How to tackle this?

Gibbo3771

So been riding almost everyday for like 2 weeks due to the weather, I have been riding mostly the pentland hills which are ok but nothing too difficult.

I done the first 27 miles of the West Highland Way with a friend then back, there was this one bit that stumped me on how to tackle, unfortunately I never got around to taking a picture.

However it is a gravel track, downhill and as you go down it you have around 2 meters of "rocks", like a small rock garden protruding out of the ground, they are like big ass pebbles and stick out between 2 and 3 inches and they are all over the track at this particular point.

So was wondering, what is the best way to minimize falls on this type of terrain, are you best to hit it fast and look for the easiest part and guide the front wheel through and let the back follow all while hoping the speed keeps the wheels true and forward, or you better slowing down and bumping yourself over it?

It is hard to describe it but it's basically like big ass pebble sticking out of the ground with enough gap in-between for your wheel to get stuck or knocked, if you go over them they seem smooth enough to slide on.

cooldad

Bunnyhop

Gibbo3771

cooldad wrote:

Bunnyhop

lol if that is a serious suggestion, is that not a bit dodgy, I can't exactly bunnyhop forward 2 meters tbh unless I am going at a stupid speed, which I don't think is possible because I suck haha.

.blitz

If it's downhill then gravity is on your side.

Personally I'd look ahead, take a firm grip on the bars and just blast through it

Plyphon

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job.

homers_double

Plyphon wrote:

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job.

Pretty much this.

+props if you manual it!

pesky_jones

Plyphon wrote:

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job.

+1 + speed + condfidence

lostboysaint

Pesky Jones wrote:

Plyphon wrote:

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job.

+1 + speed + condfidence

That. And keep your vision further along the trail, don't just watch what the front wheel is doing.

Gibbo3771

Thanks everyone, I tend to stay loose and never watch the front wheel unless I am cycling up a craggy/rocky path and even at that I am still looking ahead mainly and letting my peripheral vision spot the nasties below.

Going to hit this bit again at the weekend going at a fast pace, confidence is not an issue, just seeing these obstacles for the first time is daunting.

sofaboy73

as others have said, stay loose and low on your bike and let it move underneath you. speed is your friend in this situation. unweight the front wheel slightly to let it 'float' across the top more, but don't lean too far back as you still want some decent tractionon the front otherwise the wheel gets pinged all over the place.

riding rocky sections is as much of a pyschological issue from many riders as it is technical (not saying this is the case here though). Hit is with some pace and you'll be ammazed at waht you can get away with

Anonymous

sofaboy73 wrote:

as others have said, stay loose and low on your bike and let it move underneath you. speed is your friend in this situation. unweight the front wheel slightly to let it 'float' across the top more, but don't lean too far back as you still want some decent tractionon the front otherwise the wheel gets pinged all over the place.

riding rocky sections is as much of a pyschological issue from many riders as it is technical (not saying this is the case here though). Hit is with some pace and you'll be ammazed at waht you can get away with

psychological issues come from a fear or being hurt or being pain or causing someone else emotional pain for example how would a close friend or family member feel if you seriously hurt yourself which often leads to people freezing up and not moving or do anything usually this is more dangerous because you become to scared to either continue down or move back to up either most commonly found when climbing when you descend down and things get a bit tricky you look for the next safe route and then the fear strikes you and become stuck and to scared to do anything and become more of a danger then before jus follow the advice given hit the area with some speed and don't stop believing you can do it and its going to be fine be the second you start doubting yourself and the equipment your using is the second things start to go badly when things go badly there often very hard to put right again.

hope this helps

JMcP92

Loose, weight back, bump the front before entering it and just try flow through it, if it's only 2m and downhill you should be over it rather quick

homers_double

@andrewg, its a bike FFS nothing more and nothing less.

BigJimmyB

homers double wrote:

@andrewg, its a bike FFS nothing more and nothing less.

