What lesson have you learned the hard way?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Doing some proper research before impulse tyre buying...

In a moment of madness, where I got suckered in by a CRC sale, I bought a few pairs of Schwalbe tyres:-
Crazy Bobs (really meant for street and urban ramps, not off-roading, unless perhaps dry summer days)
Super Moto Evolutions (light monster sized tyres, for road or sandy rides, not any sort of off-roading, very little PF protection)
Big Apples (better PF resistance than the Super Motos, their more expensive cousins, but still not an off-road tyre)

Land Cruiser (a budget semi-slick that can do mixed terrain, happy with this buy, but only bought a single tyre)
Hurricane (a slightly better semi-slick, more suited to road than off, but has better protection, wish I had bought more than a single tyre)

In hindsight, I wish I had bought:-
More than one Land Cruiser and Hurricane
Bought a pair of Smart Sams instead of spending ~£70 on the Super Motos and another ~£25 on Crazy Bobs

Anyone interested in swapping some tyres?

bails87

NitrousOxide

Briggo

clodhoppa74 wrote:

black routes are not for the fainthearted. by faint hearted i mean first timers.

You gotta ride it sometime or you'll always be a first timer

Aldo001

Having not much of the gear (or mediocre gear) and little idea actually puts me in a better position than those with all the gear sometimes...

Don't brake heavily with your front brake only when you are on the road, in the rain, and whilst touching a white line... I very nearly hit the car in front of me at about 20mph. I managed to not hit the deck somehow 8)

Don't go too fast into a berm then go straight on, over the side about halfway through it... People laugh

Never get your knee trapped between your handle bar and the top tube when crashing... it really, really hurts

x-isle

After drinking all day in Cardiff with the Rugby on the weekend, at 1am in the morning I must remember that I'm NOT a pole dancer and probably never will be!


What made it even harder was I didn't even have a pole!

delcol

when you stop for that trail side pee. or that between pubs pee.. be sure you tucked the little chap away before you pull up the zipper :shock: :shock: :oops:

ddraver

bannedbiker wrote:

Credit cards and loans are too easy to get when you turn 18.
7 years later I'm just out of debt and have nothing to show for what i used the credit cards and loans for!
(I do have 2 purdy bikes, but i paid for them with cash...!)

Sounds like you but (hopefully) plus about 5 years!

Mine is measure twice, cut once...but I can't really say i ve learned it given how many times i fark it up!!

Chunkers1980

x-isle wrote:

After drinking all day in Cardiff with the Rugby on the weekend, at 1am in the morning I must remember that I'm NOT a pole dancer and probably never will be!


What made it even harder was I didn't even have a pole!

Least you remembered not to ride in a golf buggy drunk on the road..... Good win though, not worth doing that. How wasted must they have been!

x-isle

Chunkers1980 wrote:

x-isle wrote:

After drinking all day in Cardiff with the Rugby on the weekend, at 1am in the morning I must remember that I'm NOT a pole dancer and probably never will be!


What made it even harder was I didn't even have a pole!

Least you remembered not to ride in a golf buggy drunk on the road..... Good win though, not worth doing that. How wasted must they have been!

At least Powell is now out of the team.......shouldn't of been there to start with (of course in my opinion!).

The Northern Monkey

If you only *think* its gonna be a fart... take the necessary steps to get to a bog asap.

specializedone

If you think you are fit - go MTB racing!

I could not believe the pace of some of the guys around the first Gorrick race I entered last year - not just the fitness, but how they blasted through the trees and stood up on most of the hills.

Awesome....but what I have learnt is that if you can stick with them even for just 50 metres it builds your own skill and confidence.

Example yesterday at the Gorrick Tunnel Hill West course there was a drop off and a steep bombhole. Last November I bottled it; first lap yesterday I had the brakes on going down and barely made it out; second lap blasted down and got airborne coming out! What a feeling - yeha. Later when I checked my speedo I went down at 24.8mph.

Best part of the whole day

Chaz.Harding

DON'T punch a policeman in the face.

DON'T punch a court-room judge in the face.

DON'T punch a prison guard in the face.

DON'T punch ''Leroy'' in the face.

If you DO punch Leroy in the face, you better make it a BLOODY GOOD SHOT.

DON'T punch a cage fighter in the face.

DON'T punch a 9 dan black-belt Jujitsu trained sensei in the face.

DON'T punch a grizzly bear in the face.

DON'T punch a giant squid in the face.

DON'T punch yourself in the face.

DO punch some jeans.... 8)

ilovedirt

specializedone wrote:

If you think you are fit - go MTB racing!

