gr@sshopper

I raced @ fat tire classic sunday (with a busted helmet , don't tell nobody)

I'm tired of getting smoked by fat guys on the downhill, and then getting stuck when they can't spin the granny gear up stuff I'd clean on my SS.

I'm also tired of wiping out into cactus (the barbs hurt as much coming out as going in)

I really need a skills clinic. I know there have been threads on them, but they seem to be old, so....

Anybody have any info?

jsigone

big bear used to do them, but not any more. Sounds like you need to link up with more riders to help you get faster and decend better. If you KNOW you can clean it on a SS, dont get out of the middle chain ring and power up that stuff.

Racing is more metal then phyical as far as MTB world is (if the field is even). Don't shift lower then you have to but don't blow up either. Riding at redline is fine just don't cross it cuz it takes a good 3-5 minutes to recover. If the the field is close (within viewing distance) that other rider will be GONE. Name of the game, keep sight with those in your group. Remember their jersey or helmet color or something. You want them to be that carrot on the end of the stick. Same goes for Downhilling too. The guys I raced with last yr were kicking my ass up the climbs, but I close the gap QUICK on the DH. But the problem is that XC racing is 80-90% up hill. My style worked well with SuperD, but opened my eyes to the XC side of things. So I trained on doing sprints up the climbs.

There is this uphill single track near my house I'd do a TT on every other day, 6 1/2 minute climb at redline or just over it. 8-15% grade for about 1 mile is a pure butt kicker. The decent is great for the skills too since it's steep and narrow. Find something like that and have fun on it. Make a game outa it otherwise it gets boring and not fun. Race a friend up it too!!! If he is faster, have him ride behind you so you can "feel" the pressure of a fast guy on your tire. This will push you to go faster and also push him as well. If he DH faster, let him go first and you try to keep the gap small.

gr@sshopper

Oh, on sunday, I was on my SS. I knew I could clean the hills, but I couldn't get round the crowd. I don't know if it'd be totally jackass to start asking people to push their bikes OFF the trail, rather than in the middle of things, but I really wanted to. Huge gap would open after DH, I'd run into the group on the ups, pass a couple that I could, and then get to the top of the hill, and try to keep up. Unfortunately, I wiped out on 3 different sections following this method. Ouch.

I think I just need more time chasing people down hills.

jsigone

in racing and you are on a SS, you NEED to be an ***** to pass people. They will understand once you pass and they look at your chain ring. It's hurts more to go slow on the SS then to carry momentum up and keeping your cadence in a good range. Just try to call it out on every pass, they might give you an extra inch to move past them. If there are people walking their bikes up, YOU have the right away, say "rider coming up" or something.

Downhill at your own pace so you don't crash but don't ride the brakes the entire way. You hands will cramp up and your speed is scrubbed off too fast. Use the back brakes to control the speed on the straight DH sections or between turns and use the fronts for braking into turns if they shape enough. Believe it or not but most XC racers are DH pusses.

I don't know how the trails are by your house, but if you can DH all the trails good at Aliso Woods, you're on good terms. Those are some GOOD DH and climbs there. Well worth the drive from here in San Diego.

Enzo Gucci

Grasshopper: Two of my friends race Semi-Pro XC, another one of them raced the U23 Worlds in Spain back in the day. They're all really competent riders. I'll ask them and see if they've got time to bring you around and help you out a bit.

The two semi-pro guys ride single speed somewhat often (one much more than the other) so they'll know what you're up againsed.

redal

Just ride with anybody that is faster than you. Follow them on the downhills for as long as you can and try to figure out what they're doing that you're not. Ride harder trails than Claremont Wilderness also. The stupid SC Velo guys do a ride from Incycle on Mondays. Not sure if they ride this time of year, but there used to also be night rides once a week up in Claremont Wilderness.

gr@sshopper

man, I am not going to live down that comment, am I?

redal's right - tips from bad asses would be great, but really, I'm a rank beginner, and pick up tricks from pretty much everybody.

Enzo Gucci

This is true, but if he's a total beginner, he's gonna get dropped on the first switchback of singletrack and he'll never learn anything (other than how to get dropped, haha) It would be good for him to find people who were willing to take him on rides and wait up for him.

jsigone

he's on a singlespeed, he shouldn't be a total beginner

alicestrong

Have you ever gone out to Mark Langtons free clinic in Malibu? He would probably take some time to address a couple of your more advanced questions. If you have the money, friends of mine have given really good reviews of his private classes.

https://www.corbamtb.com/programs/skills.shtml

redal

I don't think he's a total beginner since I know he rides the road and has descended quite a few of the climbs in the San Gabriel mountains. I don't mean that he should go out with Julien Absalon or Ryan Trebon either (sorry I don't know any current downhillers names). Guys that are faster than you,a lot or a little, will make you ride faster. If he makes it to the first switchback, he'll see what they are doing different and make it to the second switchback next time. I agree it would be nice to have people that would wait up for you and I would hope that anybody he rides with would.

jsigone

one of these weekends, I'll have to take my bike up there and ride some of the trails. I can show you a few things

redal

I'll let you live the comment down. I took it a little personal since I ride for SC Velo and my wife works at Incycle. It was funny to me that you could call a whole club stupid in the title of a thread. A club that promotes all levels of riding, hosts one of the few stage races in socal, and goes out of its way to support an elite womens racing team as well as a junior cycling team. No one tattled on you so the thread title wasn't touched. When a member of this forum named another forum member and called her dumb, I agreed, noting that I thought she was lame for making not so nice comments about my brother in laws appearance. Those posts were removed and the forum member PMd me telling me that she never made such comments and she would report me if I wrote anything about her again. I pointed out the comments to her and she realized how rude they were and apologized, again by PM. I apologized as well since I hadn't meant for her to feel attacked.
Back to this thread. I don't mean you should go ride with super studs. If you don't know anyone faster than you, ride with some of the local clubs. There are fast guys in the area. The way it usually works for me is that I am usually faster than most of the guys I ride with up the hills and they beat me down the hills.

JamR

Check out the clinics at the Irvine Ranch Wildlands if you get a chance.

We're hosting our third intermediate clinic this year which takes place this Saturday, but unfortunately this one is already full.

These will take place three to six times per year for now and are free to the public. You just need to pre-register online at www.irvineranchwildlands.org

Just go to the activities page on the "Let's Go Outside" tab to see all the events. The events are usually listed two to three months ahead.

Hope this helps.

See ya on the trails.

Enzo Gucci

Apparantly there was a thread before my time that I missed.

redal

My comments which were removed were in the old "what's up" thread. Grasshopper's thread is about a month old. Like I said, I took offense to my club being called "stupid" in a thread title.