Mountain Biking - My son kicked my butt DHing

Yea - beat me by about 4 seconds in a local race. Figured it would happen sooner or later. I got 4th in Cat2 30-39 (I raced as 39). He got 7th in cat2 18 and under (he's 15). Dminor was there as well and did awesome.
Here are a couple pics of me - for whatever reason I figured jeans are great riding apparrel for DHing this year....
http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4754470/p4pb4754470.jpg
http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4754469/p4pb4754469.jpg
And a couple of the kid:
http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4754299/p4pb4754299.jpg
http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4753457/p4pb4753457.jpg
http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4750577/p4pb4750577.jpg

I feel your pain. Great pics.

. . . for whatever reason I figured jeans are great riding apparrel for DHing this year....That's because you are a punk.

:D.


http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4754470/p4pb4754470.jpgThis is a great shot - - makes it look like you bombed it straight down the Seattle Line.

Hey, good riding yesterday! I thought maybe I stood a chance yesterday, but you young bucks kept me in my place.

A pic of your boy from Saturday's race:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6WNwrmfePI/AAAAAAAACA4/_AmYBIuhzRc/DSC_9824.JPG

A couple more of you:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6bnFgOCy7I/AAAAAAAACrA/JPnhwh7g3CM/DSC_0839.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6bnGPS4shI/AAAAAAAACrE/CnvmHhhN6ks/DSC_0840.JPG

Your son and you down the waterfall (Dale Nunn photos):

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blENciJ6I/AAAAAAAACa4/_QvJSVNorow/DSC_0542.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blEl4VcWI/AAAAAAAACa8/q3N64eeuVAU/DSC_0543.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blFN6CPuI/AAAAAAAACbA/6b4l36KvpWM/DSC_0544.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blFWQnPHI/AAAAAAAACbE/ihafQZprr40/DSC_0545.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blF6A53BI/AAAAAAAACbI/1im8NQBD3ng/DSC_0546.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_umnCMd4Chew/S6blGVDcSiI/AAAAAAAACbM/SiBmylIX0aY/DSC_0547.JPG

Good job!


for whatever reason I figured jeans are great riding apparrel for DHing this year....


And all of the cool kids are wearing jeans for DH!

BTW, how long was the course (time-wise)?

Time-wise, the courses are just over a minute-and-a-half for the pros to one side or the other of two minutes flat for us mortals.

BTW, how long was the course (time-wise)?

My run was 2:11..... my son's was 2:07...... - give me a 15min Dh race and might be able to do a bit better.

Bah, only 4 seconds over 2 minutes...basically the same! ;)

Awesome pics, results and course! Jeans rule, but when I wear my bell bottoms things get gummed up

Another shot - - from the PinkBike gallery:

http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4754004/p4pb4754004.jpg

great pictures, I am jealous of this riding as compared to texas. Keep it up you old guys give the young ones hope we can keep going!

Great pics. Looks like a good time.

Great pics. Looks like a good time.

It was fun - but the whole obsessing over "what I could have done better" kind of sucks - I thought I was done with this crap - now I want to race again. Damn-it!

It's funny, I was that way a few years ago and now that I'm 43 I just don't care anymore. I don't go looking for big things to hit anymore. I love to hit things that are on the trail but I just like to get out and ride. I guess the old age is creeping in. It's awesome that you and your son are getting to spend time together doing something that you both love. Me and the Girlscout still love to go out for a few hours and ride (and have good talks) and he's 17 now. I'm very thankful we are still close and that riding gives us a chance to spend time together.
Keep the great pics coming.

It was fun - but the whole obsessing over "what I could have done better" kind of sucks - I thought I was done with this crap - now I want to race again. Damn-it!:roflmao2: Hehehe - - that's the slippery slope man. Ever since Sunday, I've been going over my run in my head and trying to figure out where I should have got that extra pedal-stroke or two that would have made up that .2 seconds. I say I don't care, that I spent it all up on the hill, that I feel good about putting in a respectable showing; but . . . dang! . . . .