I could not believe the pace of some of the guys around the first Gorrick race I entered last year - not just the fitness, but how they blasted through the trees and stood up on most of the hills.

Awesome....but what I have learnt is that if you can stick with them even for just 50 metres it builds your own skill and confidence.

Example yesterday at the Gorrick Tunnel Hill West course there was a drop off and a steep bombhole. Last November I bottled it; first lap yesterday I had the brakes on going down and barely made it out; second lap blasted down and got airborne coming out! What a feeling - yeha. Later when I checked my speedo I went down at 24.8mph.

Best part of the whole day

Definitely. Me and a mate entered a CX race in my local woods a couple of years ago, they had all their lycra and expensive lightweight CX bikes, i was on a £200 carrera vulcan from halfords wearing jeans, a hoodey and a full face helmet and had no training, same for my mate but he was on a full bouncer raleigh! Needless to say, i didn't win, but i DID come 12th out of 15! i beat two of the poncey CX racers and my mate came stone dead last :P still, quite an achievement i thought.

Briggo

bigchazrocks wrote:

DON'T punch a policeman in the face.

DON'T punch a court-room judge in the face.

DON'T punch a prison guard in the face.

DON'T punch ''Leroy'' in the face.

If you DO punch Leroy in the face, you better make it a BLOODY GOOD SHOT.

DON'T punch a cage fighter in the face.

DON'T punch a 9 dan black-belt Jujitsu trained sensei in the face.

DON'T punch a grizzly bear in the face.

DON'T punch a giant squid in the face.

DON'T punch yourself in the face.

DO punch some jeans.... 8)

So you're saying you done all of the above?

Valy

ilovedirt wrote:

specializedone wrote:

If you think you are fit - go MTB racing!

I could not believe the pace of some of the guys around the first Gorrick race I entered last year - not just the fitness, but how they blasted through the trees and stood up on most of the hills.

Awesome....but what I have learnt is that if you can stick with them even for just 50 metres it builds your own skill and confidence.

Example yesterday at the Gorrick Tunnel Hill West course there was a drop off and a steep bombhole. Last November I bottled it; first lap yesterday I had the brakes on going down and barely made it out; second lap blasted down and got airborne coming out! What a feeling - yeha. Later when I checked my speedo I went down at 24.8mph.

Best part of the whole day

Definitely. Me and a mate entered a CX race in my local woods a couple of years ago, they had all their lycra and expensive lightweight CX bikes, i was on a £200 carrera vulcan from halfords wearing jeans, a hoodey and a full face helmet and had no training, same for my mate but he was on a full bouncer raleigh! Needless to say, i didn't win, but i DID come 12th out of 15! i beat two of the poncey CX racers and my mate came stone dead last :P still, quite an achievement i thought.

Absolutely no training at all? You just got the bike and entered a race? Or didi you just casually ride it aroun... or hwat?

Chaz.Harding

Briggo wrote:

bigchazrocks wrote:

DON'T punch a policeman in the face.

DON'T punch a court-room judge in the face.

DON'T punch a prison guard in the face.

DON'T punch ''Leroy'' in the face.

If you DO punch Leroy in the face, you better make it a BLOODY GOOD SHOT.

DON'T punch a cage fighter in the face.

DON'T punch a 9 dan black-belt Jujitsu trained sensei in the face.

DON'T punch a grizzly bear in the face.

DON'T punch a giant squid in the face.

DON'T punch yourself in the face.

DO punch some jeans.... 8)

So you're saying you done all of the above?

Yeah!!! Of course!

I always punch courtroom judges in the face. And blatently giant squid and grizzly bears.... :? :roll:

Joke...?

CFS

Don't ride with a big bunch of keys in your pocket, cos when you fall off your bike a week before you go on holiday it's really going to screw your hip.

MacAndCheese

A few lessons I've had first hand over the last year or so:

DON'T spray GT85/WD40 anywhere near disk brakes...you may think you spraying it the other way but somehow it will catch the wind and ruin yet another set of pads.

DON't Leave your Maxles at home when out with the bike.

DON'T Lie about how much your bikes cost and then put full details of the actual cost when filling out the home insurance with the otherhalf!

DON'T drink 5 shots of sambuca in quick succession at a family wedding (I learnt this gem at the weekend)

DON'T forget your spare socks if you commute in the rain.

ilovedirt

Valy wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

specializedone wrote:

If you think you are fit - go MTB racing!

I could not believe the pace of some of the guys around the first Gorrick race I entered last year - not just the fitness, but how they blasted through the trees and stood up on most of the hills.

Awesome....but what I have learnt is that if you can stick with them even for just 50 metres it builds your own skill and confidence.

