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Posts
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Hey guys, I am officially getting myself into downhill and freeride-type riding. I’ve always wanted to do more gravity-fueled riding, but the lack of $$ prevented it. Airborne just recently hooked me up with their DH rig: the Taka.
I’ve purchased a full face helmet, and have been breaking it on some of the stair sets and drops around my place. Later today I’m heading down to Big Creek in Roswell (atl) to ride some of their FR and DH trails… really looking forward to it!
So here’s the question: What are the top 3 tips you’d give to someone getting into DH riding?
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1. Wear armor.
2. Play follow the leader until you get your speed right.
3. Don`t lean to forward when decending and use only a finger on the brakes.
Keep the rubber side down..
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so far they nailed the advice. full armor is a must! Scan way ahead and close and way ahead again. When you see something far ahead, learn to shift to be ready for it. Ride and practice is all you can do, hook up with people who ride well and pick their brain and practice what they tell you. Get some magazines and read the articles. That bike looks great! have fun!
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Thanks for the input guys. I have some pads and a full face helmet, but definitely not DH grade body armor. Definitely something I need to look into.
Plans to go to big creek today got canceled due to the rainy forecast…. but I’m going to get down there (and up to Sugar Mountain) soon! I would really like to find some guys to ride DH with, but nobody in my area really does because you have to ride UP to get any DOWN.
The advice on continually scanning is good, being able to size up jumps as they come at you seems like a very good skill to have. I consider myself a very good descender on my AM bike. Hopefully that carries over to the bigger rig!
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I really don’t want to be Debbie Downer but I think you might walk away a bit disappointed with the FR/DH section of Big Creek after riding it on an 8 inches of suspension. The terrain is fun and somewhat challenging with 5-6 inches of travel if you really push it, but nothing is so daunting that it has ever made me feel like I was taking a knife to a gun fight. I’d have to imagine that 8 inches will make that place feel like a smooth XC trail. Hopefully you’ll be able to take the most aggressive lines possible at high speed and it’ll still entertain you. However, my guess is that you’ll end up feeling like that ride is overkill for the area.
I know there are some DH specific trails near Carter’s Lake and you might give some thought into trying those out once you start feeling comfortable. Also, there are a couple of ATV/Jeep/Bike trails near Bear Creek that sound like they would probably make great shuttle runs. Windy Gap, done north to south, comes to mind. I’ve read that descent is one of the hardest in the Southeast.
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for the body armor, there are alot of different options. I picked up a nice SixSixOne full armor suit for a great price, i dont know if id call it heavy DH gear, but it really eased my mind when i fell downhilling sunday.
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Hey GG, thanks for the thoughts. One of my goals when I head down to big creek will be to just practice on some of the jumps and getting comfortable in the air. I rode the bermed trail with the smaller jumps (not the big DJ section) about a year ago on my am bike. Hopefully I’ve gotten better in the air since then, haha!
I’ve heard rumors of stuff at Carters lake. Definitely will be worth a drive. What I HADN’T heard about was this windy gap place… will definitely look into that. Also, seems to me like it’d be really easy to shuttle the Bear Creek trail.
Thanks pink mtb. I’ve used some 661 products in the past and they’ve always been bomber!
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are you clipping in dude?
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you cant go wrong with 661. i have some fox stuff too and its really good.
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"FBTrek321" wrote
are you clipping in dude?
Yeah, I’m going to ride clipless. Right now I don’t think I could really ride a bicycle more than like around town without having cleats. I’ve grown so accustomed to them.
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get a pair of Crank Bro’s mallet pedals!
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I feel "naked/about to fall off" when I ride platforms. So dude, ride whatever that turns your cranks!
Actually, when clipped in, you have more control over the bike in ever situation. Only problem is that it is way more difficult to bail and when the sh*t hits the fan, be prepared to find yourself on the ground with bike in tow. Literally! 😆
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dozzerboy— it is nice to know others have that problem, i thought it was just me, i love being clipped in but at that last second if it all goes bad, i mess up getting out. i have rolled down hills still attatched to my bike.
but dont let that back you off from clips, i have seen other riders get out when they needed to bail
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
Good luck to all you clip in riders, but being clipped in real DH runs, especially gnarly and fast ones = carnage. Seen it too many times. This is especially important in fast DH runs with fast and quick berms. Have to learn to toe down at times. Trust me on this one, I used to DH race semi-pro a few years back. No diss to clipped riders though, they are awesome for trail riding though. 😃
For now, I’m riding with cleats as I don’t have nice flats or shoes for it. As I progress I may look into getting some flats, but for now I’m just going to use what I’ve got!
I love cleats on the trail, but they do kind of scare me when I’m jumping and getting a lot of air. You’re totally committed.
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When I ride flats and get some air, I’m always afraid my bike will fall away from me and I will totally wipeout. The clipless gives me that sense of security I need.
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I would but first I have to convince my parents to let me get a new bike and gear. Heard anything good about transition bottlerocket? Sorry to hijack the thread.
Also, I don’t know any people who dirt jump. Let alone freeride…….. That is why I wanna hang with you for a day Chili. 😎
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There is a BMX track but everyone there are snobs. 😈
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Went downhilling/freeriding at Big Creek yesterday, and it was a blast! Definitely some good stuff to learn the ropes on.
