Mtb Instruction & Skills

[Catrin]

What about a good set of BMX pedals and real grippy shoes like Five Tens? I've been told the soles of these shoes are SO grippy they really grab onto the pins of the pedals and won't bounce off. I am considering a pair of these shoes for myself.

I am considering the same remote control seat-post - but not this year. Once I have the basic skills under my belt and my trail riding to fall ratio reverses then I will do this. Because of my fit needs other than inseam, the saddle height on my Jamis is going to be well above my bars and I think that will make things easier later on to be able to get the seat post out of the way easily when I need to do so.

I couldn't justify it at this stage, even if I had the money...

[Artista]

What about a good set of BMX pedals and real grippy shoes like Five Tens? I've been told the soles of these shoes are SO grippy they really grab onto the pins of the pedals and won't bounce off. I am considering a pair of these shoes for myself.

I am considering the same remote control seat-post - but not this year. Once I have the basic skills under my belt and my trail riding to fall ratio reverses then I will do this. Because of my fit needs other than inseam, the saddle height on my Jamis is going to be well above my bars and I think that will make things easier later on to be able to get the seat post out of the way easily when I need to do so.

I couldn't justify it at this stage, even if I had the money...

Thanks for the suggestion. I have BMX pedals & grippy shoes on my back-up list if the SPD's don't work out. I knew that shoes were less likely to slip on BMX pedals but I hadn't heard that they were less likely to bounce too.

I found new, remote control, seat posts on ebay at a slight discount. The discount isn't big enough to get my business from my LBS, though.

How's that lower handlebar thing on the Jamis working for you? I thought you would do a more upright position on your mtb because of your hands.

[Catrin]

Apparently some BMX riders use the Five Tens with BMX pedals and their feet stay in place, I think the pins kind of dig into the soles if I understand what is going on and you can actually pull up on the pedals.

The saddle height on my Jams is currently lower than it should be - right now it is important that I be able to get my feet to the ground quickly Eventually I will need a different stem as I get more experienced/comfortable and spend more time on the bike. I require a short reach as well, which is one of the reasons my Jamis is a size smaller than probably someone else with my measurements would order. My fitter and I worked it out though.

So far the different position isn't bothering my hands, but it isn't like I am spending long periods of time on the bike without stopping, falling, something The problem is the reach - with the larger sizes the TT is much, much too long for me... Thankfully my hand position on mountain bars doesn't automatically cause pain like it does on road bars...and I am probably stronger than I was a year ago.

[Artista]

I've also found that I have more latitude in my mtb fit than I do with the road bike. Yes, stopping more must have something to do with it, but I think our bodies just plain move differently while mtb'ing compared to road riding.

On another note, I changed from Frogs to SPD's on my road bike when I put SPD's on my mtb. It seemed safer & more efficient to teach my feet to unclip the same way on both bikes.

Today was my first road bike ride with the new pedals. The road bike pedals were way easier to unclip than the ones on my mtb. I was sure that there was a difference in the pedal tension between the two bikes. I did back-to-back test rides for comparison. It turns out that there is no difference at all. After riding the road bike, I was able to unclip easily on the mtb. Once I reproduced the "trapped" effect on both bikes, it messed with my ability to unclip from the road bike too.

At this point, I'm thinking that my unclipping drills on the mtb are doing more harm than good. I have a plan...this weekend, I'm going to take the road bike out for a quick ride to get that unclipping muscle memory back & then go straight to the trail with the mtb where I'll have less opportunity to over-think the unclipping process. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Artista]

I did it! Rode my favorite trail clipped in. I did tip over once but I think I might have fallen even on platforms under the circumstances. Hubby was riding a little ahead of me & saw a small snake curled up in the side of trial. He knew that it was a harmless bull snake & decided not to warn me for fear that I might freak-out & fall ON the snake. (Bull snakes aren't venomous but they would still probably bite anything that landed ON them.) By the time I got to the snake it was stretched out in the middle of the trail. I had no choice but to run over it. I still got a little freaked-out, (first afraid that it might bite me, then felt bad that I might have killed it), looked up to see hubby stopped right in front of me, slammed on the brakes & fell lightly to the side. All in all, pretty harmless for for us, but maybe not such a great day for the snake.

The cornering & braking drills were very helpful. I was in much better control around the tight curves than in the past. I think I've passed the learning plateau that I was on. I feel good!

ETA: While I was still a nervous about being clipped in, the nervousness was countered by the security I felt in not having my feet bounce around on the pedals in the rock gardens.

[indysteel]

That's great, Artista....minus the snake!

I need to do some drills tomorrow. DH was working on my bike today to see if you can't get the front shifting to be a bit easier. From what we've read, the cheap SRAM shifters have their weaknesses. Shifting in the back is fine, but not so in the front. We might switch out some of the components from the my Trek FX that I never ride or spring for an X-7 shifter. I don't want to put much money into this bike because it really was intended to just allow me to see if this is something I might really like such that I can justify a nicer bike.

[Artista]

Indy, if DH can't get the front shifting thing resolved without spending $$$ on your shifters, would it be possible for you to ride primarily in one chain ring? 80% of my favorite trail can be done in my small chain ring. I end up spinning out sometimes but I always know that another uphill is right around the corner so I just coast in my small chain ring for a little while.

[Irulan]

Apparently some BMX riders use the Five Tens with BMX pedals and their feet stay in place, I think the pins kind of dig into the soles if I understand what is going on and you can actually pull up on the pedals.

