Balancing on boardwalks

BigColUK

Hi All

Fairly new to the MTB thing but totally addicted.

Started going to trail centres which I am loving. Gisburn Forest is my local.

Question is.....how long to it take to get to grips with boardwalks?

One of the ones at Gisburn is like a roller coaster and everytime I ride it, I either come off or nearly come off! :oops:

BC.

The Northern Monkey

Practice makes perfect!!

Anonymous

i still have issues with boardwalks but found a couple of things which help:

1- momentum helps you stay in a straight line
2- look ahead at the boards and not at the edge or the ground as you will naturally veer off if you dont look where you actually want to go!
3- confidence is the key and to help with this consider the following:

when you are riding along normal single track trails the width of the track is often coniderabley more narrow than the board walk you will encounter. you wont have any issue riding on the track without vering off into the undergrowth so if you apply this logic and confidence to riding boardwalks, you will clear each bit every time.

hope this helps and just for clarities sake, i know all of the above to be true but i still bottle plenty of bits of trail but you know what they say: "those who cant do..teach" and this is why my cycling coach quals will never be put into practice!!

nonnac85

2- look ahead at the boards and not at the edge or the ground as you will naturally veer off if you dont look where you actually want to go!

+1 - look where you want to go and not where you don't!

BigColUK

Thanks for the advice - I'll pop up next weekend and see how I get on!

Cheers

Northwind

Also, if it does go wrong, don't just teeter away til you drop off, manage your exit... Unless it's pretty high, or over a deadly river or something, you're usually better to ride off the side and land in control than to slip off the edge while trying to stay on.

Practice at ground level, if you can ride along a painted line on the road, you can ride along a skinny. Or so the theory goes, in practice I could ride along a painted line all day but show me a 3 foot high beam and there's a decent chance I'll instantly ride off the side even if it's 3 foot wide

jono986

BigColUK wrote:

One of the ones at Gisburn is like a roller coaster and everytime I ride it, I either come off or nearly come off! :oops:

BC.

Some of the boardwalks at Gisburn cross some very boggy ground, do you have any video footage of you falling in so we can have a good laugh ....... err I mean examine the footage to see where your technique needs more pratice

TheNorthernTrain

Northwind wrote:

Practice at ground level, if you can ride along a painted line on the road, you can ride along a skinny. Or so the theory goes, in practice I could ride along a painted line all day but show me a 3 foot high beam and there's a decent chance I'll instantly ride off the side even if it's 3 foot wide

This made me laugh. Its so true though. I was practicing by using kerbs and trying to stray onto the path or into the road. I can pretty much do it, soon as you hit the real thing though everything changes. I dunno if its just a "hidden" panic and you think you can't do it. I think most of it is a mental thing.

BigColUK

jono986 wrote:

Some of the boardwalks at Gisburn cross some very boggy ground, do you have any video footage of you falling in so we can have a good laugh ....... err I mean examine the footage to see where your technique needs more pratice

Haven't invested in a helmet-cam yet but if you're ever at Gisburn on a Sunday morning and hear the echoes of some bloke shouting "Man Down" from the top part of the forest....it'll probably be me!!

geofsmith

I know this is an old post but this is me....both brakes come on automatically when I see a boardwalk. Most other features are ok so it is totally irrational but I still have a problem.
I'm hoping some of the tips above may help...any more?

SeamusConnolly

best ebike is it better than scooters

steve_sordy

I have a problem with heights, so boardwalks that go more than 3-4 foot off the ground instantly give me the willies. I know that they can seldom be avoided so I just grit my teeth, maintain speed (vital on the banked corners or I will just drift off the edge!), and stare intensely ahead at where I want to go. DO NOT LOOK TO THE SIDE! Staring intensely at where you want to go is absolutely key. If you look to the side, your head will turn, your shoulders will follow..... and off you go!

After a while, I know this will work, but then I come across a really high one and I'm back to having the willies again.