What are you good at and why?

[stainlesscycle]

i'm bad at right downhill turns. in fact all my right turns suck. i'm hoping left hand rear brake improves this. i've been practicing a hillside tight 's' turn/switchback setup i have in my front yard (3 right turns downhill, 3 left turn at tops) i think i'm not sliding forward enough on the right turns. just can't commit as well to the right turns..left turns are no problem...

i also suck in the sand and extremely soft dirt (mx style dirt.... )

i excel at extremely difficult rocky (softball size to boulder size rocks) trails. west virgina riding and riding trials bikes fast has made me very fast at this..

i'm also pretty good at wrecking and breaking stuff on bike and body.

on trials, i suck at entering the section at the right location. i can't relax enough until i'm 10' into the section and already at a bad line.. even taking a deep breath before launch and i still blow it half the time. makes easy sections very difficult.. i think i push off too much with my feet when i settle into the pegs..

 

[Cruiser]

Now that I'm back on the bike,, well a big DS,, I'm finding I'm very good at dropping the bike when stopped.. You know,, at the trail head.. helmet stops.. I put my feet down and on occasion cant feel my feet(neck issues? nerves pinched?) and down I go.. Makes it worse that I can jusy reach the ground on this bike and I should lower it.. But I am getting much better at taking it slower and smoother.. thinking about it and letting the bike do the work..
Its interesting on a fourstroker..especially a big one...
(note; this was while out on my 03 625sxc.. now on a 04 450 exc,, slightly smaller..still drop it.. but not as much)

 

[flybars]

Steep downhill switchbacks with right turns are very intimidating to me. Usually there is a shear drop off to help me tighten up too much. Can't use the rear brake, so I will sometimes use my front brake and walk the bike around the corner with my right foot on the up hill side. Usually the trail is too narrow to get off the bike and bull dog it around. I am getting better with the easier right hand corners tho. Good practice.
I think I do best in picking lines thru the rocks. If there is not a scary drop off next to my line, I can fly thru the nasty stuff with alot of confidence. Up or down hill.

 

[stainlesscycle]

Steep downhill switchbacks with right turns are very intimidating to me. Usually there is a shear drop off to help me tighten up too much. Can't use the rear brake

this is what the lhrb is 'supposed' to help me do...

 

[T.Low]

Steep downhill switchbacks with right turns are very intimidating to me. Usually there is a shear drop off to help me tighten up too much. Can't use the rear brake, so I will sometimes use my front brake and walk the bike around the corner with my right foot on the up hill side. Usually the trail is too narrow to get off the bike and bull dog it around. I am getting better with the easier right hand corners tho. Good practice.
I think I do best in picking lines thru the rocks. If there is not a scary drop off next to my line, I can fly thru the nasty stuff with alot of confidence. Up or down hill.

Where are you riding that gives you this issue? I've paddled white water all over the state and 4wheeled the Forest Service roads, but have only been riding since August.

 

[stainlesscycle]

Where are you riding that gives you this issue? I've paddled white water all over the state and 4wheeled the Forest Service roads, but have only been riding since August.

steep downhill switchbacks are commonly used in enduro and hare scramble routing..... usually placed to torment me.

 

[flybars]

T.Low, I'm over here in Cashmere, Wa. I ride mostly the local trail systems and fire roads to connect. I ride the Devil's Gulch, Mission Ridge, Sand Creek trail systems which are about a 15 minute ride to the same trailheads from home. These trail are single track and very steep terrain. LOt's of switchbacks. We have many more trail system around here besides these. I would say 50% even more challenging. (read Jostby's Devil's Backbone report) and Pebs too. Maybe next year after my shoulder heals, I can show U some.

 

[flybars]

Stainless, I've also been interested in the LHRB for some time. It's gotta help alot for those steep downhill right hand switchbacks. They seem to be always right on the edge with a sheer drop off. I know there is the right technique, so if anyone can help, I'd be all ears.

 

[roostafish]

I love reading all these, it's great. I'm really good at cleaning my bike.

Interestingly enough, I'd say I'm "good" at riding in slick, horrifying conditions. I grew up riding on red clay, it's dry and slick with dust on top in the summer, and in the winter, it's like greased glass. I didn't realize I was any good at riding slick stuff 'till I rode my first season of enduros back in 1996 with my brother in law. Fortunately it rained all summer long, and every race was a sloppy, horrible mudfest. I actually felt miserable most of the time, and mistakenly thought I was a good rider since I was winning. That all changed when we did a race in the desert. It was open and fast, and it scared the crizzzapp out of me, I didn't even know my bike had a fourth gear, much less 5th, and my cocky little self was shamed when I got 19th out of 43 in my class, and who knows where overall (my brother in law ended up winning the 200 B class that day (on a brand new, stock right down to the air in the tires KDX 200), by a looong way, he's from SoCal). I ended up winning the championship that year in the Open B class, bumped up to A, and then reality set in. The only races I have ever won in the A class have been on those most horrible of days, usually with impassable sections of trail that end up getting thrown out after I already made them (grrrrrr).

