Please help!?

landscapingsam

Maybe this is an old topic but I am in serious need of help with my decending, i need to build confidence and its not through lack of trying i just feel everything is going backwards.

Are there any specific things i can do to build this back up?? now my worst habit is having a tendancy to ride the brakes to feel in control, will wheel and tyre choice give different feeling of stability? Maybe wider tyres? lower pressure in the them?

Just always have a constant fear of loosing control after I had a few 'moments' , maybe its all in my head?

Self powered speed on the flat is fine so maybe its my pedalling as i tend to coast a bit how ever sometimes i feel spinnging while going down hill makes me feel more uncomfortable, could that be my pedaling technique?

God this sounds like i have an embarrasing illness or something :oops:
Any help would be great, its starting to really frustrate me

Thank you

careful

Not sure I can help much but I will try, no doubt others will pick it up from there.
As with most things, descending takes practice to build confidence. Some bikes are more stable than others but things like correctly adjusted headset are important. I cant say I feel any more secure on wider tyres, and lower pressures seem to add to problems. My advice is to pick a descent that you know and set target pocations on the way down (descend in stages). Im not suggesting you stop at each stage, just divide it into sections. The main rules are:

Approach bends by going into them slowly and out fast. In other words get the hard braking done while you are upright, then let go the brakes once you feel ok. Only use the brakes when you want to slow - dont brake when you dont need to. Avoid turning in too soon and watch the road as far ahead as you can. Finally, dont even think about punctures etc - the fear will un-nerve you. Good luck.

Anonymous

Never, ever ride like you feel you are exceeding your limits. You aren't being paid to do that. Taking months out with a broken leg because you were going a little too fast is not nice. In fact it is quite painful and costly too...

markos1963

Confidence,confidence,confidence. Very easy to say but it takes time. Its not just about how often you descend its other little things like good tyres(whatever width you use), headsets, bars and position on the bike. One thing that is the same on cycles and motorbikes is that confident riders hold the bars a lot more loosely than beginners, when you are nervous you hold tighter and overcorrect more because of it so amplyfiing the wobble.

JGS

I found with mountain bike descending that doing the same section over and over again really helped with my confidence. I'd suggest finding a reasonably long hill (doesn't need to be too steep) and spend a session riding up and down it. Try to only use your brakes in a straight line too, and as said before go into corners slowly and power out of them. Also make sure that you are looking a lot further ahead than you would normally, let your muscles and skill take care of the turn, you should look ahead to be planning the exit. There are some good articles in the mountainbiking section about training your eyes to help your confidence.

richa

I found this quite helpful:
http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/2006/descend.htm

landscapingsam

Thanks a lot guys, maybe i will have a run out tomorrow and see how i get on!

Thanks again

SpinningJenny

No expert either, but I would say that you can only build up your confidence by doing it again and again, otherwise your worries will just turn into a huge monster that'll get bigger and bigger. Plus, softer tyres - nooooo! Having below pressure tyres is more likely to be dangerous and cause you more problems, I think.

I hope all goes well today!

skullthaw

start doin some mountain biking the off road bumbs will keep you occupied on downhill bits and this will get you used to going down!!

Rev\'d Gatlin

Fatter tyres with more grip. 700x28 Continental 4 Seasons perhaps? Sorry if it's obvious but check your brake blocks. Sounds like they've done you proud and might need a look. Hill repeats work for me. By the time I'm half way through a session I've stopped worrying about descending and I'm more concerned about the climb to come.

Good luck. I imagine with all the rain there'll be plenty of rubbish on the road this weekend. Take it easy.

Alibran

A few things people haven't mentioned that might be obvious, but they weren't to me when I first started.

I always descend on the drops. Although on a very steep descent, you can feel like you're going over the top when you brake, you're really not. And the "fingertip braking" you get on the drops outweighs any feeling of discomfort for me.

Position your feet so the outside crank is down as you approach a bend, then push down through that leg slightly as you corner to help stability.

Keep your hands open and your fingertips covering the brakes. It stops you gripping like a maniac.

Practice taking your corners a bit slower while you build up confidence and technique. Once you're happy, confident and feeling great, then gradually build up the speed.

itboffin

Relax as much as possible, gentle grip on the drops, get your body low, eyes forward watching the road as far in front as possible, I find that if I look directly in front of my wheel I loose the flow and wobble much more.

It also helps me if I've just climbed the hill from one side to bomb down the other, kind of like a little reward trouble is I now find myself either going back up or looking at the next ridge with a huge smile.

Good luck

PS. Dare I say it here BUT off road riding really helps with bike control be it MTB or cyclo cross, there I said it :twisted:

CX rules!!! :roll: