How "good" are we?

joshtp

This is a funny one, i often wonder how "good" i am. i mean i reide with a few people, and compared to them im pretty quick, but.... do you get my drift..... its tricky to tell how good you are in the grander scheem of things. iv only be riding for about 2.5 years, and i clas myself as "intermediate" but how good am i ACTUALLY. this is an eternal question. i dont mtb to be "good" (unlike some i know) i do it for fun, but i still do wonder this.
What do you think?

bomberesque

probably the only way to find out objectively is to race ... and even that's not really definitive (as not everyone races)

I try not to think about it too much. if I am feeling competitive than I concentrate on either being faster than the guy in front of me or faster than I was last week/month.

weeksy59

bomberesque wrote:

probably the only way to find out objectively is to race ... and even that's not really definitive (as not everyone races).

Agreed, it's a good enough gauge.

You'll guage both your ability uphill, downhill, XC and fitness in a race.

I found out....."shit" is the answer to how good i am.

Although not quite as shit as the 5 people i beat in my race

MacAndCheese

I've no Idea! I'd say intermediate at XC, but fairly beginner at the more AM (jumps and such) I tend not to worry about it to be honest as I do most of my riding solo so I can go at my own pace, whether I feel like shredding or just cruising and enjoying the scenery. However I'd like to get to certain level of AM riding before going to trail centres and such so I don't look like an "all the gear no idea" rider, which I am a bit at the moment!

xtreem

Enter a race.
See how good are you, plus it will be fun.

rudedog

MacAndCheese wrote:

I've no Idea! I'd say intermediate at XC, but fairly beginner at the more AM (jumps and such) I tend not to worry about it to be honest as I do most of my riding solo so I can go at my own pace, whether I feel like shredding or just cruising and enjoying the scenery. However I'd like to get to certain level of AM riding before going to trail centres and such so I don't look like an "all the gear no idea" rider, which I am a bit at the moment!

why? You should never let your hang ups about what others may think of you actually prevent you from doing the things you want to do.

joshtp

i am thinkin about trying a race, i ride reds at trail centres absoulutelty no prob, and am good on blacks apart from the occasional "ahhhhhhh, help!!! oh, im ok, lets continue" moment, i dont think twice about some stuff others look at with trepidation, but stuff like really big air, or big rock gardens give me kittens.

grumsta

Yeah try racing - thing is though, if you do an XC race, fitness is usually far more important than technical ability. Technical sections tend to be pretty short (and some people walk them!) so you will make/lose the most time on the easier bits based on your fitness.

If you want to test your technical skills try racing DH!

Personally I think the best all-round test is an Enduro format like the Kielder Avalanche - you have to have technical skills plus fitness (I was fairly rubbish at both).

joshtp

yeah, the mash up apeals to me, it will let my tech abilty be tested without it being a full on DH, which i have neither bike or balls to enter.

MacAndCheese

rudedog wrote:

MacAndCheese wrote:

I've no Idea! I'd say intermediate at XC, but fairly beginner at the more AM (jumps and such) I tend not to worry about it to be honest as I do most of my riding solo so I can go at my own pace, whether I feel like shredding or just cruising and enjoying the scenery. However I'd like to get to certain level of AM riding before going to trail centres and such so I don't look like an "all the gear no idea" rider, which I am a bit at the moment!

why? You should never let your hang ups about what others may think of you actually prevent you from doing the things you want to do.

True. I'm giving the forum ride a crack on the 17th, definitely gonna take all my kit so I'll be the one looking like a demented power ranger!

ride_whenever

measuring yourself against others is irrelevant.

always race yourself, if you half as fast as you potentially could be, but still faster than everyone else in the races, would that be enough for you?


(oh and before you say that's a ridiculous exaggeration, i know some people like this in another sport)

joshtp

MacAndCheese wrote:

rudedog wrote:

MacAndCheese wrote:

I've no Idea! I'd say intermediate at XC, but fairly beginner at the more AM (jumps and such) I tend not to worry about it to be honest as I do most of my riding solo so I can go at my own pace, whether I feel like shredding or just cruising and enjoying the scenery. However I'd like to get to certain level of AM riding before going to trail centres and such so I don't look like an "all the gear no idea" rider, which I am a bit at the moment!

why? You should never let your hang ups about what others may think of you actually prevent you from doing the things you want to do.

True. I'm giving the forum ride a crack on the 17th, definitely gonna take all my kit so I'll be the one looking like a demented power ranger!

forum ride? what? when? where? how?

MacAndCheese

forum ride? what? when? where? how?

17th/18th October, Cannock Chase, see sticky at the top of the crud catcher section for more detals.

weeksy59

grumsta wrote:

Yeah try racing - thing is though, if you do an XC race, fitness is usually far more important than technical ability. Technical sections tend to be pretty short (and some people walk them!) so you will make/lose the most time on the easier bits based on your fitness.

Depeneds really on your level.

