Mountain Biking - Today I had a meltdown on the MTB trail!

I am VERY new to mountain biking. I have done maybe 5 rides so far. My boyfriend is a fantastic MTB rider, plowing his way over enormous piles of logs, zooming down the hills, etc etc.

Well I have to say I am a much better road rider than mtb rider. I just can't seem to get it. When I go up a steep hill in a low gear, invariably some root will force me to stop and then I won't have enough momentum to keep up the hill and I will have to walk. The pedals (no way am I going clipless on a mtb!!) have these sharp knobs on them that gouge chunks out of my legs, especially when I am walking which is what I have to do half the time.

The worst is when I will slam into a log or big root, and then crotch myself on the stem! Today I did it twice, which led to said meltdown. The frustration and pain led to a 10 minute sobbing session on the path. I haven't cried in ages and the last two times were both on the MTB!! :eek:

I really WANT to love mountainbiking. I love the forest, the silence, the fresh air, the peace and quiet, the whole concept....even the camelbak. But I SUCK at this and spend most of the time cursing and thinking about how much I hate mountainbiking.

I sure hope I will get better at this soon, or I will be very UN motivated to continue with it. :(

Stick with it!

If you're a roadie, you'll want to go clipless. The spin you've got from the roadbike will transfer well to the MTB for many situations (not all...)

You're going to get hurt fairly often learning, but such is life. After a couple months you'll be much smoother.

The best piece of advice I can give you is ask your boyfriend to go a little slower, and follow his lead. Monkey see, monkey do, you know? Many people learn well from watching better riders. I know I do!

Try easier terrain. If the boyfriend won't join you 'cause he thinks its beneath him, dump him. The boyfriend ain't worth a broken neck...

Wear shin guards too, that will help very much. On the trail hills take a much lower gear to climb (for obvious reasons), so try getting a lower gear and put weight on the front wheel. by the way, clipless will help very much on tough climbs and hopping over logs and whatnot

I noticed your location says Toronto. Freewheel in Dundas offers a women only beginner mountain biking tour where they take you onto trails to show you the basics. You may be able to find a similar class in Toronto. A women's only mountain biking club is also a good place to ask questions.

Also, start with easy trails and get yourself a pair of Time Clipless pedals. From road biking, you should have trained yourself to unclip whenever necessary. Time Clipless pedals dont rip up your legs like Shimano clipless, and I find I have much more control over technical sections using clipless.

Good Luck

Ming

ride easier trails. I broke my wrist doing exactly what you were doing (...except I dont have a boyfriend that dropped me on the trails...) work your way up to harder stuff.

I 7th the above. Easier trails. If this is your fifth ride and your trying to ride over stuff that you feel better walking over, your starting a level or three to hard. Try to find some basic service/fire roads to ride till you get a good feeling for your bike and how to move on it to get it where you need it to go. Then move up the challenge ladder as you feel more confident.

Stick with it. You'll get better as you ride more.

Im going to agree that you should work on some easier trails for a while..That should help alot..

Some of us are just criers...

You can't force yourself to love mountain biking. It will slowly grow on you, or it won't.

Try easier terrain. If the boyfriend won't join you 'cause he thinks its beneath him, dump him. The boyfriend ain't worth a broken neck...
Gee, thanks for telling her to dump me. :p

I have no problem whatsoever with slowing down for her, but she keeps urging me to go ahead (presumably so she won't be embarassed by my watching her mess up). I think the problem is that she wants to be an expert overnight, and I keep telling her to take it slowly and give it time.

btw, I've added padding to her stem. ;)

Try easier terrain. If the boyfriend won't join you 'cause he thinks its beneath him, dump him. The boyfriend ain't worth a broken neck...

haha BUSTED!

LOL! Thanks for the advice guys! I should probably have added that said boyfriend is very kind and waits for me at the tops of hills and frequently over the course of the trail. He also provides a shoulder for me to cry on!

I don't want to hold him up if he wants to have fun and go at his own pace...as long as he is within a reasonable distance, and yes, I hate to be watched as I mess up!

Wow a lot of you recommend clipless...considering the horrifying damage I did to myself on the road bike learning clipless, I shudder to think! But maybe it would help because a couple of times I would try to dig in or stomp down on the pedal and my foot would fly through the air and I would lose the momentum entirely.

I totally agree though, I would LOVE some easier trails until I get used to this. I would love to do that women's course in Toronto, but I am here in MD for a few months yet, maybe they have a course like that here...I will look into it!

