I signed up for my first DH race. It is sponsored by Giant over here in Taiwan and will be a quality event. I am super stoked to get the experience.
I want to hear some good tips regarding a clean race fun. Things to pay attention to, things to avoid. I.E. figure out the best braking points, save time in X place etc.. Telling me to go "balls out" is not quite specific enough.
I will be riding my Giant Reign with a dual ring setup, a chainguide, 2.35 nevegals, fox 36 and vanilla coil.
So what are some of the most common mistakes made by novices that are easily avoidable ?
dont miss your start time
bring food/water
ask other riders questions and whats goin on.
take a crap before your race run
memorize the whole course in your head and when your about the 3rd guy to go go thru the whole thing in your mind and refresh.
breatheing is a big one, you usually forget to breathe about 30-40 seconds in and then you blow up. so remember to breathe.
dont ride over your head.
if you know theres a turn that you need to hit slow, brake before it so you can hit it nicely and then pedal out... otherwise the traction required to slow you down is taken away from the traction gripping the ground in the turn, and you'll be more likely to slide out
where your shirt on your race run, i met a guy at sea otter who got disqualified for going shirtless
drink lots of energy drinks! alot of the "noobs" dont do this, which puts them at a disadvantage because everybody else has drank enough to fight the hulk...
remember monster, full throttle, red bull, and lots of crack. the four essential ingredients to a winner =]
Just think of your race run as another practice, and if it is at all bumpy downhill get a chain guide, because it sucks ass to drop a chain in a race run
Have fun, it's the most important thing to remember. Sounds cheesy but it's true. When I'm in line waiting for my turn to do my run, I make sure I say in my head "remember, just have fun, do your best and who cares about the out come, just have fun, it's why you're here." Usually it turns out okay, and if it doesn't... well you still got to ride your bike, and that always rules.
drink lots of energy drinks! alot of the "noobs" dont do this, which puts them at a disadvantage because everybody else has drank enough to fight the hulk...
remember monster, full throttle, red bull, and lots of crack. the four essential ingredients to a winner =]
This is probably just sarcasm, but since I'm feeling argumentitive this particular night, here goes...
Drinking tons of caffine and taurine is probably NOT the thing to do. For me, being super jittery and completley on edge is about the worst feeling before a run.
nice. Take a dump, check. Smoke crack....umm. check. Break. How am I supposed to slow down on crack?
Thanks peoples. It sounds like knowing the course, finding where to slow down, pedaling as much as possible and not riding over my head are all good things. Speaking of which I just went for an afternoon ride on my local loop and half committed/half pussied out on a 20 set of near vertical, narrow, S-curved stone steps in the jungle. Needless to say I am now bleeding out my right leg and I scratched my stanctions. @ss! Never underestimate your local trail!
Have fun, it's the most important thing to remember. Sounds cheesy but it's true. When I'm in line waiting for my turn to do my run, I make sure I say in my head "remember, just have fun, do your best and who cares about the out come, just have fun, it's why you're here." Usually it turns out okay, and if it doesn't... well you still got to ride your bike, and that always rules.
Biggest mistake that first time racers make, is taking their first race too seriously.
Follow some of the technique tips, especially walking the course, but most of all, remmeber to have fun. This is the first time you are racing so don't go i with any preconceived notions about how you will do, just enjoy yourself.
I don't know if racing is the same for everyone, but for me, it is totally different then just riding downhill. Way more intense. Enjoy the rush.
If you start getting nervous while you are in line, talk to the guys infront and behind you. It helps you to get rid of your butterflies. Also let them know you're a beginner (they are probably pretty new too) and tell the guy behind you that if he catches you to yell real loud at cha. Doing that will help you not worry too much if the guy behind you is faster.
Let about 20 psi out of all the other racers' tires. This should give you a substantial advantage, and what you may lack in skill will be made up for in malicious laughter and unbridled confidence as you pass every one pissed off with pinch flats on the side of the trail.
totally agree... a crash is easily gonna cost you 20seconds if not more. Also, you'd probably be more relaxed and have more stamina for places you need more...
I recently race my first dh and was giving some of the above advice. Most useful I found to be: walk the course and check out what lines people are riding - compare their skill level to what you think yours is. Know what category you are watching - I walked my course when the pros were practicing - wondered what I got myself into. But when I got my practice runs it wasn't as bad as I thought. ask other riders questions and whats goin on - including others in your category - you'll find out how they are running the course and what features they are hitting, rolling or avoiding completley. talk to people in line and say if you catch me let me know so I can pull over or have the guy in front pull over for you - you'll likely find out they are thinking the same, that they don't want to slow someone else down. Make sure they know you will be focused on the course so they must yell loud at you if they want to pass. bring food/water - you don't want to pay the prices they ask at the events. take a crap before your race run - your nerves will probably up a little and the last thing you want while in line for the start gate is to get that feeling.
Funny you say this. Just riding, I'm slow as tortoise. Come race run I'm a whole different animal. I come in 10 seconds faster than friends I know are better riders than I am, and are faster on our local trails.
Just goes to show that racing and regular riding are totally different things. Riding, I must hold back, racing I go 110%.
Talladega Nights quote time. "You either win, or crash the car (bike) trying to win."
this is all good advice. It is my first DH race, but I am an experienced rider who likes to haul ass, hence I finally got to enter a DH race, not so much interested in XC. I also used to race Slalom sking in highschool and moto as well so I have had the pre-race butterflies before. Not too worried about that. I am going down there to ride in control, haul ass and have a good time from the experience. I will pay extra attention to the course when walking and practicing it. We should have about 2 hours to practice the course before the race.
The interesting thing though is that there are no catagories. It is just one big race. I think some pros from Japan and other close countries will be invited and there will also be tons of sunday Dh'ers out to try there luck. We don't have really any DH scene here in Taiwan so it should be a pretty fun free for all so to speak.
so I went, I raced, and I got 4th in 20-30 age men's group. The event was in Dajia, Taichung county, Taiwan. This is where the actual Giant bicycle factory is and they put the event on.
It rained tons the night before so it was a muddy race. the course was about 1:45 seconds run. Most of it was quite flat in comparison to typical riding so we were a bit disappointed. It did have some good downhill sections though with very technical off camber turns into drop offs filled with cabbage sized rocks and with the mud it was very difficult to ride. Many dudes were crashing in this particular spot.
It was fun to compete! Even though this was a small race, there were about 150 people who entered and the course was lined up with spectators cheering everyone on through the hairy sections. I had a blast and will race the next event coming up in July.
Conclusion: racing DH is a damn good time!
cheers. If I get pictures from the web, I will be sure to post them up so people can see what it was like.
Don't listen to SMT, he's a flaming homosexual. How are you ever going to win if you're not ripping as hard as you can?
Pop some percs or vicodin's and let fly. Go as fast as you can and take a lot of risks.
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