DH Noob to Megavalanche - How possible?!

Anonymous

Woody80 wrote:

In all seriousness though, do you need much more than a full face, pads and balls?

Skills course could keep you out of hospital more than full on armour. Something I'm hoping to address and reduce the endos.

Woody80

I'm definitely booking some courses, not afraid of being taught things! I had decided this year was the year I get fit, brave and start racing!

Stevo_666

Woody80 wrote:

I'm definitely booking some courses, not afraid of being taught things! I had decided this year was the year I get fit, brave and start racing!

Good idea.

Re: how much armour do you really need, that's up to you but I prefer to play safe until my skills are at a level where I'm happy to wear a bit less. If I hadn't worn my kit these last few outings I'd have taken a few painful chunks out of various parts of my body!

Woody80

Have you got that 661 pressure suit then? Do you get hot in it?

sanchez89

Woody80 wrote:

Have you got that 661 pressure suit then? Do you get hot in it?

if your thinking about a course there is a DH beginners/noobs course next Saturday,(5th May) at Stile Cop, which i shall be attending.

iv already done a Jumps and Drops course with Adam, who is great teacher, and i want to learn more to be good at DH.

how about that for a shameless plug http://www.thebikeschool.net/downhill--freeride.html

Woody80

I'd love to but I'm doing the Dyfi Enduro on the 6th

Stevo_666

Woody80 wrote:

Have you got that 661 pressure suit then? Do you get hot in it?

Yep, got one of those.

It's not too hot as the material holding the protection together is quite thin and I just wear it with a loose-ish jersey over the top when warm so there's a bit of air cooling on the way down (or stick a base layer or 2 underneath if it's cold). The only time I got a bit warm was when it was wet and I was wearing a waterproof jacket over the top, but it wasn't too bad.

Woody80

sanchez89 wrote:

Woody80 wrote:

Have you got that 661 pressure suit then? Do you get hot in it?

if your thinking about a course there is a DH beginners/noobs course next Saturday,(5th May) at Stile Cop, which i shall be attending.

iv already done a Jumps and Drops course with Adam, who is great teacher, and i want to learn more to be good at DH.

how about that for a shameless plug http://www.thebikeschool.net/downhill--freeride.html

Course looks really good and at a decent price. Think I'll find a date and book it. Thanks for the tip

ilovedirt

Stevo 666 wrote:

Woody80 wrote:

Oh, I see! The full works! Might have to do a few runs first to justify kitting up like that! That said I'd wear it round the house because it looks cool!

TBH the first few DH days out were when I really needed it

Lol, true that, I crashed a lot when I first started. The faster you get though, the harder the crashes tend to get. Body armour isn't going to stop you breaking bones, unfortunately.

miss notax

My bravery is directly proportional to the amount of body armour i'm wearing

That said, I still don't take huge risks but i'm more inclined to try stuff outside my comfort zone. In an xc lid and no body armour I am inclined to peer at something for too long and then decide that I would rather not ride it.....

ilovedirt

Yeah I know what you mean, I feel much more comfortable with my full face lid and knee pads on (the extra 2/3 inches of travel under me helps as well!).

Woody80

miss notax wrote:

My bravery is directly proportional to the amount of body armour i'm wearing

That said, I still don't take huge risks but i'm more inclined to try stuff outside my comfort zone. In an xc lid and no body armour I am inclined to peer at something for too long and then decide that I would rather not ride it.....

That sounds familiar! Even just wearing knee and shin pads I'll attack a trail harder than with bare legs! That's why I went out and bought the full face. I also find that I only fall off when I'm not padded up!

Majski

Cannock red run is super easy for beginners. It's easier / flatter than a lot of trail centre XC stuff and is basically just a gravel path at the top with a few 1-1.5ft drops and a jump, followed by some fun singletrack at the bottom. It's ideal for beginners because after a couple of hours sessioning it you'll be able to hammer at least the top section without braking - which'll build your confidence.

Also I wouldn't worry about 'flat landings' on the drops. They're really small on the red trail and would be fine on a hardtail. If you feel like pushing it a little bit take the ladder option after the big left hand berm, slightly bigger drop off that and the trail points a bit more downwards afterwards. just make sure you re-join the red before you get onto the 2nd wooden feature!

have fun

sanchez89

pushing it a little more onto snakes and ladders?? mate that ladder drop is pretty big.

if you wanted the next step up from the red i would say its Ridge Run.

Majski

sanchez89 wrote:

pushing it a little more onto snakes and ladders?? mate that ladder drop is pretty big.

if you wanted the next step up from the red i would say its Ridge Run.

The very first little ladder drop is only similar in size to the jump on ridge. The second ladder drop into the right hand berm is nastier, but you can rejoin the red before that bit

Woody80

Majski wrote:

sanchez89 wrote:

pushing it a little more onto snakes and ladders?? mate that ladder drop is pretty big.

if you wanted the next step up from the red i would say its Ridge Run.

The very first little ladder drop is only similar in size to the jump on ridge. The second ladder drop into the right hand berm is nastier, but you can rejoin the red before that bit

How big are we talking here?