Thanks again guys, it was good to vent. :)

well, noone hates to be watched when you mess up... but if you think about it, if youyou mess up, when you do things the RIGHT way, then it makes it all the sweeter. Personally, if I was in your situation (which i'm not... on more than one level), i wouldn't mind having my significant other teach me. there wouldn't be pride involved, considering the fact that we would be close, and not only that, but the significant other would also put in extra care and effort to teach you the right way. I say if mr. cydewaze offers to help you, you should go for it...

Oh, and for the record, I'm so NOT a fantastic mountain biker. She just hasn't been around for any of my wrecks. :p

ah, so the real reason you go ahead of her is so she doesn't see you wreck ;)

Sometimes falling on a too difficult obstable only hurts your confidence. You usually fall harder and expect all falls to suck that much.
Just today i fell because of my clipless, within 5-10 minutes of starting. I felt awesome the rest of the ride, despite being slightly sick.
I was just like 'pshh, that was almost fun'...and wasn't worried about falling because of the clipless or just messing up the rest of the ride.
One thing to remember is that its almost always waaayyy safer to keep put weight on the rear than to much on the front. One of the few exceptions is a steep climb. Going over obstacles though, its not likely your back tire getting caught is gonna throw you like the front will.

The pedals (no way am I going clipless on a mtb!!) have these sharp knobs on them that gouge chunks out of my legs, especially when I am walking which is what I have to do half the time.


This won't happen with clipless pedals, I know from experience!! I just got about a 12" gash on my shin from bunny hopping with platform pedals (the Kona Jacksh|ts), my right foot missed the pedal when I landed, but my shin didn't.

If her crotch area is in pain because of the jarring, try a seat with a cut-out section. They work wonders....

ah, so the real reason you go ahead of her is so she doesn't see you wreck ;)
:D



If her crotch area is in pain because of the jarring, try a seat with a cut-out section. They work wonders....
She has a good seat with a cutout. The crotch pain is unfortunately due to her slamming into the stem. I gave her my Lizard Skin "Ballfrog" to prevent further such injuries. Better my knee than her privates.

Women say go ahead and don't worry, but sometimes, they don't mean it. Schedule mtb days that are easier, fun and to give you two time to spend together. On the days where the b/f wants to tear it up, perhaps the lady should ride the pavement?

Here is an idea (worked for my wife when I taught her to ride), use one ride a week for teaching then the rest of the week you can practice what your bf, or who ever shows you the techniques, taught you.

1. Start off with an easy area that has some hills, learn the gears to use to keep your momentum while climbing and when to shift into them. It is a bit different in the dirt then on the road.

2. Learn to descend steep hills. Find an area with short but steep hills that can be rolled through.

3. Find an area with ruts and small roots and learn to ride over them. Do this on a flat area and not on a hill.

4. Next, find some small 6" to 12" drops and learn to ride down them.

5. Find a trail with all the above and ride it.

You should also practice track-stands, which you can also do on your road bike, and very tight turn (will help with switchbacks). But most of all practice. Last word of advice, learn to love crashing it will make the ride much more enjoyable:p

I will also add, I would stay away from the clipless until you get better with the obstacals
:beer:

I've been in your position before, and for me learning from my boyfriend was just not a good idea. His teaching style (tough-love sort of - just go for it) really didn't fit my personality (timid - take small steps to build confidence).

So, whenever he would try to bring me out on the trails, it was a total disaster because I felt overfaced and incapable, as he just chugged along and made it look easy.

In hindsight, this is what I wish I would have done - gone out by myself and rode a section of trail that we could both ride later. Ride this section multiple times, alone, so that I know what it felt like, where to brake, where I needed to walk, where I could really let er' rip. And THEN ride it w/him.

Don't know if this is anywhere related to what you're going through, and if not, sorry for rambling. :) I think a lot of times women are more timid in the beginning (I call it common sense because we're the ones who take care of the boys when they crash :D ), but once we build up confidence in ourselves, we can keep up with the big dogs.

I always remind myself that boys grew up beating themselves up, riding bmx bikes, hitting jumps, and just generally being boys. Girls are often raised different, so we have to work harder to overcome that initial hurdle.

Be prepared to whoop some *ss after that though!!! ;)

Alright...I'm done now. I hope it all works out!

- b

After reading what Binda said, yeah, your bf does need to have the patience. When I was teaching my wife we would go on rides that would take me 1hr to compleate and with her would take 2 1/2hrs because we would stop and work on technique when we got to an obstacle she could not clear.

It also helps, if you have a video cam, to have him film you when you ride. It will help you see what you are and are not doing correctly. Using the video realy helped my wife change/fix her riding position.

I have taught many female and male beginner cyclist to ride mtbs this way(including what I previously posted) and it works great.