Although fitness was a huge factor in my first race i also think that 6 months further on and also because of the race i've improved in ability and general XC skills which would also mean i'd finish a bit quicker. I can now pick lines/routes better and cross terrain better than before.

the 'really' techincal sections on the XC race i struggled with then, and would still struggle with now

bungalistic

Will be taking part in some 'events' next year I think, not going to treat any as races as neither me nor my bike is designed to go uphill well.

Main one I want to try is the Ae enduro event that is part of the mega avalanche series, sounds fun and I know the trail pretty well.

Other than that i'd class myself as average overall.

militantmandy

I would definitely still class myself as a beginner. However, I feel that when i'm at Glentress etc that I do carry a fair amount of speed. Certainly, i've passed plenty of folk. I'm a total novice in terms of freeride/jump stuff though and regularly see little kids on hard tails nailling jumps i'd be bricking it over on my full susser.

i'm going to find out how good i am at red route xc'ing in two weeks at the Hairy Coo. I'm not expecting to place high at all, for me it's more about testing the fitness. Anything above last will make me happy but it will be interesting to see how I compare.

mac_man

Standard? crap.

Just glad to be out on a bike now

Not bothered about being better than others, just want to improve and better this time next year than I am this year.


Then we'll see.....

RedJohn

I'd had myself down as reasonably good.

Then I enetered the Ten under the Ben earlier this year.

Good fun - which was the main thing.
Just as well because 65th (ish) out of 88 was a bit of a blow to the ego!

grumsta

I was quite pleased to come 131st out of 200 in my Megavalanche qualifier! Will do better next time.

Did really badly in the main race though.

Beardface

Me? I'm awesome. 8)

I can nail anything, first time, every time. Superman 360 flip whips over a 2 ft road gap? I'm your man. Overtook Peaty at Fort Bill last week. In my sleep. On an Apollo. With no tyres.

Haha, but seriously, I think my level of riding is pretty good, I'd say intermediate if I had to class myself. I don't generally get overtaken and haven't had a major 'off' for a while now, but having not raced, I couldn't say really! I suck at big air/freeride stuff, but thats just cos I'm a pansy.

Still, next year, I'll find out how good I really am, theres a few races I'll be signing up for.. I have no doubt that I'll be put in my place!! :oops:

Anonymous

who cares?
As long as you're having fun, and aren;t being a pest to other riders, why does it matter?

joshtp

yeehaamcgee wrote:

who cares?
As long as you're having fun, and aren;t being a pest to other riders, why does it matter?

iv already said its the fun that matters, however i still think its interesting to know, well how much youv improved in the last year, not compared to yourself, but in the biger picture. saying " im now 3secs faster" means knowt if you have no idea that everyone else is 10 secs faster. see my point?

ride_whenever

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

who cares?
As long as you're having fun, and aren;t being a pest to other riders, why does it matter?

iv already said its the fun that matters, however i still think its interesting to know, well how much youv improved in the last year, not compared to yourself, but in the biger picture. saying " im now 3secs faster" means knowt if you have no idea that everyone else is 10 secs faster. see my point?

Do you compete a lot? There will nearly always be people faster than you, virtually no pro's retire at the top and stay away. Mentally, if you're set up for being faster than everyone else, then you will fail and eventually it'll get to you. If you compete against yourself, with the performance of others as token thing on the side then you'll actually be able to work harder. At the end of the day, your competitors is the only factor of racing that you cannot train for.

Anonymous

see your point? No, not really.

grumsta

yeehaamcgee wrote:

who cares?
As long as you're having fun, and aren;t being a pest to other riders, why does it matter?

I'm not a very competitive person, but I still found doing a couple of races really fun. Don't think I would enjoy a straight xc race though (due to being unfit and riding a big silly bike).

joshtp

no i dont compete,ever. but i like to think im "good" its an ego thing, do tell me you dont have it as well, couse it would be a lie. i find it interesting to see how iv progressed, and how others ride, i just sometimes wonder how i am compared to a bigger range of peole than just my riding group.

dave_hill

yeehaamcgee wrote:

who cares?
As long as you're having fun, and aren;t being a pest to other riders, why does it matter?

Couldn't agree more.

I'm good at some stuff, crap at others. But as long as I'm having fun, I'm past caring about how "good" I am.

And as for racing, I've nothing left to prove to either myself or anyone else, so why bother?

cgarossi

I think i'm a good rider. The first time I did cwmcarn I did the lot with no real problems. Only at the end did I realise it was graded red.

What I think the OP is trying to say, that its hard to guage how good you are without either:

a) Competing in an event and finishing in a respectable place.
b) Someone you respect saying you are good.

Its always good to be told you are good at something and its a massive ego boost. My mate who I ride with regularly is much faster than I am but always asks me if im up for a ride, so I take that as a hidden compliment as he's not competitive.

grumsta

And as for racing, I've nothing left to prove to either myself or anyone else, so why bother?

Because it's fun?

dave_hill

grumsta wrote:

Because it's fun?

It never was and it never will be. I'd rather stick a fork in my eye.

weeksy59

dave_hill wrote:

grumsta wrote:

Because it's fun?

It never was and it never will be. I'd rather stick a fork in my eye.

Why isn't it fun ?