Can a old dog learn new tricks?

deepblue12

At the age of 48, Just got back into MTB after a few years off with other interests. Replaced my 17yo Specialized Rockhopper with a 2011 Giant Trance X4. Living on the south downs i'm blessed with all sorts of tracks/routes and i'm busy exploring old haunts. Riding solo i mostly stick to easy trails with the odd bit of "downhill" thrown in (ridden conservatively as i'm on my own )
Always fancied a bit of decent trail riding and today near Steyning found a relatively steep twisting path which had several small jumps (plus a few large ones) TBH, scared myself silly the first one i went over! Realise its definately more difficult than it looks and riding solo (and thoughts of what would happen if i crashed in the back of my mind) didnt help. Decided i need a bit of tuition or as a minimum find a group to ride with if i'm going to try it again
One thing i noticed when i got back, my forks had just about maxed out on travel, is there anything i can do to reduce it or do i live with it. Being 15 stone may not help!

Anonymous

Old dogs CAN learn new tricks, if they put as much enthusiasm into it as a young dog (age can sometimes bring on the self-imposed illusion of frailty, which holds us back)

Don't worry about your fork, they SHOULD use all their travel - otherwise there's no point having it.

Zziplex

Did you see any tournament casters at Steyning? I should have been there myself today. 8)

deepblue12

Indeed i did, rode right by them.

nozzac

There are plenty of older middle-aged guys out riding. I'm 41 myself. You're unlikely to become a top trials rider or dirt jumper now but you can become a very competent XC / general trail rider.

Finding a group to ride with sounds like a good idea as you can get an idea of what is really difficult vs what is just a bit scary when you're on your own. You might find you're better than you think too.