It's awesome that you and your son are getting to spend time together doing something that you both love. Me and the Girlscout still love to go out for a few hours and ride (and have good talks) and he's 17 now. I'm very thankful we are still close and that riding gives us a chance to spend time together.True that. These are the years that build it for a lifetime. My son is 25 now and, although we don't get to ride together much any more, he's still my best riding buddy.

It's awesome that you and your son are getting to spend time together doing something that you both love. Me and the Girlscout still love to go out for a few hours and ride (and have good talks) and he's 17 now. I'm very thankful we are still close and that riding gives us a chance to spend time together.


True that. These are the years that build it for a lifetime. My son is 25 now and, although we don't get to ride together much any more, he's still my best riding buddy.


Awww, are you guys going to start crying then have a group hug?

^^ Hey, like the song says, "All we need is some ice cream and a hug." :D

Another shot - - from the PinkBike gallery:


that looks to be about 45 feet or so

great pics guys! the kid got lucky this time...

and where are the dminor pics?

are you guys clearing that double I noticed? it looks like the younger age group bypassed it?

great pics guys! the kid got lucky this time...

and where are the dminor pics?

are you guys clearing that double I noticed? it looks like the younger age group bypassed it?

Mine are in the other thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?630189-First-DH-Race-of-the-season-and-2nd-(update))

There are numerous doubles on the Saturday course . . . a few less on Sunday's. That last shot of sscyco's boy is actually a small corner/step-down that can be aired out as far as you want. There are three bigger high-speed gap doubles leading up to it. You really have to be moving to catch the trannys (which I wasn't quite that day). This was me not quite making it:

http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4753891/p4pb4753891.jpg

http://is.pinkbike.com/p4pb4750577/p4pb4750577.jpg

I meant this pic. that double looks nasty if you don't make it? looks like they bypass it?

I am getting too old, I feel safe with cross country.

:thumb:

I meant this pic. that double looks nasty if you don't make it? looks like they bypass it?That double was not part of the course. The gap is about 21' (I paced it off), so it would not be out of the realm of reason to have included it. The Sea Otter 2 years ago had a similar-sized double that I hit. It was pucker-worthy indeed the first time I did it; but you had to if you wanted to carry the fast line.

That double was not part of the course. The gap is about 21' (I paced it off), so it would not be out of the realm of reason to have included it. The Sea Otter 2 years ago had a similar-sized double that I hit. It was pucker-worthy indeed the first time I did it; but you had to if you wanted to carry the fast line.

I would so not be use to coasting a jump. I would be looking for a throttle to wick

^^ It took me a while to adjust to jumping a bicycle just because of that.

^^ It took me a while to adjust to jumping a bicycle just because of that.

i would imagine you're completely okay with it now?

I always used throttle to adjust distance and front wheel attitude off the lip

:(

I feel pretty comfortable in the air now; 20' is still my outer pucker-limit on gap doubles probably. And I don't always fly straight; but it's getting there.

I had a good friend explain it to me in a way I could understand once. He pointed out that on my dirt bike, since it weighed as much or more than me, it jumped and I guided it. He said that just the opposite happens on a bike, since you far outweigh it (and you don't have that good gyroscope effect that a throttle-blip gives you), YOU do the jump and you carry the bike with you. Once I was able to wrap my head around that, it started falling into place. The hardest thing I have to deal with still is knowing how fast to go for a given size gap to get out the right distance to the tranny - - not overshooting it or coming up short. I don't seem to have that instinctive, innate sense yet.

My trick is to always keep th bike moving below you - I have been accused of showboating when I'm just trying to keep the below me. Dead sailor is bad.

My trick is to always keep th bike moving below you - I have been accused of showboating when I'm just trying to keep the below me. Dead sailor is bad.

This is exactly right. I don't know enough to showboat but If I do something with the bike while I'm in the air I can control it and I'm not just along for the ride.

