepwalk, so he didn’t have the option, then he let me go first on Druids. Still got stuck behind him on Sabine Hay Singletrack though, but wasn’t too fussed then.

It was all lighthearted enough though and he enjoyed the ride, so all good

I like to hammer into the top of a downhill like I’m going to “Steve Peat” it and then slow right down and get in everybody’s way.

This happens to me naturally as my initial bravado is replaced with an element of realism.

The word “banter” has been misappropriated recently and can mean different things.

This is the correct place for the correct type of banter. That is, gentle ribbing with humour, combined with a direct message.

I’ve been waiting here patiently with a cup of tea (went cold,had to make another) and biscuits in preparation for a bunfight.Finally!!

I’m faster than most of my club-mates, but don’t mind being behind them. It encourages unusual line choices, which is good fun.

If you can’t see the other lines, you’re not good enough or your mate isn’t slow enough.

Whenever I ride with a new group I always start at the very back and then scream “HURRY UP YOU SHITHEADS” at everybody when they inevitably hold me up. I don’t often get invited back.

I ride behind Binners.

😆 @enfht

Brave / stupid enough to say I found comments aimed in my direction offensive. There you go…

I ride behind Darkcyan.

Then I don’t have much choice
Typical scenes on a Brighton MTB Thursday night

In Darkcyan’s defence for someone riding a rigid SS he’s no slouch.

I dunno, but maybe if those that find slower riders getting in the way rode a little quicker on the climbs then they wouldn’t have to worry about them being in front on the descents.

A big big thank you to CGG, Darkcyan is not going to be allowed to forget this in a hurry 😀

In Darkcyan’s defence for someone riding a rigid SS he’s no slouch.

Indeed, especially with his saddle up at full height!

…maybe if those that find slower riders getting in the way rode a little quicker on the climbs then they wouldn’t have to worry about them being in front on the descents.

That’s the thing though – we have a wide variety of riders on a wide variety of bikes on our rides. Someone on a 6″ full-sus will generally prioritise speed downhill over speed uphill and has a bike which will skew the result further in favour of downhill. Someone on a rigid SS will generally have the opposite viewpoint and a bike that is quicker uphill and slower downhill.

And if you look at it from a STRRRAAAAAAVAAAAA!!! mentality, I know quite a lot of us are cruising the climbs to smash* the descents. *For a given value of smash… 😉

Frequent thoughtful riding order rearrangements during a group ride keep everyone happy! 🙂

I can’t help but chuckle when I see CGG boasting of riding prowess, cos I instantly see constant re-runs in my mind of the video of him approaching like a 4 year old girl and then toppling off that tiny step down and smashing into the ground face first 🙂

(just to even up the gormless mincer jibes a bit)

I can’t help but chuckle when I see CGG boasting of riding prowess, cos I instantly see constant re-runs in my mind of the video of him approaching like a 4 year old girl and then toppling off that tiny step down and smashing into the ground face first

We need a repost of this video, just to even out the thread a bit 😉

I can’t help but chuckle when I see CGG boasting of riding prowess, cos I instantly see constant re-runs in my mind of the video of him approaching like a 4 year old girl and then toppling off that tiny step down and smashing into the ground face first

Yup, but there’s dozens of excuses why that happened… 😆

Our group generally take turns at he front on trails we all know, otherwise it’s who knows the trail bestest goes first, nothing to do with speed. I’ve no problems going at the back and often prefer it as i can watch my mates ride their bikes and have fun and can make sure everyone gets down in one piece. It’s not a race for us.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEV9uBdLRKo[/video]

It could also be entitled “how new parenthood can temporarily remove all ability to both ride a bike and make good decisions…”

And that’s why I’m never having kids (skipping over the abject failure with women bit).

Eurghh… I still wince every time I see it

Internationally reknowned contortionists that can bend themselves to fit inside a shoebox still can’t figure out how you managed to fold your spine like that

Double post

ouch…..

And here’s a whole article on how to do it properly, on the exact same drop:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/how-to-drop-into-downslopes-44658/

They could have had the courtesy to publish that a few years earlier, couldn’t they? 😉

The top YouTube suggestion alongside your video is ‘How to ride drop offs with Fabien Barel’ – even my iPad is taking the piss 😀

Ouch! Hope you were OK after that. Kudos for the Ronseal title of the video though 😀