The saddle height on my Jams is currently lower than it should be - right now it is important that I be able to get my feet to the ground quickly Eventually I will need a different stem as I get more experienced/comfortable and spend more time on the bike. I require a short reach as well, which is one of the reasons my Jamis is a size smaller than probably someone else with my measurements would order. My fitter and I worked it out though.

So far the different position isn't bothering my hands, but it isn't like I am spending long periods of time on the bike without stopping, falling, something The problem is the reach - with the larger sizes the TT is much, much too long for me... Thankfully my hand position on mountain bars doesn't automatically cause pain like it does on road bars...and I am probably stronger than I was a year ago.

funny I am about to ditch clips completely and go for flat pedals with sticky shoes. I know an awful lot of people who ride very successfully this way, climbing or not. I resisted the concept for a long time, but now I am ready to commit. I've been riding clips for almost 15 years on my mtb but that's about to change.

PS ladies, a reminder to loosen up and have fun, don't think so much about everything. Put a silly song in your head and sing it to yourself when you go down the trail and encounter "interesting" things. It will get your brain out of the way ( overthinking) and let you body do what you've taught it to do.

[indysteel]

Good advice, Irulan. At one point on today's trail I told me husband "I think I'm having fun." I meant it more or less, but the primary emotion is abject fear. It's hard for me to loosen up out there. I'm trying though, and I do have some weeeee! moments, but it's just very contrary to my overly analytical lawyer mind. I can't even say that I'm over thinking it; it's more that I'm over worrying it.

Catrin, as far as getting out of the saddle on that descent, I'm not sure why Lindsay had you seated. It made a HUGE difference today. I rode my brakes, too, trust me, but I felt totally in control. It was actually kind fun, and it gave me some condidence for Limekiln. Of course, you gotta come to these things in your own time and way. I get really frustrated with Brian when he doesn't let me just work it out.

Next time I'm out, I'd like to work on a few rocky areas. That's my current OMG what do I do? issue. Brian says I gotta stop the urge to brake so much over them and let momentum be my friend.

[indysteel]

Catrin, I should clarify that when I say that I need to ride Pine Loop out of the saddle to practice skills, I mean over the whole trail, not just the descents. I found it helpful to get up in a neutral or ready position even when I could have ridden it seated just to get some practice doing it--because on Limekiln you arguably do need to be out of your saddle at times. What's great is that it really does make it easier to feel and stay in control, rather than to feel like the bike is riding me.

[kimikaw]

Jealous you made it back to Brown Cty, indysteel! We loved Limekiln! Kiddo and I did it both ways, hubby only from the end by the Park office to rally. We decided that it is more strenuous that direction, maybe faster from rally campground. Like you had trouble with some of the rocky bits, esp. the piece with the tight turn and rocks. Kiddo told me to just ride it, not think about it. Which probably is good advice...I balked on the walnut to rally trip, flew through it on return.

I love the roller coaster parts. Just get out of your seat and go. Locally some of our trails have those and I don't always get up them. What a difference a bit of descent and some momentum/ speed make.

Trying to figure out a trip back down there. Hopefully we can do it in Sept or Oct

Catrin- you asked me how often I make it down to Indy on biz ( been a couple of crazy travel weeks or woulda answered sooner). In my old role, about every month or two, new role less sure, maybe once a quarter. Unsure of next trip. Will let you know if I get one planned with a smidgen of free time.

[Artista]

Next time I'm out, I'd like to work on a few rocky areas. That's my current OMG what do I do? issue. Brian says I gotta stop the urge to brake so much over them and let momentum be my friend.

I went on a women's group ride a couple of weeks ago & had the opportunity to watch about 12 women with varying skill levels ride over a steep, rocky descent. (I didn't even try riding it.) There was a distinct difference in their ability to control their bikes based on how fast they were going.

• The women who rode it with a reasonable amount of speed seemed to skim over the tops of the rocks. They had more control over their bikes with less bouncing & the front wheels stayed the course.
• The women who rode it slowly got bounced all over. The voids between the rocks jerked their front wheels all over the place. They had the most difficulty controlling the direction of their bikes.

In the end, it looked as if the women with the most momentum were the least likely to fall, but were more likely to get banged up if they did fall. The women with the least momentum were the most likely to fall, but less likely to hurt themselves if they did.

Fortunately, no one did fall but a few of the slowest women had to put a foot down in the middle of the obstacle while none of the faster riders did.

It seems that the toughest part for a less skilled rider is to figure out how fast is "reasonable" for the conditions.

[kimikaw]

In the end, it looked as if the women with the most momentum were the least likely to fall, but were more likely to get banged up if they did fall. The women with the least momentum were the most likely to fall, but less likely to hurt themselves if they did.

Fortunately, no one did fall but a few of the slowest women had to put a foot down in the middle of the obstacle while none of the faster riders did.

It seems that the toughest part for a less skilled rider is to figure out how fast is "reasonable" for the conditions.

I think that's an excellent observation, especially the last sentence, My worst fall was a slow speed endo over rocks.Didn't have enough momentum to go over...but still enough forward motion that when the front tire wedged, I flipped over the bars.

As I've gotten a little more confidence, I realize more and more what the "Momentum is your friend" mantra is all about. Now to figure out where the point of controlled versus uncontrolled speed is for me at this time (and how to increase that point to a fun but still safe place in the future.