Mountain Biking - Advice for getting back on the trails after a bad fall

I've been learning a new trail lately and is much harder than the one I learned how to ride on. I had been doing pretty well, the guys were telling me that I did some difficult drops the first time and most don't even attempt or get at first. But towards the end after going for round #2, I came up to a double drop and took a really nasty fall. Thank God I didn't break anything, but missed the second drop and my bike flew one way and I went the other and almost knocked myself out. This definitely will not keep me from riding, but I don't want to get back on the trails and get nervous again. Most of the time I psyche myself out and just go for it, but after this I want to just get better, not rehash it again when I come up to that section again. Any advice? I was riding with a guide and learned that I wasn't far back enough behind the saddle for such a steep drop. Any stories of how you recovered and attacked the trails with confidence after a fall?

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Just do it.

Really though, figure out what went wrong the first time and learn to avoid it.
OR
Crash more and over time it will phase you less and less.

I usually seek a combo of both.

What I would suggest, and what I have done-

Go and ride the trail(s) that you learned on or are quite familiar with, a trail that you have pretty 'dialed in'.Try to ride that trail faster or more aggressively than you have in the past. It will also help if there are obstacles/features on that trail that you haven't tried yet or have not ridden in a while.

For the learning curve/confidence thing, I think it's always best to take gradual/progressive steps than to try to go over your head, too much too soon kinda thing. Success always inspires in a positive way.

Thanks! I think yes I was in over my head. I will definitely try to ride the ones I know faster. Also I will fix what I did wrong also. Many thanks great advice :)

get back and do it again b4 you phych urself out

get back and do it again b4 you phych urself out

basically what i was getting at.

Gutsing it out, works for some people... but if it's not you, then try this. Learn the technique you failed to execute which caused the crash the first time around... before you attempt the same drop again.

Go to the same spot and ask your riding mates to do it properly and watch what they do with their body position, and especially the timing of it all... when they push back their body and when they pull up forward again.

Then practice doing the technique on a smaller drops until you get acquainted with how the technique "feels" in real time... timing and flow.

Then do that same spot that threw you off, but this time you know exactly what you have to do. After a while it becomes second nature and you don't even have to think about what you need to do over drops.

.

I wiped out a few weeks ago and banged my knee up pretty good.
I tried getting on the trail a few times after it healed sufficiently but I was always second guessing myself, oversteering, over brakeing, over thinking.
All that went away when the whistle blew for the race to start and I was flying again in no time.

Gutsing it out, works for some people... but if it's not you, then try this. Learn the technique you failed to execute which caused the crash the first time around... before you attempt the same drop again.

Go to the same spot and ask your riding mates to do it properly and watch what they do with their body position, and especially the timing of it all... when they push back their body and when they pull up forward again.

Then practice doing the technique on a smaller drops until you get acquainted with how the technique "feels" in real time... timing and flow.

Then do that same spot that threw you off, but this time you know exactly what you have to do. After a while it becomes second nature and you don't even have to think about what you need to do over drops.

.

To add to this, I would walk around the obstacle/feature, then work on your visualization. I ate it bad, once, because I thought one ramp was actually the next ramp down. I paid for that one with a four day stay in the hospital w/ cellulitis.

Your over thinking this. Pull up and go for it if its level, just get back out and try it. I fall ALOT being a dirt jumper. You dont get used to it really. But experience is everything, knowing what to do is nice but you got to go out and do it to learn it. Everyone has their own style of riding, figure out yours and don't quit after you get knocked down, just gotta get back up. I remember going off a 7 foot jump when i was starting, i overshot it and ate crap, then i was being a chicken and wouldn't hit it again, Took me a week, but i should of just got out their and kept on trying it. Falling is apart of the sport, just get out and keep on trying.