:beer:

Here's my bit of advice:

Ride your bike around your house/apartment/neighborhood slowly and hop up and off every curb you find.

The thing you're probably not getting the hang of is body position. The correct body position is the KEY for clearing logs, roots, rocks, etc. and it's generally not something intuititive. Set up a small, easy, obstacle course in your yard or a local park. Nothing elaborate, just a few curbs to hop up, sticks to cross, sidewalks to U-turn on, etc.

As you ride down a curb, feel how your body is thrust foward by the drop. Then figure out how to counter that thrust by pushing your body to the rear. Eventually, you'll feel the bike going over the drop BEFORE your body. Feel that once and you're on your way.

I learned to clean logs in my driveway by riding over my curb a few hundred times.

I totally agree though, I would LOVE some easier trails until I get used to this. I would love to do that women's course in Toronto, but I am here in MD for a few months yet, maybe they have a course like that here...I will look into it!



if you are in maryland, check out McKeldon. the trails are pretty easy, I've been running there since I broke my wrist, looks like pretty nice trails, not too hard.

I know how you feel- I have just started doing some mountain bike rides and it is not easy. Just take the trails at your own pace. You can´t expect to be as good as an experienced and fit MTBer. Just take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Whats the rush?

I'm with AKAK.
Sounds like your only real "issue" is obstacle clearing, and then just a few things that you will probably learn to avoid with normal riding (hitting the pedals and steerer clamp)
Just make some obstacles similar to those found on the trails and practice them near home until you "get it". Practice bunny hopping 2X4's for clearing obstacles on the flats and downhills. When going uphill, I just pull my front tire over the obstacle and then "unweight" my rear tire when it goes over.
Going from road to trails really alters your style of riding.

My girlfreind had a similar meltdown yesterday on a new trail...the trail used to be an awesome fire road turned into single track...well from the rains we've had over the last year...there is no trail for the first two miles and trees boulders bushes and everything covers the trail so it was hike-a-bike for the first 30-40 minutes until we could hit a trail that was actually rideable. She was pissed that the pedals kept gouging her leg and finally carried thebike on her shoulder. Once we got to a trail it was a 20 foot hike-a-bike section for every 400 yards of riding. Thats when she started to lose it and said "next time I will leave the f-in bike at home and just hike the god dam thing" I got a kick out of it since she never cusses but this drove her to it...then we reached our destination and it was a awesome (for me and a freinds anyways) single track, rutted rocky nasty downhill...1.5 miles to the bottome but its a 4 mile climb to it so you can understand how steep it is.

I would wait after every section I thought was gonna kill her and the look on her face was priceless...she wanted to throw hte bike off the cliff and walk back but she stuck it out.

Well today we went back to our normal hill climb but tried a new decent route which was not as gnarly as yesterday but much worse then our normal decent down...she tried to ride it as much as possible but wasnt willing to plow into the 180 turns at the switchbacks and was getting frustrated and walking through the ruts and rock areas.

With all that said...if my girlfreind can do it anyone can do it. She isnt the most motor skilled person unless its soccer or swimming which I dont think require mtoor skills, but she's not giving up and is learning.

The restart uphill momentum thing is something she has trouble with too, but its more of a balance issue...I watch her struggle to get started whipping the wheel left and right before she even gets a crank on the pedals and then she ends up in a rut or rock...whereas if she could balance once she hops on she would pedal straight ahead instead of off to one side or the other...

I'm slow as a turtle and my balance is great...some of the uphills im going under 2 mph..sometimes less then 1mph since my computer even stops telling me how slow im going!

Go out and ride and have fun. My girl doesnt wait for me on the uphills and I dont wait for her on the downhills(unless its nasty)...if I can catch back up to her of course. I wouldnt so much ask your boyfriend to go slow with you as I would to ask him how he does it and to show you in a section on the trail...over and over. I ride slow and I dont want anybody waiting for me or pushing me harder from behind...I push my self to the limit on my own...if I go any harder im gonna have a heart attack.

I face planted off a ladder from ~6 feet when i was on the pedals and i cracked my visor, but it didnt come off. I was highly unmotivated to ride after than and 2 people were watching. I felt really bad to screw up right in front of the people, but trust me, when youre in some pretty damn bad pain that had you down for 2 minutes, then it doesn't matter. People watching you screw up can be good because then they will know to call for assistance if you're down for too long.

