 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
A personal story or riding joy:
Well still being a relative "n00b" to "all terrain riding" (see what I did there? No issues with you hairy, beer swilling northerner's telling me there's no mountains near Swinley!) I'm still at the stage where I've got a lot of mental riding barriers to overcome.
To give a bit more background: I rode a bike as a kid but only ever up and down the road, no racing, no technical stuff, no wheelies etc... the most I could do was ride no-handed and even that wasn't for any decent length of time. Then at the age of 11 I was knocked off my bike riding through town; never rode again.
15 years later I bought a bike and quickly discovered although "it's like riding a bike, you never forget" is true, my comfort level on the bike was that of a 4 year old learning for the first time (and my fitness level not far off!).
I'm lucky enough to live within riding distance of Swinley and quickly started to explore, but stuck to fire roads and found myself having to stop at the top of each hill to breath and drown my burning lungs with energy drink. 5 weeks later I was feeling a little healthier and joined up with the chaps from the MTB Britain forum for a Saturday morning ride. At this point this was the longest ride I had done (in my life probably) and my first exposure to singletrack... 13 miles of it (but thankfully lots of stops to chat and repair innertubes etc).
I was very pleased with my progress, having not ridden for 15 years I had just rode for 13 miles and done it on terrain I never thought I could handle! 😀
Cut to 2 or 3 months later, a few falls/injuries and quite a few rides with friends who are much more confident on bikes whipping around over whatever the singletrack throws at them; I had dug myself into a mental hole... slowing before anything tricky, walking drops that I could've rolled over if I hadn't had stopped before the edge and bottling certain tracks that I've falled on.
I told a friend that my only goal for riding would be: riding whats in front of me without bottling stuff and being able to ride for longer without stopping. I'm not fussed about tricks, big air or riding a 4grand beast to its ability... just having fun in the woods with my friends without stopping and without the kind of silly small mental blocks that I'd tell the patients I look after to snap out!
Last night I realised something... I'm getting there! 😀
Now I'm not kidding myself that I'm a good rider yet, I can't manual, I can't wheelie and I still have nerves riding stuff that picks up too much speed or shakes me about too much. But I'm riding for longer without stopping 😀 and there's a 2 1/2ft drop that I've always avoided... that last night I rolled over in a smooth controlled manner for the second time. 😀
I'm finding I'm taking the singletrack I've ridden before at a nicer smoother pace, and when riding with newer riders I'm really noticing how my biking fitness has increased. It's a fantastic feeling and one I hope that you guys and gals reading this will recognise!
I know most of you STW gods are probably reading this thinking "Pfft, what a soft idiot, can't even heli-drop into a croc-infested-river and wheelie out of it into the record books!" but the little sense of achievement I'm getting on most rides is fantastic and I couldnt be happier 😀
To those out there who are as new or newer to riding than me, keep going... it gets better, easier and a hell of a lot more fun. To those out there who get frustrated at the idiot on a carrera holding you up on the singletrack dragging their brakes: give us a chance and a "well done for clearing that mate"perhaps... that little bit of encouragement might just be enough to give them the confidence to not get in your way next time.
Muchos biking love to all 
When I started biking about 16 years in my mid 20s ago I really struggled with drop offs, not even big ones just standard drop offs that occur on every bridleway & trail centre - so for me getting a drop off right was a really big deal.
these will be your best days 🙂
after 35 years of riding I'm no better now than I was then, but I still love riding bikes
that's a good story philconsequence
I think most people on here just ride what they can and don't let on that they might struggle in some areas.
Personally, I seem to ride anything vaguely technical on the cusp of either a big accident or getting off and walking.
Fitness does seem to help, though - it's easier to ride technical stuff if you're not still wheezing from the previous climb...
Well done and keep it going.
I promise you, you won't be that different from many on here. There are a some gods, for sure, but the rest of us are far better in our heads than on real dirt. None of us bounce that well, being mainly middle aged desk jockeys. Reading your post, at 26 or so you've got a big advantage over a lot of us!
BOB would be glad to see you (intro ride at the Lookout this Saturday i think?), www.bobmbc.com and are very friendly, and would show you plenty of other stuff in the vicinity of Swinley that you'd also enjoy.
And lastly - get a day's tuition. Get Jedi off here (can't remember the name of his setup but google Tony Doyle and cycling and I'm sure you'll find him) or more locally Andy and Sarah at Purple Bike Shed runs skills courses in Swinley. For the price of a new rear mech, the best biking upgrades available.
