strugging with cannock chase rock gardens

danlightbulb

Hi all,

As per title, I'm really struggling with the 3 sequential rock gardens on the monkey trail at Cannock.

Ive looked at alot of links, videos, tips etc on t'internet and when it came to it today i failed yet again.

I'm trying to approach them slow and steady, but as soon as the front wheel starts down the first step its like the whole bike is accelerating beyond my ability to brake it. I quickly lose traction and just want to stop, even if it means grabbing a tree.

Obviously I just need to practice, but there's none around to practice on without it being the real thing!

Would appreciate any tips.

As an aside, could it be my brakes that are the issue? I only have V's and they seem to stop me ok on normal trail descents but seem useless on the rock gardens.

Thanks

Eyon

arse back and off the brakes. Bleed the speed before you get to the gardens if you need to, dont touch brakes as you go over them. TBH most of them at cannock can be hit flat out, but try not to get too tense on them.

keeping the weight back gets more control, if you need to drop the saddle a little to do so, then do it

angry_bird

Hit them nice and relaxed, at a fairly normal trail speed, so as you don't stall and the bike has momentum to get through the rocks. This is why the black bit is tougher, the rock gardens mostly come after or during a tight swithback so you don't take much speed through them.

When you go down them get your weight backwards, take a quick look to work out the line you want to and where you want to exit then stick to it. Don't be focusing on your front wheel, instead focus on where you want to end up and avoid the brakes.

Quite a few people seem to worry about not being able to turn in time for the exits so don't want to go to fast. Don't worry, it'll distract you, there's plenty of space to turn trust me.

stanny_uk

arse back, no brakes, at speed is much easier than ploppin over.. instead of braking/pannicking pick your best line through em ie look up

leaflite

Just be very careful with the second and third rock gardens on that section-they have added a kind of wooden "mini fence" on the one side to stop people cutting the corner. It succeeds in this but means that it is very easy to catch your pedal on one of the posts(note the gouges in it) and end up falling down the hill. I very nearly did that the other day.

journey_man_pro

leaflite wrote:

Just be very careful with the second and third rock gardens on that section-they have added a kind of wooden "mini fence" on the one side to stop people cutting the corner. It succeeds in this but means that it is very easy to catch your pedal on one of the posts(note the gouges in it) and end up falling down the hill. I very nearly did that the other day.

ive suffered the same, really gets in the way if you pick a tight line.

prawny

After my fisrt go at them yesterday I concur, not too slow, my mate took them really steady and was being bounced all over the place.

The third one, you can miss the worst of it by staying to the right, just relax and soak it up.

Now that's conquered, time to start on the black runs

homers_double

prawny wrote:

The third one, you can miss the worst of it by staying to the right, just relax and soak it up.

Exactly this. Even on a hard tail if you're relaxed enough and are confident you should breeze it.

prawny

Indeed, I ride a shite hardtail with shite forks that are giving up 60 of their claimed 105mm of travel. Relax, carry some speed and hold on for dear life!

After my first full trip around the monkey I am going to get a full suss bike though, those braking bumps are killer. Cyclescheme here I come

MagikPocketz

prawny wrote:

Now that's conquered, time to start on the black runs

I thought he was talking about the black runs :P

peter_booker2003

guys thanks for the hints ( although I'm poaching someone elses question!).
I struggle with the last two rock gardens ...fear or falling off more than anything and I don;t heal quite as quickly as my much younger counterparts...
I like the idea of dropping the saddle down tho..

phz

Only been to Cannock twice and first visit stalled on two out of the three gardens - didn't know the trail and just went a bit too slow.

Second visit last week still mincing a bit but got down them all. Seat down, pick a line as commit to it. Moderate speed definitely helps - I'm still a bit slow/cautious on the first two, but reckon I get the third one about right here.

https://vimeo.com/39980005

slainte :oops: rob

Briggo

I thought this post was on about that off black shoot with the tight U turns and large rock garden drops (that's bloody hard imo), however if the video is what you're refering to just take them at speed, even on my first go at Cannock I thought they were fairly tame and didn't really realise they were there, going slower makes it more difficult.

prawny

MagikPocketz wrote:

prawny wrote:

Now that's conquered, time to start on the black runs

I thought he was talking about the black runs :P

Hmm you might be right, how many are there on the black? Ive seen the massive feck off one at the end (from them bottom :oops: )