Channelling 'ooh-eck!' into 'woo-yeah!' ?

sarajoy

Maybe it's connected with my bump off last month, but I'm sure I was like this before - when hurtling down a hill I can't help but think "ooh-eck, it'd hurt if I came off now.."

Particularly down Park St in Bristol with many possible cars trying to get into/out of spaces and side streets.

Has anyone managed to suppress it and just enjoy the wind whooshing through your helmet's gaps? Or is it a good thing and it keeps me from getting offed again?

suzyb

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

rjsterry

Practice => more confidence => more enjoyment => less 'ooh-eck'. More relaxed is also probably safer. I know what you mean though: I'm always getting out filtered by people who can turn themselves two-dimensional. Mainly due to some near misses in the past, I'm super-cautious when filtering.

CiB

sarajoy wrote:

Maybe it's connected with my bump off last month, but I'm sure I was like this before - when hurtling down a hill I can't help but think "ooh-eck, it'd hurt if I came off now.."

Particularly down Park St in Bristol with many possible cars trying to get into/out of spaces and side streets.

Has anyone managed to suppress it and just enjoy the wind whooshing through your helmet's gaps? Or is it a good thing and it keeps me from getting offed again?

The obvious answer is not to wear a helmet.

It never bothers me that much. You have to take the view that you don't normally fall off on a flat road, and that you're no more likely to fall off on a slope. When it comes to doing it in traffic you need to be more circumspect than on the open road, but in rural hilly situations go for it. Trust your ability, but watch out for tractors & horses.

lost_in_thought

suzyb wrote:

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

+1!

EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?

outofbreath2

[quote="lost_in_thought
EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?[/quote]

Please say it isn't so. I'm beginning to think it's an age thing too. Just in my case mind, I'm not saying you're all as old as me iykwim :oops: But, y'know I just don't think I bounce as well as I used to. Actually I do, but that's for a different reason which is why I want to get into the cycling. Hmph.

W1

Definitely an age thing, sorry!

outofbreath2

So old girls don't stand much of a chance. My OH is older and I just see him disappear off whilst I'm gently squeezing a brake lever.

Oh fart, I may as well just go and get a whicker basket fitted. (obviously I can't do it myself).

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

suzyb wrote:

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

+1!

EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?

Yes.

Gurls are always too busy eating flakes when riding bicycles, or staring at the tassles on the end of their handlebars, or appearing in adverts for shampoo to enjoy fast descending*.

Sorry. That's just the way it goes. Better luck next time.

*Though I understand some gurls can go down in a hurry. Gnurk, gnurk, fnar, fnar.

lost_in_thought

It can't be an age thing... I'm only 27, and from memory sarajoy and suzyb are around my age...

:?

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

suzyb wrote:

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

+1!

EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?

Yes.

Gurls are always too busy eating flakes when riding bicycles, or staring at the tassles on the end of their handlebars, or appearing in adverts for shampoo to enjoy fast descending*.

Sorry. That's just the way it goes. Better luck next time.

*Though I understand some gurls can go down in a hurry. Gnurk, gnurk, fnar, fnar.

*rolls up a newspaper*

THWACK

NO.

BAD Greg.

AidanR

Look into the distance, unweight yourself a bit so you float over road defects, stay in the middle of the road and learn how to corner properly - http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_fac ... escend.htm

Obviously you must still ride sensibly for the conditions - it's better to get to the bottom of a hill a bit slower than to be hit by a car coming out of a side road because you're going to quick for your reactions. But at speed you can often swing around a car that's pulling out on you so long as you own the road. It's pretty rare that something pulls out too late to brake for it but too early to be able to swerve around it, whatever your speed.

W1

lost_in_thought wrote:

It can't be an age thing... I'm only 27, and from memory sarajoy and suzyb are around my age...

:?

So....the age is 27?

AidanR

Or ride drunk*

*not necessarily recommended

lost_in_thought

W1 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

It can't be an age thing... I'm only 27, and from memory sarajoy and suzyb are around my age...

:?

So....the age is 27?

Dammit. I hadn't thought of that.

No, wait, I've been scared of going fast down hills since I started biking again. And that was when I was 22.

Maybe the age is 22... :shock: :?

attica

Practice it is SJ although I will happily avoid Park Street - it's lethal.
Way too many peds and side streets and parked vehicles on it.

Last time I descended Park Street I near enough went through a set of brake pads trying to avoid the motorbike that I thought was a safe distance in front of me as he braked to turn right towards Frogmore Street.

Took me a week to unclench!

davis

I'm scared of going full tilt down hills. I've even found myself pedalling against the brakes.

There. I said it.

I blame falling off, crashing (slightly), an inability to see particularly well through the top half of my glasses, and a total absence of talent. That and being a jessie.

stuaff

+1 for AidanR's suggestions. It takes practice for sure- I was rather wussy myself for a while after my prang, crashing on a downhill tends to do that I think, but I got my confidence back. Trust yourself, trust the bike, dab the brakes a little if you need to or feel like it, and if you can steer round holes etc do so. For example, 35 mph freewheeling on Reigate Hil on the Jetstream (so a little twitchier than most bikes) l in the small hours of Saturday morning a few weeks back, and it felt fine. Actually, felt great.

always_tyred

sarajoy wrote:

Maybe it's connected with my bump off last month..

Jees, who did you bump off? You don't want to put that sort of thing in writing you know.

W1

lost_in_thought wrote:

W1 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

It can't be an age thing... I'm only 27, and from memory sarajoy and suzyb are around my age...

