Nerves

[ELX]

This question is directed at the A grade riders and anyone else that's scary fast. I was just wondering if there was a point in your lives when racing DH that you just stopped getting partly scared of hitting corners at very high speeds, or did you just get less scared as you spent more time on the bike? I only ask because after races i allways think over the diffrent section and think i could go alot faster. So i tried it today down a local trail and probably nearly doubled my normal speed and i didn't stack or even come close. I good bost of confidence. :D

TJ

[duncan^kona]

man im shit at going fast around corners, i got no confidence

[creepyjoe]

i'll worry about going faster once I've got the clipping trees on narrow tracks, taking the wrong line and slideing out down steep slopes sorted out ;)

[Simo]

amen joe!

[Billy]

confidence comes with ability, some riders still get scared, they just deal with it differently..
just practice, practice, practice...

if you are doing a practice run, and stuff a corner, stop and go back up to do it again...

A grade riders, like Tim Mann and Matt Tape go out and do truck runs early in the morning before work most days, and a lot of riding during the weekends that are not race days.

Kovarik, when I first met him about 8 years ago, would ride all morning at Ironbark on the weekends, then he would go to our friend, Jay Taylor's house, and they would ride dirt jumps and a dual track that was on the property, all day, till the afternoon when they would do downhill runs on Camp Mountain, all of this was done on a hardtail, and all of it WITHOUT the aid of truck runs... they used to walk.... boys like Tim Mann and Matt Tape were pretty young back then, Matt was tiny (hehe, Sorry Tapey, if someone tells you about this) I once picked Matt up and threw him into my pool, "outsiders edge" style... hehe, those guys hung out with Kovarik, Taylor, Maxwell and a heap of other guys, that just rode all day.. they were real young, and just rode all day, it is always a lot better to have a good group of mates to ride with, cause you push each other further...

so that's the secret guys, ride, ride, ride... but not only just around and around... you need to ride sections over, to get used to doing different things...

One other thing, ride a bike that isn't forgiving... like a hardtail.. for a while... it helps you learn the lines and be smooth, once you are smooth, a dually will begin to help you...

[lindsay]

Yep Billy pretty much summed it up.

I don't usually hit corners that fast that it scares me. I've just ridden that much that i slowly become more confident at hitting corners fast. There are always times when i'm halfway through a corner and i scare myself becasue i realise i have hit it too fast and there's a good chance i could slide out.

So yeah ride heaps and ride with mates so you can puch each other. I know when Jared and myself started riding together years ago we used to push each other all the time to go faster. He always wanted to be faster than me and i didn't want to let him get too much faster than me. It definitely made us both better riders.

[Billy]

There is no real reason why anyone couldn't be as fast as the A graders and even Pros... It is all about skill, and skill is only really gained by riding heaps...

Strength and fitness are important as well

sometimes being a little scared is important in becoming faster as well, it's a little natural drug called Adrenalin... best high ever... If you aren't a little scared, you will actually go slower... I have found that out myself.. lots of times...

After 8 years of riding various types, I started doing truck runs back in '97 heheh I've found that fear has a big role to play in improving skill

[toodles]

Good advice folks. Got another question along the same lines - after you have a bad crash, like liquid food only after kind of crash, how do you guys regain the confidence you lost? It seems everytime I start feeling quick, I stack and it takes me weeks/months to get feeling solid again.

[chuckrockswell]

it really helps to have someone to ride with. i got into mountain biking through friends, they were pretty good, one actually went to the worlds as a junior. just riding with other people pushes you to do things you wouldn't normally do, and you learn a lot from each other.

now unfortunately im the only one out of all my friends that still rides and i've noticed myself that i am less willing to push myself and take risks even though i'm still riding a heap.

[Billy]

I try to avoid crashing.. ;)

[curtisrider]

I'm scared of slipping out going round road corners at high speed.
Dh track i'm scared of goping too fast but not as scared as roads. Don't know why but i'd ratther stack on a dh track that a road.

[Gutty]

Beer cures nerves !!

[fastrider gus]

DH tracks dont realy scare me that much, i usually ride within my boundaries..
jumps/drops dont realy scare me anymore! i used to look at stuff and i'd be like "ooooh i dunno..." now it more like "yea ill hit that!"
its cool...

[Simo]

i used to look at stuff and i'd be like "ooooh i dunno..." now it more like "yea ill hit that!"
its cool...
That's what happened to me with my skiing afew years ago. I used to be tentitive and wouldn't try any cliffs or big park. Now i just think, "If I hit it im gonna get recognition with my mates, if i land it it would have been the biggest rush ever, if i stack i'll cost my parents money in hospital bills and i'll have a good story to tell my non-skiing mates" :P
.........Just cant wait till I get like that on a bike. :lol: :roll: :lol:


edit: you think I would have learnt to spell in 10 years at school! :P

[S.]

