[Closed] I totally suck at.....

Hopping to the left. Right is fine, left is a no go.

Flat corners. It's actually downright embarassing, considering I am not bad otherwise.

Rock Gardens....

I know the theory and I can do them, an unknown trail will have me panicking if I know there is a rock garden somewhere in it and a known trail will see Steeling myself at least 4-500 yrds before tackling it.

For me they are and always will be my "Bete Noir"

...all of it.

but I don't care, it's just messing about on bikes.

M'ing TFU and actually going out in bad weather.

Pedalling

Jumping. Constant fear of getting it badly wrong and ending up in hospital. Even though I have hit some decent jumps and had no bother.

.. the rock gardens on the red route at Cannock.

cycled all over the lakes incl Helvellyn down dollywaggon and the borrowdale bash and had little or no issues cycling over rocks but that small section at the top of the monkey just gets me, don't know why. Now I don't even bother and take the grey coward run.

What I don't suck at would be a far shorter list. In fact I'm struggling to think of anything to put on it (I suppose I'm quite decent at fireroad climbs).

wheelies / manuals

Steep trails. I've often tried to rationalise it that being tall, my bikes aren't set up right (as I do tend to like a lowish front end) but I suspect that I'm just chicken and rubbish.

Blind drops, gaps and exposure. Basically I'm scared of heights!

Steep descents always freak me out. The ones where once you go over the edge, there's no turning back.

Off camber rocks and roots especially in the wet.

technical stuff: turning on steep trails, especially where there's only one line to take
brave stuff: drops - they take a lot of building up to for me - I can do other ballsy stuff like gap jumps, exposed stuff, roots, etc. but drops always give me the fear

i used to be good at pretty much everything but spending less time on the bike nowadays leaves me with less time to brush up on the skills and therefore knocks my confidence.
also as i get older i find myself doing more risk assessments in my mind before tackling the more gnarly stuff and my physical conditioning isnt anywhere near as good as it used to be due to age and old injuries catching up with me...

so i'm pretty poo nowadays on the bike (but in my dreams i kick ass!!)...but i love it all the same.

Yep, deffo jumping. A few years ago I did a few ladder drops (up to 6ft) and found them OK. I also had no issue with the many (admittedly small) doubles at Carron Valley. Since then I've sort of convinced myself that I can only get airborne on features that are man-made. I seem to stick to the ground like superglue on "natural" trails. A few too many crashes in the last 2 or 3 years have not helped build confidence.

Wheelies/manuals are nothing other than perfunctory ways of avoiding an obstacle rather than cool tricks to impress my kids. I suppose I'm not as good at trusting my tyres when cornering either; too defensive.

Plenty of work to do then 😆

drop offs - left half my face at Cathkin 6 weeks ago 🙁

Climbs on loose gravel and/ or roots. Back wheel spins out, resulting in a quick unclip and dab.

Riding one handed while holding a coffee. 😳

wheelies / manuals

Please explain how this works

I totally suck at..... Fitness, it's sooo bad. I'm not a bad rider for the first 30 seconds. 😆

Jumps too. Absolutely no idea what I should be doing, so I avoid them.

Used to do a lot of jumping on BMXs when I was younger. Nothing fancy. I maybe braved the odd one hander or no footer. Most of it just involved clinging on for dear life, I suppose mainly because I wasn't very good at it. But still, we used to get some height out of those jumps. Yet I've never been able to bring myself to jump a proper set of doubles. Not even baby ones.

In fact, anything scary I suck at.

Steep alpine switchbacks can't get my head round them properly and there's nowhere really in the uk to practice them.

Jumping still squash everything and drops above waist height gives me the heebie jeebies.

Anything with wheels more than 12" off the ground. Broke my collarbone one the most modest looking jump. At least I can make up for it uphills with fitness 😈

Peddling. Especially uphill. Seriously I am just crap at it.

I can sprint down hills but going up I am terrible. It doesn't help that I have pretty strong lower back pain and being in a climbing position really hurts.

mrhoppy
Steep alpine switchbacks can't get my head round them properly and there's nowhere really in the uk to practice them.

I wish some trail centre would build some proper, steep, arse clenching real Alps spec switchbacks so we could practise! 😉

I wish some trail centre would build some proper, steep, arse clenching real Alps spec switchbacks so we could practise!

Ride down some of the Cannock climbs in the dark whilst drunk and you might recreate a little of that Alpine vibe 😉

Gap jumps, any size, just hate them.

And wheelies/manuals.

and riding up, and riding down in wet, and anything that requires any kind of fitness, and.............. 😳

Jumping for me too. I'm ok with small-medium drop offs (done the biggest of the three on the last descent at Inners) but I'm rubbish at actual jumps. The take-offs always feel too steep to me.

Really steep Alpine switchbacks I struggle with too. And in fact pretty much everything at Revolution Bike Park.

maxtorque - a day at BPW and we will become amazing! 🙂

Jumps, drops, corners, manuals, wheelies and going fast.

my wife says......giving Bjs!