+1 +grammar +punctuation -psychobabble

Anonymous

homers double wrote:

@andrewg, its a bike FFS nothing more and nothing less.

I don't see a problem with having a basic understanding of psychology. I don't see what your problem is with me?

97th choice

People who are nervous about an obstacle normally are too tense on a bike and too slow, with the result that they fall.

More speed, commitment, confidence and staying loose on the bike normally works for most situations.

cooldad

andrewgrundill wrote:

sofaboy73 wrote:

as others have said, stay loose and low on your bike and let it move underneath you. speed is your friend in this situation. unweight the front wheel slightly to let it 'float' across the top more, but don't lean too far back as you still want some decent tractionon the front otherwise the wheel gets pinged all over the place.

riding rocky sections is as much of a pyschological issue from many riders as it is technical (not saying this is the case here though). Hit is with some pace and you'll be ammazed at waht you can get away with

psychological issues come from a fear or being hurt or being pain or causing someone else emotional pain for example how would a close friend or family member feel if you seriously hurt yourself which often leads to people freezing up and not moving or do anything usually this is more dangerous because you become to scared to either continue down or move back to up either most commonly found when climbing when you descend down and things get a bit tricky you look for the next safe route and then the fear strikes you and become stuck and to scared to do anything and become more of a danger then before jus follow the advice given hit the area with some speed and don't stop believing you can do it and its going to be fine be the second you start doubting yourself and the equipment your using is the second things start to go badly when things go badly there often very hard to put right again.

hope this helps

While you were bombing down the hill and thinking all that you just hit a tree.

pesky_jones

He probally doesn't have a problem with you, just your post. The OP was asking for advice on how to tackle a technical section, and you gave possible physcological issues - not really relevant.

Imagine Gibbo was riding up the technical section - what information does he want running through his head:

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job, speed, confidence

or

psychological issues come from a fear or being hurt or being pain or causing someone else emotional pain for example how would a close friend or family member feel if you seriously hurt yourself which often leads to people freezing up and not moving or do anything usually this is more dangerous because you become to scared to either continue down or move back to up either most commonly found when climbing when you descend down and things get a bit tricky you look for the next safe route and then the fear strikes you and become stuck and to scared to do anything and become more of a danger then before jus follow the advice given hit the area with some speed and don't stop believing you can do it and its going to be fine be the second you start doubting yourself and the equipment your using is the second things start to go badly when things go badly there often very hard to put right again.

cooldad

Plyphon wrote:

Stay loose, weight back, let your fork do its job.

Or this if you haven't got the stones to bunnyhop it.


And yes I was sort of joking.

homers_double

andrewgrundill wrote:

homers double wrote:

@andrewg, its a bike FFS nothing more and nothing less.

I don't see a problem with having a basic understanding of psychology. I don't see what your problem is with me?

There is nothing wrong with a basic grasp of (bullshit) psychology. It just isn't needed on a forum of people who do gnarly stuff like roll over pebbles for kicks.

Gibbo3771

Thanks guys you have really boosted my confidence! I am aware that going slow over technical downhill terrain can be more dangerous than going fast, due to the likelyness of getting the wheel jammed, jack-knifing etc etc, this information has really added to my knowledge.

Awesome stuff, can't wait till I get a go prop camera though, will be good for giving myself feedback

cooldad

Yep don't forget to post the vid of you stacking it big time on the rocks.

plasma_man

If you are worried about that bit, what are you going to do when you get to the Devils Stair case!

Do the whole way, take tents and get a company to drop the tents at each site every evening, the WHW is great, especially after the first 27 miles!

Gibbo3771

Bah, don't worry about the Devils Stair Case, if I can walk it I can ride it .

The reason we only done 27 miles is due to the vast amount of tarmac we hit, it was only a day trip to see just exactly how far we can get on a full day, considering the amount of times we stopped to chill we done quite a bit .