Find a better rider than yourself and follow them down (make sure the difference in your skill levels is noticeable but not extreme - following Steve Peat down a course won't get you anywhere), if you just take the same lines they do at the same speed they do, you'll see that you can quite easily go a helluva lot faster without taking huge risks.

[lindsay]

I hate people calling me a pedaller! :x

Yes being fit does help but if you have fittness and no skill you can't go fast. Plus the other top riders at the races are all as fit as me and pedal just as hard.

[toodles]

Gotta agree with Socket - riding with someone better than yourself is a good way to pick up speed. You find yourself playing catch up for awhile but soon you'll find you can keep up.

[wombat]

Beer cures nerves !!

It also cures timing, I wish I had some pics of my helmet....

[Jess_Dawg]

personaly i reckon downhill is all in your head. if you think you can go fast around a corner you can. if you think you will crash. most of the time you do. just think possitive when your riding.

[scotty beefs]

i've never been much of a downhiller but i think the same applies there as any other type of riding where pain is potentially involved...i think the canadian club whiskey motto sums it up "he who hesitates is lost..." so true..if for a second you think your going to bail or clip the lip on some bunnyhop, just doubt yourself at all, you prob will. So really its about pure confidence which simply comes with spending more time on the bike.
But as with most of us there is a steady loop of places we ride and people we ride with so to a certain point this spending time on the bike to gain confidence will work but you need to look further afield...enter stage farkin.net.
I went for a ride last night with some boys off here and saw things that i could of done better than some blokes but most of all saw a lot of things that guys were doing a lot better than i would have and riding things i would have never looked at as bothering to ride but as soon as i saw them doing it I was like "yeah why not, i could maybe do that" thats how to progress i reckon...
Did i go off topic??? I'd say so but thats what i reckon, summary nerves=good thing to a point but decrease thru confidence->time on bike
->more time on bike, different people, new lines, more skills gained = more confidence...repeat cycle.

[Billy]

haha, sorry Lindsay, that was sort of a second hand comment too..... hehe (I think it was Roadie Rob) ahahhahah

I didn't mean to imply that you are just a pedaller... shit dude, you have got some of the best skills out....

[no_3]

I gotta say this, all u guys that keep calling lindsay a pedaller are just looking for excuses, ive been watching a few of the races lately, and ive seen some of th eothet guys like matt tape, tim mann, and shane wode ALL pedalling a lot more than him, sur ehe can pedal but not any better than those guys. At Magpie Ck he won coz he was the fastest rider, he was like the only gut to sit down on thaty sandy straight from what ive heard, and from what i saw pinned all the rocky techy bits MUCH harder than evryone else. I reckon its funny how he always get s beaten at Ippy where its pedalling central and wins on the non pedally tracks. I'd just like to know where all this lindsays a pedaller stuff started, of all 4 guys i mentioned in this post lindsays th eonly one who wasnt at one time a full on xc bandit

[no_3]

Just realized i should throw something in for u as well TJumper. Just ride as much as u can, try new stuff like u have been doing, thats awesome, with time skills and confidence will come, just have fun

[riles]

NO_3
you ever been to coffs harbour.???
the man sure as hell knows how to pedal a bit better than most people in queensland and new south wales.
it just so happens he also has his fair share of skilz as well.
which makes him damn good.
but don't base everything around one race you saw.

[no_3]

yeah,ive been to coffs, and i ride with lindsay a bit, and ive seen lotsa races, i know hes fit and strong, but no more than anyone else

[Damo]

Good advice folks. Got another question along the same lines - after you have a bad crash, like liquid food only after kind of crash, how do you guys regain the confidence you lost? It seems everytime I start feeling quick, I stack and it takes me weeks/months to get feeling solid again.

I rekon if you think about it in your head .... go over and over and over it again and again nailing that corner or launching that jump pikin the right line down a rocky chute in ya head then count down from 3 and just do it. You've thought about it enough so just copy exactly how you saw it in your mind. Once you've landed it or hit the right line you'll be so pumped nothing will stop you.

I find this method especially usefull doing big jumps. They generally scare the crap out of me.

[toodles]

Damo - the method that works best for me is not thinking about it except picking my line, putting the risk to the back of my mind and then pretending that I've got nothing to worr about and hitting it. After I get through something once, the fear is gone and I'm fine. It's just the first time that scares the bejeepers outta me.

[bazza]

i was told by our top rider is even if you fuck up sections if you still pedal as hard as you can for as much as possible you still have a pretty good chance. so theres the advice pedal like fark as much as possible. buy a road bike and get some legs built from that if you want to save your rubber on your dh bike. fucken road riding on dh bikes. bye bye michy tyre. crys.