I feel pretty comfortable in the air now; 20' is still my outer pucker-limit on gap doubles probably. And I don't always fly straight; but it's getting there.

I had a good friend explain it to me in a way I could understand once. He pointed out that on my dirt bike, since it weighed as much or more than me, it jumped and I guided it. He said that just the opposite happens on a bike, since you far outweigh it (and you don't have that good gyroscope effect that a throttle-blip gives you), YOU do the jump and you carry the bike with you. Once I was able to wrap my head around that, it started falling into place. The hardest thing I have to deal with still is knowing how fast to go for a given size gap to get out the right distance to the tranny - - not overshooting it or coming up short. I don't seem to have that instinctive, innate sense yet.

Maybe this is part of why I'm such a hack (aside from inexperience). I'm a featherweight (130# in my winter clothes dripping wet after a meal) riding a bike that's gotta be at least 35#. I do have moments that I feel out of control.

That double was not part of the course. The gap is about 21' (I paced it off), so it would not be out of the realm of reason to have included it.

From the angle in the photo, it looks like it has too much of a kick to carry lots of speed on a DH course.



The hardest thing I have to deal with still is knowing how fast to go for a given size gap to get out the right distance to the tranny - - not overshooting it or coming up short. I don't seem to have that instinctive, innate sense yet.

A ton of runs down Dirt Merchant and A-Line should help that.

Actually, Silver Star is really good for practicing that too...very well built jumps of progressively bigger sizes. Just nothing as big as the big stuff at Whistler.

From the angle in the photo, it looks like it has too much of a kick to carry lots of speed on a DH course.That, and the fact that it's actually a bit of a step-up with nowhere down to go after that. It was built as a single feature because of the good run-in speed from the road gap.


A ton of runs down Dirt Merchant and A-Line should help that. Actually, Silver Star is really good for practicing that too...very well built jumps of progressively bigger sizes. Just nothing as big as the big stuff at Whistler.For sure. You can build a season-worth of flow with a week up North.

For sure. You can build a season-worth of flow with a week up North.

And that is what will happen over the first week of July! :D

Maybe its just me, being a semi "new to the trails" cyclist, but DH looks insane. Im afraid of it just sitting here. Im 17 and cant even imagine hitting that.

It's all about confidence and working up to things.

It's all about confidence and working up to things.+1. I started DHing at age 45; so I am probably a-typically cautious in approaching new challenges. But, as never says, I practice, watch others and work up to it. There comes a time when you have to pull the trigger if you're going to do it; but the reward feels so good when you clean something that it just encourages you to progress. That's what I love about it.

+1. I started DHing at age 45; so I am probably a-typically cautious in approaching new challenges. But, as never says, I practice, watch others and work up to it. There comes a time when you have to pull the trigger if you're going to do it; but the reward feels so good when you clean something that it just encourages you to progress. That's what I love about it.

You may have started at 45 but you were not a normal 45 year old to begin with - with 20+ years on a moto competing and building skills your entry into Mtb was smoother than others.

I started riding in mt early to mid 20s - right before my son was born. My previous sport was surfing - not a direct transition into the mtb world but surfing takes a bit of fitness, guts to drop in on something big, and depending were your at, big consequences if you don't stick your line.



Maybe its just me, being a semi "new to the trails" cyclist, but DH looks insane. I'm afraid of it just sitting here. I'm 17 and cant even imagine hitting that.

Tiny steps - the guys that watch DH for he first time and get all jittery thinking "I can ride like that" - jump on a bike and hut themselves. Tiny steps.

Outstanding pics guys. I have some fond memories riding and racing at Beacon. At least up until I crashed and suffered a cuncussion. After that it's a bit fuzzy.

I just found this pic and had to share it. One of the most telling shots of the sheer size of Girthmore that I've seen. This was part of Sunday's Pro-only course line. Rider in the photo is Britney White - - the only female pro (and maybe the only female ever) to hit it:

http://raceface.com/riders/wp-content/uploads/gerthmore-brit-532x1024.jpg

Sweet D...can't wait!