I thought we had gotten past the era of simply surviving a mountain bike ride, apparently, we haven’t. I saw a rider on Amasa Back trail the other day that had me scared for her safety, then I saw an MTB video that disturbed me.
Mountain biking should be a fun, relatively safe activity where you feel in control the ENTIRE time. Not a scary, seat of your pants experience that you feel lucky to have survived.
The rider on Amasa Back was noticeably scared and had the craziest, most dangerous reaction to that fear that I have ever witnessed! She sat down and took both feet off the pedals and coasted down this rocky, ledgy, rock slab. Here is my recreation:
She is lucky she didn’t get launched off her bike and because she made it, she may even think it was a good idea!
In this case, simply standing with all of her weight on her pedals and using arm and leg extension/contraction to contour to the surface would have been much safer. Proper body position is one of the two skills that form the foundation of basic mountain bike skills.
The video I saw was a rider feebly struggling through a rocky section of trail while other riders cheered her on. She was in no way ready for this section of trail; she was off-balance, not in proper body position, and most importantly, obviously lacked the confidence to ride this section.
If it wasn’t for the cheering on of her fellow riders, she would’ve never attempted to ride this section which would have been the smart thing to do.
You don’t learn correct technique by riding scared while using improper technique.
It looked like the goal was to give this rider more confidence: “Yay, she made it!” She BARELY made it though. She was wobbling, looking down and out of position. She felt lucky, not skilled.
Feeling like you got lucky does NOT increase your confidence. It makes what you just did feel harder than it should/would be with the proper technique.
Look, I’m a man and used to be a young man. Young men often push way above their skill level in the quest to improve (or simply not to look like a wimp).
This is why the overwhelming majority of emergency room visits for broken bones are by young men. Fortunately, they are young and heal quicker than I do at 55.
This is also why we develop bad habits, we’re wired to do what we have done in the past. If you barely made a section of trail that scared you, the next time you ride that section you will do it the same way you did it the last time unless you train yourself to do it differently.
A much better and faster way to learn is to master the two foundation skills that set you up for success on a mountain bike which is:
Vision and body position.
(Watch my Fundamental Body Position Video Tutorial for the correct technique)
If either of the riders were simply looking where they are supposed to (3-7 seconds ahead) and were standing with their weight on their pedals, they would have ridden through in balance, in control, and with grace.
Instead, they simply survived what was a scary and intimidating situation. The opposite of confidence-inspiring.
Don’t get lucky, get better!
Please share this article with anyone you think may benefit and feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.
Cheers
Gene
I relaxed, saw the line I wanted to take, found my balance and went through the section very controlled – it was great!
You’re lucky you made it down doing the demo.
I know! I was scared to do it, did you hear my seat or seatpost let out a painful creak?!
I saw the very same thing last Fall. MTB Dad was out with the kiddos, both were small fries. I felt so sorry for both of them! The young lady went off a 1/2′ log drop with her feet off the pedals. The boy was teetering & over correcting left & right & managed to get on level ground before he plowed into Dad LOL. I was so angry at Dad* (I use the term loosely).
Bad Dad!
Great points, I usually feel lucky when completing gap jumps; never exactly sure of distance and why one time feels perfect and another time nose dive or go sideways.