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what is your greatest weakness as a rider?

12K views 152 replies 130 participants last post by  austinTRON 
#1 ·
mine is descending very steep, rough sections at night. going through super technical sections bring me off the bike and on to my feet as well.

what are yours?
 
#25 ·
Ability to push myself is another. I get out and ride, but often not nearly as hard as I should. Yeah, not all rides need to be "workouts", but I often feel after a ride that I should have pushed harder, rode a little further, tried a little better at a climb, ect.
 
#27 ·
Round, banked curves on descents. I just suck at them. I either brake so hard that I skid and crawl around them or I carry too much speed, tilt the bike wrong, and wash out the front wheel.

I rock these things while climbing. Climbing has always been my strength and I can climb a tight curve like nobody's business. I just can't descend it.
 
#28 ·
Not trusting myself or my bike when it counts.

Some days, I'm superwoman; others, I can't seem to do the simplest of things. Some days I trust myself and I can do anything. Other days, I just can't seem to pull it together.

That's the biggest weakness: doubt. And doubt can hurt pretty badly if it creeps up right in the midst of a steep rock garden.

Gotta work on that.
 
#54 ·
+1

Not trusting myself or my bike when it counts.

Some days, I'm superwoman; others, I can't seem to do the simplest of things. Some days I trust myself and I can do anything. Other days, I just can't seem to pull it together.

That's the biggest weakness: doubt. And doubt can hurt pretty badly if it creeps up right in the midst of a steep rock garden.

Gotta work on that.
Ditto to all (except feeling like Superwoman ;)....what helps me in situations above is STOP THINKING and ride it. A technique that's helped me overcome mental obstacles is ride somewhat close behind someone (preferably someone that you trust and like their lines) and follow without surveying the trail too much (don't go in totally blind). Two things happen for me: 1) I watch someone right in front of me clean a section (yeup, it is do-able and easy) and 2) I don't get the luxury of scanning/surveying/worrying about the upcoming section (read: let my brain get in the way).

There are plenty of times where I could look like a lemming running off a cliff blindly following the person in front of me into doom, but it hasen't happened yet.

Something to consider.....
 
#47 ·
Manuals and skinnies...

Manuals I just can't seem to do. Skinnies - I can't keep a straight enough line in really skinny ones and biff it.
When riding the skinnies, where are your eyes focused? My guess is that you're looking just a few feet ahead of your front wheel . . . . if so, try looking 20-25 feet up the trail instead. This made a HUGE difference in my riding, both for riding the narrows as well as general descending.

My greatest weakness is for sure climbing, particularly technical climbing.
 
#34 ·
Mine is climbing for along time, where I live we have no mountains but the hills we do have are short and steep. Basically balls out the entire climb, some are only 60 seconds but its all you got and then some trails there are one after the other, takes a toll on me.
 
#39 ·
#1 - Descending steep and rough sections. I got the front of my helmet caught on a big limb while sliding under a downed tree a couple years ago and my spine from the base of my skull down 3/4 th's of my back made a loud crack that someone ~10' away from me heard. I walked away from it but still hesitate on descents where the is no chance of stopping mid way down.

#2 Large rock traversals with a high endo potential.
 
#73 ·
...When I have confidence and trust in my line, I rarely ever fall. But when I second guess myself, I either fall or end up walking a section that I could have made.
This is soooo true for me that if I don't just ride right into the obstacle with confidence, I just get off and walk. The second-guessing can be dangerous.

I struggle on jumps. Little jumps are OK, but if I get more than about 2 ft. away from the ground I start to freak out and have zero confidence. It's something I'd really like to learn, too. It's really hard to get over it because there are no trails around with "just right"-sized jumps. They're either tiny, or huge, and no tabletops.

My other "thing" is that I never bail off the bike. Somehow I always think I can recover even if I'm riding it right into the ground. It's how I broke my collar bone - never even put my foot down because I really thought I was going to ride out of it (as impossible as that was).

This is probably one of my biggest jumps. Long approach. No lip. Flat landing. Very safe.
Natural environment Forest Tree Bicycle helmet Bicycle clothing


I'd like to do this:

(credit to jhazard)

-F
 
#43 ·
Climbing, fitness and keeping on with the pedaling. I was pretty inactive for many years before taking up the bike again last year, and it feels like all the guys I ride with are lifelong athletes. I was an indoor kid. I didn't play sports. I didn't do any of that stuff, and I have zero natural athletic ability. I ride my bike because it's fun, but I constantly feel like I'm playing catch up with all but a few riders.

I am getting better though. Of course, so is everyone else.
 
#44 ·
Climbing, fitness and keeping on with the pedaling. I was pretty inactive for many years before taking up the bike again last year, and it feels like all the guys I ride with are lifelong athletes. I was an indoor kid. I didn't play sports. I didn't do any of that stuff, and I have zero natural athletic ability. I ride my bike because it's fun, but I constantly feel like I'm playing catch up with all but a few riders.

I am getting better though. Of course, so is everyone else.
mine is waiting for Mr Quint at trailheads :p
 
#45 ·
Climbing long and steep inclines....Just got back from riding in Arkansas and those climbs were brutal (coming from northern Missouri)...really showed me how out of shape I was...but going down was sweeter than Aunt B's apple pie!
 
#51 ·
#1. Money/time.

God was good to me, im blessed with some small measure of innate athleticism. I am never the best at the stuff i do, but i can get pretty damn good at almost anything i try. Given enough financial backing to be "serious" about bike riding i could elevate my game on several fronts i am sure. A scientifically regimented fuel diet and more time to ride would be great. Not having to worry about breaking my bikes would sure help as well. Not having to go to work the day after a heavy ride would be blissful.

#2. My head.

Even if my lotto numbers come up, ill still have to deal with the ole noggin. My weakness as a rider would remain the same. I know it hurts to crash, so big jumps, skinnies, super fast cornering, etc. are all things i tend to do at about 75% of my ability. I can do them, but its hard to let go. Even when i DO let go and pull something off cleanly i rarely do it as hard the next time im on that trail. Instead of telling me "you got this, remember last time?" my brain says "oh god, remember how much air you got last time!? brake! BRAKE!!!".
 
#52 ·
Technical downhill. Pretty much any downhill with more than a small rock or a small root in it and I'm either off my bike or grabbing brakes which screws me over harder. Smooth downhill I'm cool with. And technical climbing. Same concept as downhill. Luckily where I'm at there aren't much to be considered real hills.

Tight and medium corners. Never was too good at them but now Im a bit nervous on them as I already bent one wheel set. Granted it was a cheap rim that came stock on my bike, but still. Slowly getting better at them now that I have rims that can hold me better and much much grippier tires.

Also cliffs. I look at some of the pictures yall have posted with a cliff and a huge drop off only feet away and I'm scared to death of that, and I'm not even there! Again no cliffs here either.
 
#53 ·
Steep and long hills are my weak points. I can descend like a lunatic and fly on single track and rolling fire roads but long climbs are not natural for me, although I am getting better and actually look forward to hills since I see them as "eating my vegetables".
 
#75 ·
In case anyone was curious, I had my wife translate this label for me. The text on the right says riding direction, same as the English. The block on the left basically says warning: use the right lever for rear wheel first when braking.
 
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