Very new and very scared

disajan

Hi all, I'm very new to this forum and in fact biking in general. I really want to learn how to cycle downhill and basically just have some fun!! I have a pretty decent bike - Speicialized Rockhopper comp 2005. My only problem is this unnatural fear of going too fast or going downhill. How do I get over this fear and is this normal? :oops: I usually love doing nutty things; I have done white water rafting, abseiling, bunji jumping, to name a few, so how come I'm so scared of riding on my bike? My husband just gets annoyed as he wants to go downhill fast. To be honest I get annoyed at myself for being so pathetic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Twisterboy

Welcome to the Forum.

David

Bikefotos

Hi Disajan, The first thing you need to do is get out on the bike regularly to improve your handling skills. I don't know which part of the country you live in but if you can get out onto some easy singletrack just to get used to the bike. The more you ride the more your confidence will grow and then will be the time to push the boundaries. Trying to run before you can walk will just end in tears!

I'm lucky to be living in South Wales where we have easy access to excellent trail centres as well as the natural mountains and forests. There are trails for all level of abilities. I've been riding for more years than I care to remember but some of the downhills still scare the life out of me!!

OwenB

Perhaps you should try some skills courses? I did a basic one last year and it really helped me at lots of things not just coming downhill smoother.

I'm definitely going to try another one soon as well just to keep me from picking up more bad habits and help me to attain new skills.

Welcome though and hope you're enjoying yourself even more soon

.blitz

disajan wrote:

I really want to learn how to cycle downhill and basically just have some fun!!

Try some easy fireroad DH to begin with - nice'n'wide, no obstacles etc, feel how the bike handles at speed, practice braking so you know how the bike reacts and build from there

disajan wrote:

My only problem is this unnatural fear of going too fast or going downhill. How do I get over this fear and is this normal?

No As much as I like relentless climbs I like the downhill bit as well.

Brian-Mc

The suggestion about fireroads etc is very good.Another thing to try is to make sure you have a decent helmet and i'd also suggest some pads. whilst I was starting out snowboarding i fell plenty of times and ended up black and blue and my confidence took a bashing too. on using a helmet and pads, the falls didn't hurt nearly as much and my confidence grew. A lot of people don't tend to invest in protection when the most need it which is when staring out. Give it a try and welcome to the forum

dave_hill

disajan wrote:

My only problem is this unnatural fear of going too fast or going downhill. How do I get over this fear and is this normal?

Don't worry about it, this affects a lot of people. The trick is to get out and ride, preferably without your old man in tow, and do what you want to do! Do you have any friends who ride? If not, try getting one of them involved, then YOU'VE got someone to be superior over!!

Start small and work up. If you're a driver, I'll bet when you first sat behind the steering wheel of a car you couldn't ever imagine being able to control it safely at 30, 50 or 70mph could you? Well it's the same with bikes, don't bite off more than you can chew, and do plenty!

Peer pressure is the worst - it's when you throw yourself down that rocky slope because your mates/ball and chain are egging you on, even though you know it's beyond you, that its going to end in tears. If you feel that you're not ready to ride something, walk away - save it for later.

Don't think too much - if you do you'll talk yourself out of stuff, I know I do! Or if you must think, think positive!

Good protective gear and a well set-up bike can all help too - and practice makes perfect!!

milkywhite

dave_hill wrote:

Don't think too much - if you do you'll talk yourself out of stuff, I know I do! Or if you must think, think positive!

That's the key, for me. I took my GF for a days skiing lessons yesterday and she just kept saying "I can't do it", even though she was doing it at some points.

If you tell yourself you can't do something you've already defeated yourself before trying it.

Practice makes perfect. Keep doing something and you should naturally get faster and more fluent. Try to feel for the grip of the tyres and learn your braking points at certain speeds. Have a look at some instruction videos on youtube for basic body positioning. You need to get used to getting your backside out over the saddle and into the "attack position".

That doesn't mean you have to scare yourself my going too fast.

dave_hill

milkywhite wrote:

That doesn't mean you have to scare yourself my going too fast.

Plus one for that - any idiot can ride out of control quickly, but you've got to have REAL control to ride slowly!

Banned!

i got the fear for a while after a bad crash and its only now, a couple of years later that I can let go the brakes and get over 35mph on a descent. its takes time and theres absolutely no use trying to force yourself to go fast because you will tense up and thats no use for control, and its 10x worse if you crash. and you will crash, but it really wont hurt that much unless youre doing something really stupid.

find a slow descent, maybe a 1/5 gradient and pick out a target. try to get to the target without touching the brake lever. if you can make it to the target, try a little faster next time, then faster next time until youre confident that you can handle the bike at speed.

then choose anothe target further down and do the same. over and over again if needs be. it can take a day, a week, or a month. any one of these will do, theres no rush. ride at your own speed and never mind what anybody else is doing. eventually, after a time, you will be perfectly comfortable with moving at speed, so then its time to start all over again on rougher ground and tracks with twisty turns and unpredictable surfaces. this will be easier then you think because you will have carried the speed and confidence from your hill sessions with you and you will have upgraded from passenger to pilot and be in control of your machine.

i think that youre really just scared of falling off. you will fall off, we all do. but its not that bad. really.

dave_hill

Actually, that's another thing - learn to fall off properly!

I know it sounds stupid, but there is a right way and a wrong way. If you do get into a situation where a bale is inevitable, there's a split second where you ahve to make a decision what to do about it...