Jess might not care for the mtn bike right now, but she sure kicked butt on her roadbike today.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=1276061#post1276061

:D

Thank you for starting this thread. My g/f will be riding with me for the first time when I get my new bike this week. We have talked about where and how to ride togeather. All of the replies within this post have been along the same thought pattern that we have. Start slow on easy paths, make it fun and not a work out or a race. Put a couple subs in the camelback and have a picknick under the branches of an old oak by a river and relax. She understands stuff happens and bumps and scrapes will result. I will save my alpha male I am better faster stronger than you training rides for my other riding buddies and for myself.

It's just a matter of time before you can hit the trails with ease. Your boyfriend has probably been mountain biking since he was a kid. It's just a matter experience. Most of the girls my age wouldn't dare go off-road (I'm 12), but later in life they might take a real interest and wish they'd learned to ride trails sooner. While on the other hand, my friends and I have learned the basics of mountain biking at a young age. I guess it's kind of a matter of whether your a boy or a girl when you're a kid. But as long as you practice, you'll eventually be able to tear up the trails. I hope you find this helpful.

Wow guys! These are all awesome comments, THANK YOU! :) This is a really great forum, so supportive and full of great advice.

Today's road ride boosted my confidence a little, so I will keep trying the MTB, but I will practise on easier paths to start. A friend of ours recommended power straps for the pedals, that might be worth a shot.

Kritter, tell your girlfriend I know EXACTLY how she feels and if she wants to start a support group to let me know! LOL! :D

Oh, and for the record, I'm so NOT a fantastic mountain biker. She just hasn't been around for any of my wrecks. :p

Don't sell yourself short. The best MTBers in the world have the most spectacular wrecks. ;)

Well, you're more than welcome to join me on the road anytime.... :D

Sorry, it had to be said....

(We now return you to your regularly scheduled mtb forum)

Koffee

A friend of ours recommended power straps for the pedals, that might be worth a shot.


NOOOOO bear traps are far worse then clipless pedals. on clipless u just flick ur ankle and you out. Bear traps can work good up to the point where you REALY need them to work and get your feet out. They are like the black hole, they won't release you feet For a good combo of clipless and platforms, look at crank bro's Mallet C. Clip in on the hill climbs and clip out with enough platform for the tech sections.

http://www.beyondbikes.com/BB/ItemDesc.asp?IC=CM%2DPED%2DPD8612

Kinda late in the game, but I wanted to add some pearls of wisdom that I've gathered during my many years riding and teaching friends how to ride. Plus, I was a Ride Guide and had many inexperienced riders in my groups.

First of all is getting comfortable on your bike. Especially hard for roadies as they tend to be stationary on a bike. You need to learn how your body position, forward or back affects your climbing, descending and traction. Learn to float over your bike and move forward and backwards. For example:

When climbing, you sit at the tip of your saddle and bend at the hips to put your weight forward. Tuck your arms and pull the handlebars to your waist. Also, many novices use too easy a gear when climbing. If the gear is too easy, you'll outspin and loose too much momentum. Try one gear higher. Sure it's harder to push, but since you're an experienced roadie, you should be able to push a harder gear. This will give you more forward momentum to get over those trail obstacles.

When descending, move your weight back over the rear tire. Use more front brake. The front brake will control your speed, not the back brake. If you are leaning back far enough you won't go over your handlebars (endo). You should be using about a 70% front and 30% back ratio for your brakes.

Learn to steer with your hips. When entering some tight singletrack at speed, drop your inside hip back and your outside hip towards the front. You kinda rotate your lower body in the direction you want to turn. This will automatically shift your weight
in the direction you need to turn.

Secondly, many novices ride too slowly. You'll have to use your own judgement here, but remember forward momentum keeps you on your bike. Sometimes my worst crashes are when I'm being too careful and going too slowly. Again the forward momentum will help you roll over things easier. Sometimes it's better to let go the brakes and roll vs. trying to inch your way down a descent.

Keep your arms and legs loose. Don't flex or tighten ANYthing up. Also, avoid the 'death' grip on your handlebars. Just keep your hands tight enough to grip the bar. A death grip will tire you out soon.

My advice on pedals, stick with platforms until you are super comfortable on the mountain bike. Worrying about clipping in AND out while learning to ride is a recipe for disaster.

What else? Ride in the morning vs. afternoon. You are more awake and attentive and the temps are cooler. Drink more water than you think you need. Dehydration leads to fatigue which leads to frustration.

Keep your begginner rides to less than 2 hrs. Good idea is to do a shorter 1 hr. loop, then rest and then do another shorter ride as opposed to a longer 2 hr. ride.

Wear gloves. Gloves will offer protection in the event of falls and keep your hands from getting caloused. Even in summer I wear full fingered gloves.

If you can find some other women to ride with, go for it. We as men try to be as empathetic as we can, but there are many things we just don't understand. Another woman would.