:?

So....the age is 27?

Dammit. I hadn't thought of that.

No, wait, I've been scared of going fast down hills since I started biking again. And that was when I was 22.

Maybe the age is 22... :shock: :?

I just get flashes of the potential horror of coming off.

I used to be completely invinsible on a bike, hitting 40mph etc etc Now though I get The Fear.

I'm 26. Pathetic.

davis

Always Tyred wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

Maybe it's connected with my bump off last month..

Jees, who did you bump off? You don't want to put that sort of thing in writing you know.

Careful, you'll be next on the list


Oh.... damn. I must get my affairs in order.

rjsterry

I distinctly remember seeing some nutter on a skateboard descending Park Street. :shock: I think he did try and slow a bit on the bend at College Green, and left half his board on the tarmac. I also watched a friend rollerblade-ing down one of the roads that run down Montjuic in Barcelona (similar gradient but much quieter). He had to bail rather spectacularly into a grassy verge when a car pulled out in front of him. He was fine, but he may have needed a change of underwear.

jonginge

Practice, practice, practice. Preferably on open roads with little traffic. Actually, Broomfield hill in RP is a good place to practice descending.

Tip: don't look at the thing you want to avoid. Look where you want to go.

suzyb

lost_in_thought wrote:

suzyb wrote:

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

+1!

EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?

No it's a "I've crashed during a descent and woke up tasting tarmac" kind of thing combined with a bit of "these roads are so crap I don't want to ride through the potholes at speed in case it destroys my bike but I need to hold my line or the cars will kill me".

boneyjoe

Don't worry, you're not a wuss, that's just your survival instinct kicking in - best to listen to it really.

lost_in_thought

suzyb wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

suzyb wrote:

If there is a way to suppress it I'd like to find it. I'm like that as well

Not as bad on a straight road with a good smooth surface. Unfortunately that's very few of the roads in this country.

+1!

EDIT: Oh god... it's not a girl thing, is it?

No it's a "I've crashed during a descent and woke up tasting tarmac" kind of thing combined with a bit of "these roads are so crap I don't want to ride through the potholes at speed in case it destroys my bike but I need to hold my line or the cars will kill me".

But I've never crashed descending... the pothole thing I agree with though, definitely. My main fear is cars pulling out/coming the other way or me just losing control for some as-yet-undefined reason.

mudcovered

To be honest on an urban downhill like Park Street your current reaction is probably the right one. You can't really afford to just roll down at full tilt (I certainly wouldn't).

You can only really get up to full speed on an open road downhill where there are no junctions/parked cars and you can see for a good distance. For these descents you just get used to it gradually. My confidence level descending is heavily dependent on how much I trust the brakes and tyre grip level on the bike I'm using.

On the full-sus MTB I tend to be pretty cavalier as I know the suspension will soak up any bumps and the brakes are both powerful and easy to control.
On the CX bike I'm a lot less likely to let rip if the conditions are wet or the surface is poor as I know the brakes are less powerful and a significant bump or oil patch could make me loose grip.

In terms of making the fear go away I have to focus on other things. When I'm descending for maximum speed I only think about:

1. Surface conditions
2. How far ahead I can see
3. Road position

Keeping track of all that doesn't really leave me much brain space left for ook-eck or woo-yeah until I get to the bottom. Mind you I used to descend a lot faster when I was younger. Mostly I suspect because I didn't really think about what could go wrong. So a certain amount of fear is necessary for survival.

Mike

outofbreath2

AidanR wrote:

unweight yourself a bit

I wish it were that easy...

I'm definitely getting a few 'when I was younger' and 'I used to's from here. Fear definitely creeps in. Mind you we were all human bullets and indestructible when we were 13. It's not so easy paying the rent when you're in traction for 8 months.

I don't think it's wholly a bad thing.

mudcovered

outofbreath2 wrote:

I'm definitely getting a few 'when I was younger' and 'I used to's from here. Fear definitely creeps in. Mind you we were all human bullets and indestructible when we were 13. It's not so easy paying the rent when you're in traction for 8 months.

I don't think it's wholly a bad thing.

Age does play a part but its still possible to be older and get up some decent speed going downhill. I get up to 40mph on a couple of hills where I live fairly regularly and I've gone over 45mph in the last 12 months on my MTB on tarmac (and at 36 I'm not as young as some).

And you are right in that its not a bad thing to have some idea of the consequences of things going wrong.

Mike

snellgrove

Mike, your MTB must have had singing tyres at 45mph!

While I'm not the bravest descender in the world, when going down a hill I'm like: one of the best feelings in the world if you ask me.

But off the bike, I can't help but think about things that could go wrong:

tyre blow out rim gives way due to a hidden crack, or spoke failure, or the inner tube wanting to get out through the side hitting a patch of diesel / oil carelessly discarded by one of those 'car' things squirrel / rabbit / other vermin runs out in front of you something else..... ?

1mm of spandex ain't going to save your skin either, it's all a bit scary... and what if I land on my face at 35mph?!?!


But on the bike I'm generally having too much fun to worry.. although I guess it's there in the back of my mind, from time to time when out on the bike.

But hey, everything has risks doesn't it.... I couldn't bare to do a parachute jump but I'm sure if I ever did, I'd have lots of fun doing it, but with that one I can't get passed the what-could-go-wrong / thought stage.

Kieran_Burns

Kill or cure I'd say.....

Bloody big hill