Mountain Biking - if you downhill with a helmet-cam, please help me

can you go down a "beginner" dh track and post the vid here, mum wont let me dh till she sees some of it, dont ask why.

Thanks

Unfortunatly for you, the beginner runs are also the same ones the sport and expert class use. They do add some bailout lines but for the most part the drops and jumps are the same. Now there are some with less drops and if I can find my vid from BigBear I will post it.

You have a tough situation there. Some how you need to convey to your mum how safe it is with out her realizing how much more dangerous it is to DH on your local trails with no first aid at hand.

How old are you?
You need to strongly impress on her how much mtb'ing means to you and how badly you want to race. You do need to do it in a way that does not piss her off though. Sit down with her and ask for specific reasons why she will not let you race. I know her first respons will be something like, "Because I do not want you to get hurt." To that you ask, "Get hurt how?" If she comes back with, "Because it is dangerous." then ask her what makes it so dangerous and tell her that when you race you will be wearing full armor, a helmet, the course is a closed course, there is first aid at the race and there are people and course workers all along the course lookin out for your well being. One point that my wife feels is very important, the riders go down the course one at a time.

Let her understand that there is risk in everything, especially active sports, but the rewards are well worth the risk.
The next sentence is not ment to put your mum down and you should realize I do not know her so keep that in mind when reading it.
If your mom is an overweight, lazy couch potato who never played sports then you definitly will have a hard time getting her to let you race.

Try not to mention that it is more dangerous when you ride your local trails because then she may not want you to ride at all.

You could take her to a race and show her what it is all about and HOPEFULLY no one gets seriously injured that day. Imagine what she would think if she was at BigBear when we had one gal die, one rider get paralized and another brake his color bone and fracture a couple vertebre (he is still riding by the way). All this was on the same day.

Here is another thought, see if she will let you race Super-D. There are no big jumps and drops and a little bit of climbing.

DBD:beer:

Are we talking about actually racing here? If not, tell her you'll ride with a buddy (assuming you can find a riding buddy in your area, I don't know the situation over there ;)).
DBD has some good tips there, although it wasn't about racing I had the same problem with my parents. It took me a month and a half of convincing for them to donate 50% of my Hardrock's price. I then started riding around in town and they said to always wear my helmet, then one day me and a friend decided to go up to the mountains and hit up a trail a guy at our LBS reccomended us. I took some pictures and after my parents saw them (gnarly singletrack, lots of jagged rocks) they just looked at me as if they were thinking about not letting me go.
Now, a year later, they're starting to realise what MTB, especially DH means to me, it's not a hobby anymore, it's a lifestyle. They've now accepted that I DH and that I spent lots of money on the bike and when I say bye to them before leaving for a ride then all they'll say is "Take care.". Just wear a fullface helmet, goggles, body armor and you should be set. Now my parents allow me to ride pretty much anywhere, they've accepted it and now consider me as a slight nutter. :lol: :D
Tell your mum that there's first aid at hand and maybe even an ambulance, people watching throughout the course and aiding to keep it safe and fun for everyone.
DBD, the idea of taking his mum to a DH is a double or nothing type of thing, if someone gets hurt she'll never even consider it again. :p

EDIT: What's Super-D?

Good luck and keep insisting on it. :D

Super D is a mix between xc and dh. Its down, with some up and meant for a shorter travel bike.

http://mountainbike.about.com/od/fitnesstrainingracing/f/Super_d_faq.htm

Just have her cut and paste the following link into a browser:

http://www.mtbvideos.net/video/hboy.mpg

Super D is a lot of fun I have raced it before. Lemans style start sorta sucks though. I got my mom to let me by telling her that MTBing is what I do, it is my passion(and this is true) it worked and now I get to race DH this season.

Hi Pink,
I'm posting a link off the DigitalDaredevil site that is good helmet-cam footage of the Port Angeles Spring Fling course near Port Angeles, WA on the Olympic Penninsula. It's pretty typical Pacific NW DH course, though not as technical as many, so it might be just what your mum needs to see.

DD does some good vid work. They have a helmet-cam trailer of the Silver Mtn Idaho course too. As soon as I find it again, I'll post it up. In the meantime, go here:
http://www.digitaldaredevil.com/ddmedia/displayimage.php?album=24&pos=4
Good luck!
(P.S. - Careful of the audio bed when Mom's watching it)

Thanks DBD but I am not racing "yet", and I could probably get 1 or 2 buddies togethor, Thank you dminor and everyone else.

Thanks DBD but I am not racing "yet", and I could probably get 1 or 2 buddies togethor, Thank you dminor and everyone else.
If you're not racing then that brings up the problem of there not being first aid and people (adults) at hand. Tell her that you'll be riding with several buddies, all of you take mobile phones (if you have) and maybe also take a first aid kit between the three of you, I'm sure you could get a crash course on first aid, that might just convince your mum. ;)

Good luck :D