Why? I think balance has something to do with it. I also think carrying momentum, and not grabbing fistfuls of brake or throttle helps.

 

[stainlesscycle]

hah, i rode in georgia a few times this year. red clay + rain is the most unnerving riding i've ever done... like ice, but less predictable.

fistfull of throttle has saved my ass many a times in the rocks and roots of wv..

 

[noobi]

i had to think about this for a while. not really a good thing i suppose.
but if i had to pick something im better than most at it would be really badly rooted out sections, just a track covered in slick tree roots. and root step ups, you know the ones half way up a hill where someone has got there rear wheel stuck and dug out a massive hole so its like a step with a root at the top.
line selection to i think. i can tend to pick cleaner firmer lines and get i tend to get stuck less.
whether any of that is me or the fact that the combined weight of me and the bike is 160kg, 350lbs.

im getting a lesson from nz best enduro rider, also a red bull sponsored rider, soon so hopefully i can improve a bit....

 

[jriley43]

The Things That I Am Good At Is The Sand, And Then Rocky Areas. This Is Due To I Mostly Ride At Red River Motorcycle Trails In Bulcher, Texas.

 

[T.Low]

I love reading all these, it's great. I'm really good at cleaning my bike.

Interestingly enough, I'd say I'm "good" at riding in slick, horrifying conditions. sloppy, horrible mudfest.QUOTE]

Just found my big dangerous problem: While standing, G-Forces during acceleration (like out of turn or up a hill) can make it a struggle to get OFF the gas: Can't twist the throttle back, or even let go. What's the technique?


I'm really bad at keeping a clean bike. I'm used to white water kayaks: you get home, climb up onto the top of the van and throw the boats off onto the lawn and leave them there till next time.

I do like the mud too. This winter has been a blast because it's been so muddy and greasey, and I just like those conditions. It seems to be a bit of an equalizer: slows down many of the faster guys more than it slows me down. Being able to predict and somewhat control the slides, where a lot of guys aren't used to it and seem to make quick movements that spin or down them.

Another thing I really need to work on is skills while standing: mainly wheelieing and also shifting.
Wheelieing while standing seemed less difficult when i last rode in the '70's when foot pegs were round, not flat platforms. Am I mistaken?

 

[gasser]

I'm good at staying up late and sleeping in. Why? Because I train at it almost every day. Only two good reasons for getting up early - fishing and riding dirt bikes - everything else can wait till later in the day.

 

[mrkartoom]

I seem to pass a lot of riders on the hill climbs. I suppose that comes from growing up in West Virginia where everything is on a hill. Everyone I pass going up passes me going back down, so not sure its anything to brag about.

 

[kendunn]

I love reading all these, it's great. I'm really good at cleaning my bike.

Interestingly enough, I'd say I'm "good" at riding in slick, horrifying conditions. sloppy, horrible mudfest.QUOTE]

Just found my big dangerous problem: While standing, G-Forces during acceleration (like out of turn or up a hill) can make it a struggle to get OFF the gas: Can't twist the throttle back, or even let go. What's the technique?

The trick to that is to not reach around your throttle and grab a handful because when you are on the pipe you can't release. When you are standing or whatever riding position you are in, just reach straight up for the throttle, not over and around.

 

[walker1008]

I have mastered the art of getting lost. More often than not on trails i have ridden several times before.

 

[fastisbetter]

Im great at making anyone thats following laugh at me falling down. Fallen logs or roots that are on a 45degree to the trail scare me, I usually end up laying down

 

[hasslbri]

I am decent at riding in mud. Slick icy clay mud or deep rutted heavy mud. I love racing in the mud. I love before the races when everybody is bitchin and there heads are down before the race even starts. "Winning" I truely enjoy racing in the crappiest of conditions. I feel I am pretty mediocre in the easy fast stuff but make it hot, muddy, and tough and I just keep riding. I feel I actually ride faster in the mud. Something about crashing and sliding instead of screaching to a halt on dry ground while melting my gear to my flesh. It must be a mental thing.

 

[Tlineman]

I'm good at knowing my limit and not crashing. I'll only have a crash or tip over on roughly every second ride. In a race situation this is a good quality as it saves me from having those frantic, gonna get passed, moments. I'm not the fastest guy out there though, and I really don't have time to train at all. But in over tens years of racing on and off, and playriding before that, I've never had a broken bone or missed a day of work.

Maybe this quality is why I've seemingly peaked at a mid-pack AA rider though? I still finish ahead of all the A riders at just about every race, but I can't seem to crack the lead group. Oh, well. I ride for fun and the moment I quit enjoying myself at a race, she'll be playriding only from there on.