We intend to do the entire thing, however we will be carrying EVERYTHING, screw those companies, doing it the old fasioned way with a rucksack and some elbow grease!

plasma_man

Sounds great, I done it a long time ago, maybe around 1999, met my mate at his house near the Cameron toll shopping centre ( if that still exists) then a great blast down to Waverley on the bikes, mega fun down the long hill through the traffic.
Then the train to mulligavie, we planned the first stop too early and ended up in Benglass camp site at top of the Loch, maybe 40 miles? The track up the east side of the loch was just walkable, but still good fun. 2nd day I think was Benglass to the Kimgshouse. We put our tent up on the wee island in the middle of the river, was sunset, went in, a few beers, came out and pitch black! Falling about a river pished! 3rd day was kings house to the end.

What a great variety of terrain and scenery, 3 days is fine if you are medium fitness. I done it on my diamond back, full rigid, those were the days. Some great stories, met a lot of nice folk, mostly walkers leaving at 6am and finishing T 10pm doing the same distance as us.

You will love it, carrying everything is not a big prob, we done it as it was a tenner a day, all,our other trips were carrying everything. Fort William to Aberdeen was another great adventure, through glen fettish.

Cheers

Iain

felix.london

cooldad wrote:

Yep don't forget to post the vid of you stacking it big time on the rocks.

Kowalski675

andrewgrundill wrote:

sofaboy73 wrote:

as others have said, stay loose and low on your bike and let it move underneath you. speed is your friend in this situation. unweight the front wheel slightly to let it 'float' across the top more, but don't lean too far back as you still want some decent tractionon the front otherwise the wheel gets pinged all over the place.

riding rocky sections is as much of a pyschological issue from many riders as it is technical (not saying this is the case here though). Hit is with some pace and you'll be ammazed at waht you can get away with

psychological issues come from a fear or being hurt or being pain or causing someone else emotional pain for example how would a close friend or family member feel if you seriously hurt yourself which often leads to people freezing up and not moving or do anything usually this is more dangerous because you become to scared to either continue down or move back to up either most commonly found when climbing when you descend down and things get a bit tricky you look for the next safe route and then the fear strikes you and become stuck and to scared to do anything and become more of a danger then before jus follow the advice given hit the area with some speed and don't stop believing you can do it and its going to be fine be the second you start doubting yourself and the equipment your using is the second things start to go badly when things go badly there often very hard to put right again.

hope this helps

Your English makes my head hurt, but you have a basis of fact buried in there. In situations of fear or panic the limbic system overides the frontal lobe and causes the person to freeze and do nothing. It's a basic hardwired response that goes back to caveman days when the best course of action when threatened by a dangerous situation, such as an irate mammoth, was to stay still and keep your head down, but it works less well these days - cavemen didn't drive cars, or hurl themsleves down hillsides on mountain bikes. It's one of the most common causes of rider error motorcycle accidents - rider approaches a corner at a speed they're not comfortable with and panics, freezing up and carrying straight on either into the roadside furniture (on a right hander) or oncoming traffic (on a left hander), when, if they'd managed to keep their cool and turn in properly, the bike would've made it round easily and safely.

YeehaaMcgee

Gibbo3771 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Bunnyhop

lol if that is a serious suggestion, is that not a bit dodgy, I can't exactly bunnyhop forward 2 meters tbh unless I am going at a stupid speed, which I don't think is possible because I suck haha.

Not that silly a suggestion at all. You don't need a very big hop to clear 2 metres when travelling at a moderate speed.

But, best advice like others have already said, is to stay relaxed. The bike will move about under you, that's fine. Guide the bike in the direction you want, don't force it.

Northwind

Plasma_man wrote:

glen fettish.

Sounds exciting!

plasma_man

Haha, you got me thinking "why did I not realise that before".

So I checked it out, it´s Glen Feshie. That was ages ago, but I nice mistake in the name!

We done Fort William to Braemar, via Loch Laggan, Newtonmore, Glen Feshie then Braemar.