@missingfrontallobe - it definitely was a big deal, had to hide my stupid grin from my buddy!
@wwaswas - agreed on the fitness helping, easier to deal with a section when your vision is going dark and fuzzy and you're able to breath!
@theotherjonv - I'm planning on heading out to Swinley this Saturday with a bunch of mates but due to their various time/work problems it wont be until 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
As for the Jedi training day, its an investment I've already commited myself to for next year when the weather cheers up. The other-half would benefit massively from a session with Jedi (ooo-er!) but she is almost incapacitated by cold weather and her fitness level is going to drop dramatically over the winter. I'm hoping that once the sun comes out again I cant get her out and build up her riding a bit, then for us to book Jedi for a session. She's surprisingly ballsy on the bike and was more critical of me walking drops as it meant she slowed down behind me and ended up doing the same haha.
wawaswas is right, fitness helps, I'm just getting back into things and am really unfit, but still enjoy getting out. Hope by spring to be a lot fitter and enjoying things even more.
Thanks for the recmendation! Click my username to get to my web site. Wether I see you or not for coaching, riding bikes rocks! 🙂
In the last few months I've actually concentrated on riding slowly uphill so that I can ride the downhill bits with better technique - I highly recommend Mastering Mountain Bike Skills. Slowly but surely it's making me a better biker! And with drops I'm trying to gradually work a few inches higher at a time - currently trying to get past the 2' mental barrier... It's great to see quantifiable progress isn't it?!
already spent time browsing your site Jedi 8)
I'll definitely be booking some time with yourself, it was a decision that was concreted after I watched that skills video you were in (possible on bikeradar?) talking about MTFUing.... I thought that's the guy to teach me!
do need to wait til next year though as the cold ruins my other-half's knees, motivation and mood in one foul swoop.
Congrats, keep going and you'll keep improving 🙂 Just got back into it myself after 15 years out and I'm loving it. The skills are a bit rusty, but i'm improving and strangely I seem to have more bottle than I did when I was younger. Falling off hurts more though.
You have summed up what it's all about, having fun in the woods with your friends 😀
wish i could remember riding when i was a kid... i genuinely dont know if i've got more or less bottle now. all i can remember is 2 incidents:
1) dad running over my bmx with his company car
2) being knocked off my bike in town by some young fool trying to rush through a gap in the traffic
The things I remember from riding when I was a kid are:
1. landing on my head after trying a jump and my mother demanding that I wear a helmet
2. Attempting to bunny hop up a curb, smacking the front wheel into it ,which sent me front flipping over the bars landing perfectly seated on the front wheel. 🙂
3. Not having the bollocks to do a drop in called 'death' at the local chalk pits.
4. Having to bloody ride to every spot as we were not old enough to drive!
sounds like you rode a lot as a kid 🙂 i didnt even know what a bunnyhop was (still dont, and cant)
just realised i remember doing the "cycling proficiency" test at school, it was me and a load of girls... apparently real men didnt need to do tests and were already awesome enough. Now i'm older i'm thinking it might be true, everyone who didnt do a CP is better than me and much more natural by far!
My CP at primary school was in the 1970's. There we were all hand-signing round the playground, but it wasn't enough: We had a tough local copper who failed the whole class! Never did get it after that 🙂
Staying on for the whole ride? 😯
Its irritating keen new people like you I hate, showing those of us that have been riding for donkey's years up 😉
philconsequence - brilliant post - love how honest you are! Well done and as long as your enjoying yourself don't stress about things you can't do they come with time.
I am 27 been doing this properly about a yr and I reckon we're about same skill level, igts a great feeling whe you finaly do something that hindered you and made you think over and over about it, then to just do it naturally one days gives you such a buzz, my first stair case I pushed back up and did three times over I got such a great feeling from flying down it!
The fear lessens and the confidance grows and the skills improve as does the enjoyment.
For me its prob climbing that got me annoyed and wanted to get better - I am and now find myself keeping up if not over taking folk!
Mucho bikey love to u also!!!! x 😀
@ADH: lol how am I showing people up? i tried to make a point of mentioning how crap i am and how many skills that everyone seems to take for granted i am yet to learn....
unless you mean my awesome story telling skills? 😆
Good story. Not being able to manual or do air is holding me back for sure. But in all other respects I've noticed incremental improvements across the board. Though I will never have the time to get really fit unless I become single and/or give up full-time work.
