16 year break!

walney

Went on my first "proper" MTB ride in about 16 years today!

Last time I rode an MTB on a proper off road course was a NEMBA XC race, bootle fell I think.

Took my 2003 Kraken down to Hamsterley. Its fully rigid as I normally just ride it on old railway paths to supplement my road riding.

Few things I noticed.

1. Lot more technical/trail features than when I previously rode
2. I,ve lost my bottle!

Did the Blue twice for a work out but the obstacles on the red route seem well beyond my capability and i'm worried about bridging the gap!

Any advice apart from get some suspension!

cooldad

Just ride and have fun.

Greer_

MTB tyres perhaps if you're using slicks. Other than that, just keep riding! And try and find someone else to tag along with to help push you along!

querhoch

You havent lost your bottle, youve just misplaced it. Also, it will be half empty so you need to spend some time refilling it. You can't do it all at once with some heroic gap jump, so do it gradually over time. You won't get extra points for binning it and spending 2 months in plaster.

Riding and bike technology has advanced enormously and trail centres have developed accordingly * so you'll have been left behind a bit being away so long. What was once considered extreme is now the norm and most trail centres presume a degree of skill and ability when building routes, but they will have Blue graded trails for total noobs. Unfortunatley, there is no consistency across the board so what is regarded as Red in one centre will be labelled Blue or even Black in another, but there will be a chicken run built into most of them so you can dodge the drops and gaps if you dont feel youre up to them, although when you have a newer and better bike what looks like a big rocky leg breaky death now will be something you can handle with ease with some springs and slacker angles. Just take your time and ease into it. Don't succumb to either the tempation to go balls out too soon or give in to peer pressure. If you don't want to ride it, then don't. Tension and nerves will kill you long before lack of skill. Most importantly, have fun.


*There is an arguement that riding has gotten so much more difficult and technical because the people building trails have built them for themselves and have the abilities required, forgetting that others don't. Are trails getting more difficult because modern riding demands it, or has modern riding developed to rise to the challenge of modern trail building?

walney

Thanks for the replys.

To be honest it feels like a different sport to me!

I suppose the origins of mountain biking were in downhill etc but I always enjoyed the "mountain" bit and enjoyed natural trails with the racing just being an alternative to cyclo cross.

The time off mountain bikes was spent on motorbikes so it feels odd that the steps and drop offs that worry me I would quite happily take at 40mph on a 120kg crosser!

miss notax

Don't forget that you are also 16 years older which (probably) means less of the 'I am invincible and can do anything' and more of the 'If I hurt myself my wife / husband will kill me and I won't be able to get to work / feed the kids etc'

There is no cure for this by the way!!

walney

Very good point! 2 crashes on my road bike in one week meant broken ribs and a day off work which is less and less easy to justify these days

ElliesDad

I got into mountain biking last year at the ripe old age of 43 and know exactly what you mean, all my confidence I seemed to have in my twenties (did a lot of mountaineering!) seems to have deserted me. I think as you get older you get wiser and more cautious!

I still lack bottle on the red routes but get better every time, best advice I learnt was carry more speed through the rougher sections, most of the mishaps I have had have been when over cautious and going too slow!

What you need is bike time and it will come naturally, and there's nothing wrong with getting off the bike and pushing it through an obstacle!

winter_zombie

ElliesDad wrote:

I got into mountain biking last year at the ripe old age of 43 and know exactly what you mean, all my confidence I seemed to have in my twenties (did a lot of mountaineering!) seems to have deserted me. I think as you get older you get wiser and more cautious!

I still lack bottle on the red routes but get better every time, best advice I learnt was carry more speed through the rougher sections, most of the mishaps I have had have been when over cautious and going too slow!

What you need is bike time and it will come naturally, and there's nothing wrong with getting off the bike and pushing it through an obstacle!

i totally agree

i used to do a lot of bikeing when i was in my 20's, now im 37 and ive only been back into it 6+ months
their is nothing wrong with getting off your bike, if i find something trick i will walk the section so i can see were is a good line or wait and watch somebody else do it and learn from that.

The Rookie

I started back at 43 (now 46) I love it and usually my bottle holds up OK (chasing an 18 year old son helps with bottle at least) but just occasionally I still chicken out, almost subconsciously....

Northwind

I stopped mountain biking in about 1996 and restarted in I think 2009, so I sympathise- yes it's changed a bit but also, I'd forgotten how to ride a bike Had to do a lot of relearning- both figuring out the new stuff and also relearning some of the old stuff, and unhelpfully having to unlearn some old stuff too (for instance, the shock at discovering tyres grip and suspension forks go up and down more than they go forward and back!)

sofaboy73

to the OP, have you thought about going on a skills course?

often a good option to refresh your skills with the right techniques or un-learn any bad habits you may of had. I was in a simialr situation to you in that used to MTB a lot on fully rigids in the early 90's than had a 10 year break, the thing that made the most differnec to my riding was doing a one day course a couple of years ago after i'd been back on the back for c 4 years