Majski

Woody80 wrote:

Majski wrote:

sanchez89 wrote:

pushing it a little more onto snakes and ladders?? mate that ladder drop is pretty big.

if you wanted the next step up from the red i would say its Ridge Run.

The very first little ladder drop is only similar in size to the jump on ridge. The second ladder drop into the right hand berm is nastier, but you can rejoin the red before that bit

How big are we talking here?

Couple of foot tops, onto a pretty mellow landing into a straight fairly flat run out.

The second one however is a differeint thing all together. It's a short but fairly high drop straight into a 90 degree right hander. Hence my suggestion to re-join the red before you hit that. If you get as far as the 2nd boardwalk then back up a little and turn left down the hill following the singletrack that crosses the fireroad, you can't miss it.

If you don't like the first ladder drop you can just ride round it and do the singletrack that follows.

Woody80

Majski wrote:

Woody80 wrote:

Majski wrote:

sanchez89 wrote:

pushing it a little more onto snakes and ladders?? mate that ladder drop is pretty big.

if you wanted the next step up from the red i would say its Ridge Run.

The very first little ladder drop is only similar in size to the jump on ridge. The second ladder drop into the right hand berm is nastier, but you can rejoin the red before that bit

How big are we talking here?

Couple of foot tops, onto a pretty mellow landing into a straight fairly flat run out.

The second one however is a differeint thing all together. It's a short but fairly high drop straight into a 90 degree right hander. Hence my suggestion to re-join the red before you hit that. If you get as far as the 2nd boardwalk then back up a little and turn left down the hill following the singletrack that crosses the fireroad, you can't miss it.

If you don't like the first ladder drop you can just ride round it and do the singletrack that follows.

I'll try the walk round first then! 2 ft should be ok (I think!). The bike will certainly take it, it's whether I screw it up or not! I find that if I just hit stuff it's less of a problem than the kind games when you look over the edge first!

chris321

Big respect to you guys doing the mega, it's on my list of things to do before I'm old and creaky (only 23 at the moment though, so I've got a fair few years to muster up the courage )

Chris

miss notax

Damn - i'm too late. I'm already old and creaky

felix.london

Like a fine wine hey?..get better with age Nothing wrong with a few creaks..let's you know things are still connected and working (for now)

miss notax

Ha ha, yeah, something like that!!

(37 on Tuesday and not looking forward to it - it's getting dangerously close to 40! :shock: )

felix.london

pah! You're a spring chicken! I've been 37 for 5 months! - welcome to the club (nearly)

Woody80

chris321 wrote:

Big respect to you guys doing the mega, it's on my list of things to do before I'm old and creaky (only 23 at the moment though, so I've got a fair few years to muster up the courage )

Chris

I'm 31 and now growing the balls to give it a go! Looks class and DH looks like a lot of fun. Sometimes you've just go to take a plunge and do stuff. Don't want to be regretting not having done something!

felix.london

indeed!!

Woody80

Cannock DH course booked! Bring on the Full Face and goggles action! - Got to stop wearing them around the house before the OH has me taken away :shock:

Woody80

Just got back from my training session with Adam Halling (bikeschool.net). Really good day out sessioning sections at Stile Cop after going back to basics to start with.

Only a couple of offs, bit bruised and grazed now! Will definitely be back to Stile Cop.

Struggled a bit with confidence on the rock drop on Balboa (I think) but manned up and landed it after hitting the deck the first time round! Can't wait to get back!

DodgeT

Glad to hear you got on well and enjoyed it. We were there too on saturday, from about 12 - 2, just hitting the top half of the red run, only 2nd time there and taking it nice and easy

Fancy giving us a brief run down of exactly what you did on the course, as could be interested doing it myself..

I normally wear FF, knee pads and sub top, but think i'm going to crack the pressure suit out next time. It's been waiting patiently in my wardrobe for an outing - aint going to do any good in there is it !

Going to have a scan for some goggles too I think.

Woody80

Started right back at the basics of manuals, cornering and bunny hops. It was good to spend time doing the basics as you normally just go out and ride! Then spent time sessioning sections on the red, the first drop then the tabletop after that. Then practised the double near the bottom of the run.

After that we practised cornering on Wonderland (I think), just getting used to banking the bike right over and building on speed. I then wanted to practice bigger drops which is why Adam picked the rock drop on Balboa which was bigger than I'd normally do as I'd usually ride around it as it looked massive from the lip!!

Stacked it the first time but Adam gently encouraged me to try again and I nailed it the next two times!

I'd recommend the training, as it was 1-2-1 it was tailored to my ability and I've got a lot out of it, both confidence and skill wise.

I'm looking at pressure suits and armoured shorts now. I've counted 12 bruises and 3 cuts!

Want to get back to Stile Cop now although might be by myself as my mates would rather do the Monkey!

DodgeT

I'm up for going as much as possible over the next few months, will be mainly saturday mornings and hopefully throw a few tuesday nights in.
Let me know anytime if you wanna go and we could have a bash at it. I've done all of the top of the red a few times, including the bigger / left side 2nd jump, not perfect but getting better.
Another lad (from the club i'm in) got ambulanced off just as we got there to meet them, he'd done his collarbone.. So always best to be with someone.