@ADH: lol how am I showing people up? i tried to make a point of mentioning how crap i am and how many skills that everyone seems to take for granted i am yet to learn....
heh, I've got your number. I've known a few 'n00bs' that pitch up, mumble something about 'being a bit rubbish' and technically inadequate, then proceed to ride like bats from hell 🙂
lol trust me thats not me! wish it was though.
*rushes to find "bat outa hell" on spotify and daydream*
Best thread for a good while
Yeah I was bike mad as a kid. 🙂 I was never that good, but the stuff I learned is still there. Pulling manuals and clearing tabletops is next on the list of stuff to learn. It's worth learning to bunnyhop as it makes riding more fun and gives you more confidence when jumping.
Cycling proficiency takes me back! I remember around the time we were due to take it a kid went otb and smashed all his front teeth out. Poor Sod.
cheers trent 🙂 i was grinning as i was writing it thinking about it all.
already spent time browsing your site JediI'll definitely be booking some time with yourself, it was a decision that was concreted after I watched that skills video you were in (possible on bikeradar?) talking about MTFUing.... I thought that's the guy to teach me!
the video i did was this one for stw
thats the one!
should do a few more for your site 🙂
there are a few on the about us page :)[url= http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/aboutus.html ]3 videos here[/url]
in the words of the internetz:
[img] 
[/img]
i am actuallly going to try film another ride at herts vid. 🙂
awesome! expand it into a "jedi rides everyting, but explains how really clearly" series 8)
Nothings better then that "I'm better then I was before" feeling.
Now I'm not kidding myself that I'm a good rider yet, I can't manual, I can't wheelie and I still have nerves riding stuff that picks up too much speed or shakes me about too much. But I'm riding for longer without stopping and there's a 2 1/2ft drop that I've always avoided... that last night I rolled over in a smooth controlled manner for the second time.
that's OK, I still cant manual or wheelie my self and I'm at the perfect time in life to learn(yoof,chavs sit and manual and wheelie for ever)I just well cant do it.
But I don't have a problem with nerves I just get on with it.
enhance the power of walking around with at least one hand down the front of your trousers at all times... apparently if gives you skillzz
enhance the power of walking around with at least one hand down the front of your trousers at all times... apparently if gives you skillzz
and your trousers down bellow your arse.
Wow. Either coaching prices have come down or nothing less than XO/XTR will do 😉For the price of a new rear mech, the best biking upgrades available.
Enjoyed the story and keep it up [img] /happy-smiley-541.gif[/img]
Go to Tony. I had a coaching afternoon and he has transformed my riding totally. I went to learn to jump and drop properly but came away with that and a new set of skills to take onto the trails. Six months on im riding things that I would not have even looked at before.
good thread. I have been ridding for years but mainly in a wheels on the ground way. I'm still on the ground but i'm learning to pump single track which makes me smile
+another recommendation for Tony the Jedi master - I had a session with him a while ago, I'd say its more than worth the outlay to get a 1-1 with him.....
I doubt there's anyone apart from the very top world riders that would not get a significant improvment from him, particularly the mind game aspect of riding. In my case I had been trying to put too much 'technique' into jumps whereas what I needed to know was that I was trying too hard!
I now think about my riding 'pre jedi' and 'post-jedi', if that makes sense! 😀
@ OP, nice story.
the other night, i managed a proper, almost controlled, wheely across the car park infront of some 12 year old chicas.... 8)
glad others are enjoying the little improvements too 🙂
another ride today and found myself feeling much more confident on the singetrack and didnt walk a thing (apart from a couple of uphill singletrack bits we had obviously started at the wrong end of! 😳 )
got that post riding-knackered-buzzing-grinning-the world is good again feeling right now 😀
Thanks again for your kind words guys
no longer need to convince the other-half, she brought it up today and was getting excited 🙂
i just got in from coaching at herts skills area. had to stay and have beers and curry round the fire.
ridelife 🙂
YGM jedi 🙂
I strongly advise you to get on the course, Philconsequence - Nothing beats having the guys who run the skills days to look at how you ride and advise you on the bad habits you never knew you'd picked up over the years, and then give you gold by advising and then showing you how to correct these problems..
I'm looking forward to february phil. 🙂
out doing the monkey trail today and grinning ear to ear after three of us riding on our limits down one of the last sections trying to keep up with each other, love it when me and my mates are all on form on the same day
looking forward to feb too 😀
found a new bit in swinley yesterday that we all loved, felt fantastic!
i just got back from riding at herts, beers round the fire and curry 🙂
looking forward to working with another rider tomorrow.
sunday is a religious day of riding 🙂