First off, don't try and fight it - once you've reached the point of no return, it really is that - you're goign to fall off and there's nothing you can do.

Once you get to that stage, let go of the bike and relax - just imagine you're a bundle of rags and go limp. If you go "spiky" - i.e. stick your arms and legs out to stop yourself - that's when injurys occur. Broken wrists and collarbones are the favourites.

Learn to "tuck and roll" - try to take the impact on your shoulders and back if you can and just roll with it. Once you come to a stop don't try to get up immediately - lie still, get your bearings and make sure there's no pain. If there is, stay put and start howling!! If there isn't - result!!

Banned!

addition to above post; dont try to make yourself fall off when still or moving slowly. most wipeouts happen at speed. this means the bike keeps going and you stop. if you both stop at the same time either you will land on the bike or the bike will land on you. not a good result.

when you do come off, try to 'ghost' the bike, or push it as far away from you as you can. dont try to hold on to it, you'll just get hurt worse. the bike wont suffer more than a scrape or two usually and is not to be worried about. aim for a soft looking bit and, as has been said, try to relax and focus on rolling out of it.

dave_hill

Jesus_Christ wrote:

addition to above post; dont try to make yourself fall off when still or moving slowly. most wipeouts happen at speed. this means the bike keeps going and you stop. if you both stop at the same time either you will land on the bike or the bike will land on you. not a good result.

when you do come off, try to 'ghost' the bike, or push it as far away from you as you can. dont try to hold on to it, you'll just get hurt worse. the bike wont suffer more than a scrape or two usually and is not to be worried about. aim for a soft looking bit and, as has been said, try to relax and focus on rolling out of it.

Excuse me, Mr. Christ, I know that you can walk on water, but can you ride a bike over it too?

Just wondered...

(Disclaimer - this enquiry is made in good humour. Other religions and belief systems are available).

Muddy.Bail

start smal then work your way up the chain

Banned!

actually I can ride a bike on water.

one time I....actually no. I cant ride a bike on water. through quite shallow, slow moving water yes. provided there are not big stones in it. or those leechy things eeuuurgh!! I hate those.

llamafarmer

As said above, don't let your husband push you into riding stuff you aren't comfortable with. You take on something that you're really scared of, get tense and nervous, grab at the brakes and scare yourself witless or have a crash - result? You're even more scared of the steep stuff than you were before.

Good riders know their own limits and while it's good to push them you should do it at your own pace. You will get better and more comfortable and confident with your bike as you practice more.

Oh, and this time of year when everything is wet and slippery, those trails are going to be twice as difficult!

dave_hill

llamafarmer wrote:

this time of year when everything is wet and slippery, those trails are going to be twice as difficult!

You mean there's a time of year when they aren't wet and slippy?

It seems so long ago now...

llamafarmer

dave_hill wrote:

llamafarmer wrote:

this time of year when everything is wet and slippery, those trails are going to be twice as difficult!

You mean there's a time of year when they aren't wet and slippy?

It seems so long ago now...

So true.

I bailed out of a nasty downhill trail at the weekend and couldn't even walk down it without slipping on my arse over and over again.

Northwind

disajan wrote:

My only problem is this unnatural fear of going too fast or going downhill.

That sounds like a completely natural fear to me!

It seems like a lot of people have a tendency to jump in too big, I think it's better to ride a blue route well than a red route badly frinstance, when you're just surviving you can't really work on your riding, you do get better over time but if you cut down the difficulty a little you can then work on the speed, fine control, line choice etc without always having to watch for the next big challenge.

AndyBike

You could try steep roads to start, where theres much more control, to get used to the speed. Before I got into MTBing I used to ride fast down some of our steepr local hills on the road. This gave me alot of confidence going down hills and steeper trails.

The other bit about braking, which has helped me alot to stop ploughing into walkers etc, is to brake with heels down, legs bent off the seat and back a bit, pushing you weight through the pedals/bottom bracket rather than with your weight through the handlebars.

And practice in secret so you can blow your husband away in a couple of months.

Dave - I have a serious question because ive been think of being limp like a bundle of rags alot lately (really), as well as new bottom brackets and cranks. How do we combine limp like a bundle of rags with the tuck and roll which is quite active?

Thewaylander

The other thing you have with this fear, when you do all the other activities, the big difference on the bike you and just you are in control.

so as you develope a bit of self confidence you (build up it will be slow at first but you will improve faster and faster) yyou will become nicely cocky they attempt to ride what ever.

dave_hill

AndyBike wrote:

Dave - I have a serious question because ive been think of being limp like a bundle of rags alot lately (really), as well as new bottom brackets and cranks. How do we combine limp like a bundle of rags with the tuck and roll which is quite active?

Good point, and well done for being the first to spot my deliberate mistake!

I'd say you need to tuck and roll to start with (to absorb the worst part of the impact), but once you're rolling, just relax and flail about a bit. No extra points for artistic interpretation BTW.

disajan

Thank you everyone who posted a reply. I'm going to try do a slow ride this weekend and see if I can gradually get more confident. I'll definitely let you know how I get on. Thanks again to all of you as well for welcoming me to the forum. You guys are a world of knowledge and wisdom so I really appreciate you helping me.

AndyBike

Dave thanks, if I had you advice 6 months ago I might have avoided the bruised ribs landing technique. Ta

LordBanks

Alright Disajan, as everyone has said, just build your confidence levels up, thats what a lot of riding is about. Once your confidence grows and your bike skills increase,you'll be leaving your geezer in your dust (or gloopy sloppy mud :shock: )