I need some advice on how to get started when riding moderately steep uphill sections with very loose surface conditions. As you can see from the pictures (if I can get them attached) there is an excess of water. Some sections were washed out or too muddy for this 62 year old to ride through.
One time I fell trying to get started on an uphill section. I stepped on the pedal to start, my rear wheel spun, no forward momentum, gravity did it's thing. Any tips for dealing with loose gravelley surfaces on jeep trails appreciated.
!
A couple of pictures when I can.
PS. As most of you know, this is the first year of Lynn and I riding mountain bikes, but there are some challenges ( having a blast in general though!). Loose gravel and rocks is the current big one - sort of tosses the bike around, especially going downhill at speed. We both are working on keeping on weight forward on these sections and low.
What are your thoughts?
Jim
for the uphill your second post has the right idea. Using a slightly higher gear is a great start. when I ride gears...I normally ride/ race a Single Speed......on gears thoug I generally am in the middle ring in the front and 1-3 for steep loose uphills. Other tips to maintain traction are
- keep chest low while pulling back on the handlebars
- stay seated
- use tubeless tires set at 25 psi + or - 5 psi
as for starting uphill it tough and no one tip is going to help you here. There is hope and the hope I can give you is this. Learn to track stand. Learning to be still while on the pedals is key skill for alot of things especially starting uphill. Here is a pretty good video out showing how to do it. I was teaching MTB clinics last year and it is the first thing we teach anyone new to MTBing. Also alot of experienced riders found some new capabilities on trails after learning to track stand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj96L3yD4z0 is it possible to embed video here?
another note on starting uphill is to use the slighter higher gears mentioned above
on the downhill leaning forward and getting low sounds like a recipe for a endo to me. On loose rocks and gravel your going to get thrown around alittle. I personally hate that stuff and it scares me alot to ride because it is like ICE on skis, there are times where you simply can not control what the bike will do.
As for where you COM should be though, it should be centered and your butt should be off your seat. This will let you adjust to the terrain better than forward and low. As with skiing you have to be vary your pressure on the wheels for and back and up and down. A centered stance that is taller will let you do that.
people who decend statically normally end up wrecked, learning to be just slightly active from a centered stance is not only safer its also more fun. I have take people in their 60s and 70s to the BMX track on skills days so they can learn how to absorb and be proactive and not jsut reactive to terrain. Not only that the drill in the video is great cross training for skiing.
BTW GT - i drive? those are some of the best Full Suspension design on a bike on the planet and I would be stoked to own one. Also where do you ride at?
-
Home
Login
Register