Example yesterday at the Gorrick Tunnel Hill West course there was a drop off and a steep bombhole. Last November I bottled it; first lap yesterday I had the brakes on going down and barely made it out; second lap blasted down and got airborne coming out! What a feeling - yeha. Later when I checked my speedo I went down at 24.8mph.

Best part of the whole day

Definitely. Me and a mate entered a CX race in my local woods a couple of years ago, they had all their lycra and expensive lightweight CX bikes, i was on a £200 carrera vulcan from halfords wearing jeans, a hoodey and a full face helmet and had no training, same for my mate but he was on a full bouncer raleigh! Needless to say, i didn't win, but i DID come 12th out of 15! i beat two of the poncey CX racers and my mate came stone dead last :P still, quite an achievement i thought.

Absolutely no training at all? You just got the bike and entered a race? Or didi you just casually ride it aroun... or hwat?

I rode about a 15 mile loop once every weekend or two, other than that, no training. It bloody killed me, but i didn't come last!!

Mancunianfightingcat

Don't ever, what ever you're doing, even if your car boot is in on fire, just don't try and blow out a Trangia Methylated Spirit burning stove. You'll end up with a very hot face and your car boot will still be on fire, probably even more than before you set fire to your head!

Lesson well and truly learned the hard way!

ilovedirt

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

Don't ever, what ever you're doing, even if your car boot is in on fire, just don't try and blow out a Trangia Methylated Spirit burning stove. You'll end up with a very hot face and your car boot will still be on fire, probably even more than before you set fire to your head!

Lesson well and truly learned the hard way!

i can safely add a +1 to this!

cee

never argue with policemen or bouncers....

even when you win.....you still lose.

richg1979

1 sheet of bog roll is not enough to wipe. you end up with poo on ya fingers.

foxyourself

Don't brag. Pride before a fall


At a trackday on my motorcycle I said ''I don't need to lower my tyre pressures I havn't checked them in ages'' I also said '' All the d!cks fall off after lunch'' and the final nail in the coffin '' I'm a riding god''

10minutes later I was watching my Yamaha R1 spin down the race track as I scrambled off the circuit to safety.


and many other instances which resulted in one broken wrist, one dislocated shoulder, one dislocated hip and years of follow up pain.

In addition this applies to others,
Last night 'doon tha pab' a lad hobbled in and asked if he could chain his bike up with mine and my mates, three hours of utter rubbish and bragging about tail whips, police chases and evasions with more tail whips thrown in... got out the pub. got on his bike and.. splatt = broken tooth, nose and wrist. TOOL

Made me feel very smug indeed. Bad Kamra headed my way.

Ransaka

Knee pads make you feel invincible.



You are not.

In the slightest.



Even remotely.

No sir.

:oops:

Koiler

today i learned the following!

that tubeless tyres run at silly low pressures will fold if you land heavy, dirt will get in the rim where it supposed to seal and the tyre will not seal properly.

i also learned today that i have tubeless tyres.... :oops:

i learned that for the last 4 months, i have been, pointlessly, lugging around a puncture repair kit/ tyre levers etc

i learned that after a week of rain and snow that chicksands wont ''be fine''. instead, it'll be somwhere between very muddy and mildly treacherous

i learned that despite its apperance, my cheapy tesco hydration pack isnt waterproof.

and i am reminded, despite all these things, that bikes are still fun.

that is all...

foxyourself

Koiler wrote:

i learned that for the last 4 months, i have been, pointlessly, lugging around a puncture repair kit/ tyre levers etc

Think of it as weight training

Koiler wrote:

i learned that after a week of rain and snow that chicksands wont ''be fine''. instead, it'll be somwhere between very muddy and mildly treacherous

Was alright with Schwalbe blackjacks...

Koiler wrote:

i learned that despite its apperance, my cheapy tesco hydration pack isnt waterproof.

If it doesnt say waterproof on it, it isn't. You get nowt for free and waterproof Hydro bag for £10.. unlikely.



that is all...[/quote]

Koiler

foxyourself wrote:

Koiler wrote:

i learned that after a week of rain and snow that chicksands wont ''be fine''. instead, it'll be somwhere between very muddy and mildly treacherous

Was alright with Schwalbe blackjacks...




that is all...

ok, today i learned that i cant ride when its muddy

better?

foxyourself

Poor prir preparation leads to piss poor performance

Bear77

Disinfect your entire universe when your child has a sickness bug. I was going to post this two weeks ago about this time but needed the toilet a bit sharpish.

I can now add that you should never assume the sickness bug you second child has got is the same one as your first had two weeks earlier.

I need the toilet again. My poor arse.