[Closed] To those riders on the N Downs today...

Really? You're that bothered by others that you decided to write a post about it?

I'd bet they havent given the judgemental hardtail rider watching them enjoying themselves a second thought?

Might be something in that

Probably. I just thought it was interesting that you'd choose to spend £4k+ on a lovely bike to get into the sport and not spend a little bit on skills training...? Or buy a bike that would teach you some bike handling.

Just an observation. The only reason I was watching the group was that the guys at the front were really going for it and it was cool to watch people doing the jumps and really throwing the bike around the corners.

Stop riding downhill sat down, not moving your body at all and barely pedalling.

Did they get a lift to the top of the descent too? 😆

I believe "PortlyAllMountain" is the new big thing

(and I'm at the vanguard of this particular phenomenon 8) )

Whereabouts was this? ( out of curiosity )

I think you'll find all that pedalling is really , really hard work .
Think of it as a gravity sport , abit like skiing .
Why waste all that energy and get yourself all hot and bothered .
Going faster means the run is over sooner too .. best to take it easy and make it last a little longer .

On the "MBR" trail I think it's called. Really rooty, full of braking bumps and quite rocky by N Downs standards. Or nice and smooth if you have a 6" travel bike and just sit down.

Portlyallmountain... genius.

GB

Whereabouts was this? ( out of curiosity )

Riding in the North Downs today were we ? 🙂

Wasn't me , honest! Wish it was though, but family birthday commitments kept me from mincing about on the North Downs today 😛
Got the day off tomorrow and I'm spending it on my bike

It was amazing top there today - like June not Feb. Was very impressed with the work done on the trails on Pitch - many new berms etc built. Also the MRB/Evian has had some work done. Whoever did this - a huge thank you!

Gee, see my thread about incredibly clean bikes, do you think there's a correlation? I was on Pitch today (had a fantastic time on an, ahem, grubby hardtail).

Stop riding downhill sat down, not moving your body at all and barely pedalling. It's just lazy and slow. Sell the skill compensator, buy a hardtail and practice!!!

But this is all from your belief that they wish to aspire and be better than they are, what if they're happy?

I reckon you could be onto something there LOL

GSuperstar - true. Live and let live...

I've been riding in the SH for 5 years and I hardly ever get mixed up with other riders, faster or slower not even on the most popular trails. Gee there are plenty of trails for everyone, why not search out some new stuff?

A lot of the SH trails are great fun on a hardtail, there is also plenty of stuff you want a better bike for. I rode with a group on Wednesday and one of the good riders attempted something he'd not done for 2 years since his friend broke his neck at the same spot. He said he wouldn't have attempted it on his Zesty, we was riding his Orange Alpine.

All this having been said money and time spent on coaching/training will yield greater results than fancy bike kit.

The most important thing is did they have plenty of pork and leek slices at the peaslake shop? Whenever I've had a nice seated run down Barrys or Supernova on my 6 inch travel skill compensator it's very important that I have a nice slice to keep my enegery levels up for the push up to the top of Holmbury.

It [b]is[/b] funny up there sometimes...There are whole posse's of guys who look like they've decided to try MTBing this weekend and have come straight from the "[i]downhill outfitters[/i]" in central London.

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As long as they're on two wheels, though it's all good really 😀

Perhaps you should get a map before having another moan, Holmbury/Pitch/Winterfold is not part of the North Downs...

@jimification - Mr Ben 🙂