Learn to wheelie, or at least get the front tire up about 4 inches. Don't worry about bunnyhopping, just learn to get the front up and over and the back will roll over it.

Hope that helps and don't give up.

Wow! That is a LOT of very practical and interesting advice a2psyklnut, thank you! Here I thought I needed more brake on the back to avoid doing a header, so I was doing it backwards! LOL! A lot of what you say makes sense so I look forward to practicing.

:)

No problemo, glad I can help!

The other newbie mistake is looking directly at the trail 1 to 2 feet in front of the tire. You should keep your head up and focus on the trail 10 t0 12 feet in front of you. Your subconscious will remember the obstacles. You'll end up riding faster if you do this.

What else? This is personal choice, but I think expensive computers on a mountain bike are kinda pointless. The only thing you really need to know is MPH and Distance. Heck, MPH is silly too. One second you're flying at 16 mph and then you hit a climb and are at 2 mph. Sure it's nice to know how far you've ridden, but average speed, cadence, max speed...etc. don't really mean too much. Save your money and buy one for the road bike where all that can provide you with information you can actually use.

Kinda late in the game, but I wanted to add some pearls of wisdom that I've gathered during my many years riding and teaching friends how to ride. Plus, I was a Ride Guide and had many inexperienced riders in my groups.

First of all is getting comfortable on your bike. Especially hard for roadies as they tend to be stationary on a bike. You need to learn how your body position, forward or back affects your climbing, descending and traction. Learn to float over your bike and move forward and backwards. For example:

When climbing, you sit at the tip of your saddle and bend at the hips to put your weight forward. Tuck your arms and pull the handlebars to your waist. Also, many novices use too easy a gear when climbing. If the gear is too easy, you'll outspin and loose too much momentum. Try one gear higher. Sure it's harder to push, but since you're an experienced roadie, you should be able to push a harder gear. This will give you more forward momentum to get over those trail obstacles.

When descending, move your weight back over the rear tire. Use more front brake. The front brake will control your speed, not the back brake. If you are leaning back far enough you won't go over your handlebars (endo). You should be using about a 70% front and 30% back ratio for your brakes.

Learn to steer with your hips. When entering some tight singletrack at speed, drop your inside hip back and your outside hip towards the front. You kinda rotate your lower body in the direction you want to turn. This will automatically shift your weight
in the direction you need to turn.

Secondly, many novices ride too slowly. You'll have to use your own judgement here, but remember forward momentum keeps you on your bike. Sometimes my worst crashes are when I'm being too careful and going too slowly. Again the forward momentum will help you roll over things easier. Sometimes it's better to let go the brakes and roll vs. trying to inch your way down a descent.

Keep your arms and legs loose. Don't flex or tighten ANYthing up. Also, avoid the 'death' grip on your handlebars. Just keep your hands tight enough to grip the bar. A death grip will tire you out soon.

My advice on pedals, stick with platforms until you are super comfortable on the mountain bike. Worrying about clipping in AND out while learning to ride is a recipe for disaster.

What else? Ride in the morning vs. afternoon. You are more awake and attentive and the temps are cooler. Drink more water than you think you need. Dehydration leads to fatigue which leads to frustration.

Keep your begginner rides to less than 2 hrs. Good idea is to do a shorter 1 hr. loop, then rest and then do another shorter ride as opposed to a longer 2 hr. ride.

Wear gloves. Gloves will offer protection in the event of falls and keep your hands from getting caloused. Even in summer I wear full fingered gloves.

If you can find some other women to ride with, go for it. We as men try to be as empathetic as we can, but there are many things we just don't understand. Another woman would.

Learn to wheelie, or at least get the front tire up about 4 inches. Don't worry about bunnyhopping, just learn to get the front up and over and the back will roll over it.

Hope that helps and don't give up.

That's really good advice. Just don't think of going fast on skinnies especially if theyre the ones that go up a log and down one. I was going fast, theh only got half the skinny on my tire, then my front slid off, my tire went into the log and OTB i went. Crashes aren't too bad as long as you can absorb the shock.

I took my wife to the local park and had her run her gears across the grass. This allowed her to feel good about unclipping at different speeds plus the grass simulates grades and she didn't worry about getting injured. Take your time and don't think about crashing. Oh and I have used most of the clipless pedals and I would have to say either the Times or the CrankBrothers are the best choice....

-Dude

A few years back, I built a road bike and a mountain bike for my wife. She did 100+ miles per week on the road bike but very few miles on the mountain bike.

Its okay not to like trail riding. My wife doesn't ride off road at all anymore. Nothing wrong with that. As long as she gets out and rides. I'll support that.