I was propper shit trying to ride Half Cut at BPW on saturday in the piss pouring rain.
Not even near to riding it. 🙄
How slippy are those exposed roots in the wet. 😯

jekkyl - Member

my wife says......giving Bjs!

grum - Member
Jumping for me too. I'm ok with small-medium drop offs (done the biggest of the three on the last descent at Inners) but I'm rubbish at actual jumps. The take-offs always feel too steep to me.
Really steep Alpine switchbacks I struggle with too. And in fact pretty much everything at Revolution Bike Park.
maxtorque - a day at BPW and we will become amazing!

Pfft you and your going riding to get better, I'm gonna buy me some skill, to CRC/Merlin/Wiggle (delete as appropriate).

being

Rad
Stoked
Sick
Gnarly
Grranarcore
Mincing

generally a mountainbiker................

8)

Drops over a couple of feet
Gaps
Blind and poorly sighted stuff
Wheelies and manuals

The first two are linked psychologically t and practically to the fourth.

The third is my low mental processing speed and slow reaction time.

I am generally a bit rubbish but love my riding and I guess 1,2 and 4 would be my wish list.

XC racing.

Manuals!

I can only do them well enough so that I can do drop offs and get over curb sized trail obstacles but I would love to be able to manual and pump through dips.

I totally suck at..... Fitness, it's sooo bad. I'm not a bad rider for the first 30 seconds.

Plus one.

It's something i've been trying to work on this winter. I'll know i don't have what it takes to be super fit but if i can get to the top a bit fresher, i reckon 45 seconds could be on the cards. 😀

Happy enough with my riding in general but there's one trail i ride, maybe once every 18 months, which makes me forget how to ride a bike. A nasty combo of steep, twisty, rocky and slippery. Oh, and narrow trees.

So fitness and mental fortitude then.

Fine with....

Drop-off's
Going really fast
Roots
Rock gardens
Climbing
Trackstands (to a fashion)
Berms (to a fashion)
Small'ish jumps
Riding beyond my skill level

Suck at....

Doubles
Big jumps
Steep stuff (especially when wet)
Wheelies
Manuals
Anything wooden and more than a foot off the ground
Being fit
Actually being properly good at anything

I like totally suck at not being able to wince every time I read the phrase totally suck in the UK. I totally suck at this increasingly often.

manuals & wheelies
doubles
big anythings
stuff a long way off the ground, actually I don't know if I suck at it or not, I avoid it

Gap jumps give me the fear, although in generally ok on smaller ons. Flat or tight corners are my nemesis too, I can get round a berm on but suck at flat corners.

I can normally manual enough to get through a puddle but other than that I suck. Never been able to wheelie for more than a few pedal strokes.

Often struggle with trail centre jumps due to the lack of a lip. Most if the jumps I'm used to have decent lips whereas trail centre jumps need to be rollable so tend to need lots of speed to clear.

What do I suck at on a mountain bike? Everything and nothing.

Everything in the sense that I have limited fitness, hardly any bike handling skills and will walk down anything I find scary, which includes plenty of stuff that lots of other riders would rate as easy.

Nothing in the sense that I don't care. I can still enjoy getting out and riding my bike in some beautiful scenery and I have no real interest in turning my leisure activity into another dick measuring contest.

I'll probably continue to try and practice things like cornering, trackstands, wheelies and manuals as I think they will add to my enjoyment of the trail. But I'll leave the daredevil stuff to those that enjoy it.

Drops over about 30cm
Flat corners
Pedalling uphills
Proper bunny hops

Flat pedals - keep trying them, keep going back to SPDs

Pump tracks - exhausting and feel totally unnatural - especially the ones at Lee Quarry.

Staying off of STW, heh.

Low speed wet roots on flat/slightly pointing upwards ground.

How I tackle wet off camber roots and rocks is that I go fast enough that when my wheels start sliding they should find firm ground before I get dumped on my arse. Take the speed away, I don't find the firm ground, I get dumped on my arse, atleast it's low speed so not too painful.

Pretty poor at loose off camber steep in a controlled manner, I cant get the braking right. The moment I get a little worried about something, I just try to do it, normally going too fast and again get dumped on my arse. I try to control the speed with braking, but it always gets carried away from me. If I get down something steep, loose, off camber with lots of tight turns, it's normally instinct and luck that gets me down, all game plans go out of the window.

ndthornton - Member
wheelies / manuals

this
Please explain how this works

Yup, also doubles and probably jumping in general if i were to be honest but i think thats more of a confidence issue as i have hit some with no issues just so long as im not expecting it so dont have time to freak myself out about it beforehand...

Climbing, manuals, bunny hopping and jumping.

As such, I'm quite good at not falling off!

As such, I'm quite good at not falling off!

Steep left hand corners and berms. Fine on right handers.

Off-camber roots and steep bits.

Riding slow above the ground, aka north shore.

I'm not fussed about the last one, but will be working on the first two this year.

Double post.

Jumping in general, any sort of gap jump or tabletop terrify me of landing wrong :/ pretty sure its a confidence thing ,drops dont faze me though unless its something mental .

... siphoning petrol from a car, coz im too scared to suck hard

^^^^ true story

Gaps and doubles. Drops on to a steep landing.

The vast majority of the above.

And never taking what i need on a ride.

No spare tubes = 7 punctures
No Waterproof = torrential rain
No spare gloves = dog eats my glove
No lunch = all cafes shut