GoldenGoose, While most of the trails you could definitely ride on an AM bike (and I did last year), I feel way more comfortable:
-pinning it through the rock gardens (with some LARGE rocks)
-bombing off the 3 foot high booter to a super long landing (get as much air as you want)
-airing a 15 ft long table top (cleared the smaller ones but not the big one yet)
-doing various rock drops ranging from 4ish feet to 7-8 feet (did one or two in the 4-5 foot range)on a full-blown downhill bike with 8" of travel. (That’s not even to mention the dedicated DJ section.)
My verdict: for being in Georgia, the terrain is pretty sweet! Not long enough though. But for getting some true air and downhill practice time, its good!Now I need to get over to Carters lake and ride those trails.
Video will hopefully be done in a week or so.
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
[quote="dozzerboy":9741wifk]When I ride flats and get some air, I’m always afraid my bike will fall away from me and I will totally wipeout. The clipless gives me that sense of security I need.
No offense once more, but its false security my friend. Your using that as an crutch that makes you feel more secure.
Learn how to do it with flats and then you will become a much better rider. I absolutely guarantee that! 😉
Go hang with some freeriders that jump DJ’s and learn from them bro. Once you learn how to and get over that insecurity, you will then will be a much better rider. 😃[/quote:9741wifk]
I meant that as a joke but I forgot to put the haha face in. Yeah I do need to learn how to ride platforms properly……
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Hey guys, here’s a video from that day at Big Creek that a friend of mine helped me shoot and edit. If I do say so myself, its pretty good. Check it out:
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Just saw the vid..
Not bad..Here is a tip when traveling in the air..Stay a bit looser and lean back just a bit more keeping your weight more centered over the bike…
Good stuff..Looks flowy with good berms…On the rock gardens you can go quicker…It makes it easier and less prone to tossing you around.
Cheers.
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dude that was sweet!!glad to see you’re pushing the bike to its fullest potential!
and i know youre a better MTBer than me, but i LOOOOVE catching air on a DB(catching air is the most fun and the most dangerous part in my opinion 😄 😄 😄) so as element said you need to be a little further back, you dont want it to be totally noticable but pretty much always you want your rear wheel to hit just a milisec before teh front, that’ll have you landing way smoother from way higher.
and i know nothing about full susser MTB, but i know they have to be somewhat similar to DB’s in setting a sag. dunno if you have that set up. but getting that set up by someone who really knows what they are doing makes a HUUUGE difference.
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
[quote="element22":3bm3ryqo]Just saw the vid..
Not bad..Here is a tip when traveling in the air..Stay a bit looser and lean back just a bit more keeping your weight more centered over the bike…
Good stuff..Looks flowy with good berms…On the rock gardens you can go quicker…It makes it easier and less prone to tossing you around.
Cheers.
+1 on what element said. 😉
On the other hand, sweet vid bro! Now you just have to to hammer it at a higher speed to really feel the DH rush bro. Yeah, that rock garden looked like it beat you up. Hit it with more speed like element mentioned. I totally agree with what element said about the traveling through the air, definitely need to keep your weight more centered over the bike and back a bit more, especially at speed and jumping. Looked like you had fun on that Yakuza K though….. 😄[/quote:3bm3ryqo]
Thanks for the advice, guys. I’ll definitely work on my posture in the air… thats something that it seems only repeated jump after jump will teach you to do naturally. I definitely need to work on pinning it through the rock gardens. I’m going up to sugar mountain in NC to do some lift served riding before they close for the season. Hopefully I get plenty of rocks and gnar to bash there!
HAHAHA yeah the YAKUZA was awesome! You gotta admit though, the graphics, paint, and tweaks they did to the Taka ARE pretty sweet.
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I thought that frame looked a bit familiar!
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While spending a bunch of time riding around on my downhill bike, I’ve been thinking a lot about the sport. I concluded that it is really a sport that is truly distinctive from cross-country riding.
I just published the first in a short series of posts talking about the differences between cross-country and downhilling. Its titled: "Downhill Mountain Biking: A Truly Distinctive Sport" and you can read it here if you’d like: http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/09/ … truly.html
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The first main difference between downhilling and XC that I noticed was all physically-related. The two different sports use almost completely different muscle groups. I broke it down in detail here:
http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/09/ … g-and.html
Enjoy! 😀
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Pretty good info there. I’d love to go somewhere with a ski lift to check out some true DH and I think I may make that happen next year when I have some actual vacation time.Sounds like a blast to go get a dirty ass workout then lay in the hotel room sore for the rest of the time (theres something wrong with all of us who think this way 😆 )from getting beat up by the downhill,then go do it again the next day!
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"GALAXY" wrote
Pretty good info there. I’d love to go somewhere with a ski lift to check out some true DH and I think I may make that happen next year when I have some actual vacation time.Sounds like a blast to go get a dirty ass workout then lay in the hotel room sore for the rest of the time (theres something wrong with all of us who think this way 😆 )from getting beat up by the downhill,then go do it again the next day!
Its punishing, but its so much fun! 😄 If you ever get the opportunity, you definitely need to jump on it!
Here’s the last post in the mini series: Downhill Differences 2 and 3: The Mental Side and the Mad Skills Factor
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