Seem to be getting worse, not better...

miss notax

Am feeling like this :evil:

Just back from a few days in Scotland which was great fun, but am feeling anoyed with myself as my technical riding seems to be getting worse not better! The last time I rode in Scotland I had a blast, but this time I found the technical stuff really challenging :? We did the Glentress red on the first day (which was fab ), then Innerleithen red and Newcastleton red on day 2, and Keilder red and Whinlatter south loop on day 3 - by which time I was knackered!

Glentress and Newcastleton were great and I really enjoyed them (esp Glentress), but I REALLY struggled with the technical bits at Innerleithen It reminded me of when I first started riding and had miserable slogs at the start of Whites Level in Wales, walking up all the rocky bits.....

I don't know whether i'm actually riding like an idiot, or whether I just think i'm better than I am now - ie years ago I would be delighted to have ridden 50% of a trail, now i'm annoyed if I have to walk 10%.....!

Anyway, my poor other half has been subjected to a grumbling MTBing partner all weekend! How do I refind my MTBing mojo???!!!! :?

And, whilst i'm grumbling, where are all the other girls? I was massively in the minority!!

bluechair84

If you find the rest of the girls, do let us know! Whilst I lived in Seattle last year I spotted dozens of them on the trails, it's not as male dominated in America as it is here... but then I reckon it's true about most sports over there. They even have more female football (their soccer) players than we do!

As for mojo... err... buy more bling seems to be what most people do

Try down grading your bike a bit, stick on some crap tyres or start riding a nails bike more often - it'll sharpen your skills as you can't rely on the bike. Then when you do get back on the proper rig you'll doubly benefit.

MacAndCheese

Could be a case of target fixation? thinking too hard about the obsticals and not just focusing on how to get through them maybe?

miss notax

MacAndCheese wrote:

Could be a case of target fixation? thinking too hard about the obsticals and not just focusing on how to get through them maybe?

Hmmmm, maybe :? I do have a bit of a rock fixation - which is never going to be good somewhere like Scotland

I guess I just need to practise more!!

ride_whenever

Try going faster. Mash the big ring and just use speed to blunder through everything.

meesterbond

Just chill out, enjoy the scenery and don't worry about it... Somedays we ride like gods, others like complete numpties.

Everyone has good days and bad days - maybe you were a bit tired on the bad days (or a few ales the night before)... sounds like you had some great days riding, so focus on those and don't fixate on the negatives...

Ultimately, you're trying to get over immovable objects on a funny shaped contraption, dressed in ridiculous clothes and a silly hat!!
When you boil it down to its component parts, mountain biking (like most hobbies) is too daft an exploit to take too seriously!

CycloRos

Could it be a case of biting off more than you can chew? It's supposed to be a holiday too you know

Top marks for doing them all though, my missus wouldn't have managed half that lot!

miss notax

meesterbond wrote:

Just chill out, enjoy the scenery and don't worry about it... Somedays we ride like gods, others like complete numpties.

Everyone has good days and bad days - maybe you were a bit tired on the bad days (or a few ales the night before)... sounds like you had some great days riding, so focus on those and don't fixate on the negatives...

Ultimately, you're trying to get over immovable objects on a funny shaped contraption, dressed in ridiculous clothes and a silly hat!!
When you boil it down to its component parts, mountain biking (like most hobbies) is too daft an exploit to take too seriously!

Well, yes, this is indeed true And we did enjoy the scottish hospitality with some very good food and the odd glass of vino up there too.....

Good point well made!

Oh - and I did have one of most fabulous comedy MTBing moments at Innerleithen.... Being heckled by a 9 year old sat by one of the big drops!! As I gingerly stopped and had a look at it, along came the cry of 'what, you're not trying it? I can do this and i'm only 9! And my dad can do it on his cross country bike!!'

My OH and I were wetting ourselves laughing

actsolutions

Inners red is hard you need to ride it a few times to get confident, I know lots of blokes who struggle to make it flow. It’s difficult to give advice without seeing you ride. But I will try. As mentioned above target fixation is a problem on routes like inners. Try to stay loose on the bike move your body weight around fluidly to match the terrain and keep you centre of gravity in the correct position. Keep your head up and look as far down the trail as you comfortably can. Don’t fixate on the rocks. Stay off the brakes and try to carry a little extra speed over the rocks, this will also help with the drops offs. For extra speed learning to manual is very helpful. Doesn’t matter if you can only manual a little it’s about applying the technique on the trail it will really help maintain flow.

If you really do want to improve, then splash some cash on a skills course it’s amazing what you can learn from a day spent with a pro.

Also instead of just doing a red or black runs try to session shorter sections. You will learn these sections much faster and let you put your skills to the test.

Keep the flow for more mojo.

miss notax

Some really good advice there, thank you

I am thinking about booking on one of the skills courses. My OH is a fab rider and has taught me loads, but it brings back memories of my Dad trying to teach me to drive.... Being taught by a relative / partner isn't always ideal

Some of the girls on here have done courses with dirtdivas and been pleased with the results, so I might give them a go with their Drops and Jumps course.

I'm also learning to manual - I think i've just about got the gist of it, but at the moment it's anyones guess whether I will get over something or smack into it!!!!

dave_hill

Less "think" and more "do".