confidence building,help

prawn star

hi all new here,been back riding for a year a now and feeling fitter,but this past month i've had my first trail centre outings at cannock chase & dalby forest.for the most i can now just about keep up with my mates but seem to lack speed and confidence on faster flowing singletrack,some sections my mates seem to hammer through and i feel like i'm constantly scrubbing speed out of fear :oops: on stuff thats not overly technical and what its built for.this is getting frustrating now,is it just a case of stick at it -ride more and stop being a fairy or would a bike skills course help and if so are there any in the midlands.

Ho hum

Hello and welcome to the forum.

A skills course seems like exactly the type of thing that would help you out!

ride_whenever

take your brakes off

nwmlarge

do you stand up ?

Northwind

Trying to keep up often doesn't help... It can make you ride faster but it'll rarely make you better, and if you're always pushing too hard you'll probably find you get more scares as well. Plus, you can get into a follower's mindset rather than thinking for yourself. I spent ages chasing faster mates, never could catch up, eventually gave up and started riding how I wanted to ride and aiming for better not faster, then once that started working I kept up without trying to.

Oxygen Thief

Screw your friends. They'll wait at the bottom. Surely it's about enjoying it?1 iw ouldn't want to be going down some trail and teh only though in my head is theyr'e getting away, they're getting away! Sod that! I wanna be enjoying each and every bump in my own little bubble!

prawn star

thanks for the response,maybe i should try riding solo for a bit,slow down and concentrate on technique,looking plenty ahead helps but struggle to shift my weight around properly and relax instead of the death grip

nwmlarge

change your grips and shoes and see if that helps you feel what the bike is doing more?
also try tyre pressure
i like to run 45-50psi for single track etc

Jedi

just relax.
build up slowly as your experiences grow so will your skills/techniques

Anonymous

Crash a few times. Seriously. Once you've fallen off a few times, then you get used to it, and realise the consequences are generally not disastorous. Then you can ride without fear.

subtlerider

ive got to agree with the post above ^ pure brilliance but soo true

i had the same problem a few months back, all my mates with their flash new bikes and me stuck on my hard tail, but youve got to enjoy the ride!

maybe get some pads etc? if your scared about falling off, dont be, a nice high speed collision into a tree will be less pain full
661 do some goood armour, check em out knee and elbow pads, then get on to the hardcore pressure suits

and of course, just go for it! go with the flow, and practice more by your self on single track, confidence boost!

Oxygen Thief

Haha, just crash. Fook that! I'll be trying not to crash but I can see that when I do crash that I will realise I'm not made of glass and quicken u

Anonymous

I'm really not kidding. Crashing is part of mountain biking. Pushing yourself until you mess up occasionally is all part of riding. The sooner you have your first crash, the sooner you get over the fear. Of course, don;t go out to crash on purpose!

It's like when I first started rock climbing. I was terrified of slipping until I had my first fall. Once you fall, and you get caught by the rope, the fear dissappears, and you can start trying out some more adventurous things.

EDIT:
by "the fear dissapears" I mean, the unpleasant part of fear. There's still that satisfying fear that makes it all worthwhile.

Oxygen Thief

Lol, no rope to catch you MTBing though. Think I'd rather slip whilst rock climbing. But I get you and I know it'll work.

Squarepants

Bl00dy good advice that Northwind, lots of good advice in this thread but this makes the most sense to me. I'm taking a mate up to Cwmcarn this weekend for his first ride in that environment and this advice fits perfectly for what we'll be doing.

Thanks Northwind and all others who have given good advice

Northwind wrote:

Trying to keep up often doesn't help... It can make you ride faster but it'll rarely make you better, and if you're always pushing too hard you'll probably find you get more scares as well. Plus, you can get into a follower's mindset rather than thinking for yourself. I spent ages chasing faster mates, never could catch up, eventually gave up and started riding how I wanted to ride and aiming for better not faster, then once that started working I kept up without trying to.

Northwind

Crashing a bit is good advice!

peter413

Northwind wrote:

Crashing a bit is good advice!

+1

Was petrified untill recently on some stuff.

Recently though, I have had a lot of crashes and came away injury free apart from the obvious cuts and bruises.

Am now much quicker and a much better rider and I only started riding about a year ago

Jedi

identifying why you crash and minimising it is better

butcher of bakersfield

Invest in an mp3 player. Download some obscure Scandinavian black metal. Get hyped on it. Job Done.

Seriously though. Some people have bigger balls than others. Some have more talent than others. That's a fact of life. Just keep with what you're comfortable with and push yourself on your own terms. If you're going to commit to something, make sure you do just that - there's no backing out half way. But most of all. Enjoy it. Everyone has an ego, but at the end of the day we all enjoy different things.

Northwind

True. But that initial fear of crashing can be absolutely paralysing, even when it's unfounded. It's not so much that crashing is a good thing, it just gets rid of the fear of the unknown. Or so I feel anyway.

fredy

I could do with a bit of confidance to go faster, though if i go faster than about 35mph the wind gets under my glasses and i can't see. thats my excuse anyway. Just buy a rubbish glasses.

Oxygen Thief

fredy wrote:

I could do with a bit of confidance to go faster, though if i go faster than about 35mph the wind gets under my glasses and i can't see. thats my excuse anyway. Just buy a rubbish glasses.

Haha, I like!

Tom Barton

Don't nessecerily pay money for the bike course right away - try some of the suggestions first and see how you progress, some people get to quite a good level before seeking a pro to point them on to their next level of speed.

Ride a few rides alone or just dont bother concentrating on your mates and ride the trail - read a couple of basic ride guides - like putting your outside foot to the bottom of the pedal stroke on corners and practice it - you'll be amazed how much better the corners feel - once your practiced and such things become second nature your speed will increase and without realising it you'll be keeping up wih your mates like Northwind said.

konanige

From what I can see obviously yeehaamcgee aint crashing hard enough. Just go at your own pace push a little bit each time and youll be amazed how quickly the skills will come.

Oxygen Thief

Tom Barton wrote:

Don't nessecerily pay money for the bike course right away - try some of the suggestions first and see how you progress, some people get to quite a good level before seeking a pro to point them on to their next level of speed.

Ride a few rides alone or just dont bother concentrating on your mates and ride the trail - read a couple of basic ride guides - like putting your outside foot to the bottom of the pedal stroke on corners and practice it - you'll be amazed how much better the corners feel - once your practiced and such things become second nature your speed will increase and without realising it you'll be keeping up wih your mates like Northwind said.

Where can I find these basic ride guides please fella?

Bilal

You should try showing your bike to a bike mechanic.And build up your confidence level a bit more.

cooldad

theshrew

Ive only just started and have had a crash ( i no why ) but i feel it set me back rather than gave me more confidence. Think it certainly gets harder once your older.

Clark3y

Skills course gets the vote from me, will probably learn more in a day than you would in a year on your own.

NatoED

relaxing and letting the bike move is the biggest difference you can make . When you go all stiff and ridged that's when you loose speed . Letting the bike move under you will really help.

Crash Test Dummy

theshrew wrote:

Ive only just started and have had a crash ( i no why ) but i feel it set me back rather than gave me more confidence. Think it certainly gets harder once your older.

Im the same as this.

Personally a lot of problems I have are confidence wise. Having had crashes at certain area and tearing my ligaments and slashing my ankles a few times I have started freezing and confidence drops if and when I come to those areas again.


I find most stuff like this is mentally related (not crazy mental either :twisted: ) I'm always thinking what if this happens, or what if that happens. When I get into the ride and stop thinking and just ride by instinct I find it a lot easier.