Mary Townley Loop - Sat 19th Sept 2009

[trio25]

You could try dropping your saddle for descents!!!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

arms stretched out, put the seat in to you chest, arse nearly touching the rear tyre. you go down almost anything without going over bars. if it gets too hairy then just slam rear brake on lean sharply either way and hit the deck, easy peasy. but you need a narrow saddle, a wide one like the brooks just doesn't slide between the legs easily.

 

[ColinJ]

You could try dropping your saddle for descents!!!

I used to have a quick release for that but I got fed up of constantly stopping to lower and raise the saddle. If I could afford something like the Gravity Dropper that would be great.

arms stretched out, put the seat in to you chest, arse nearly touching the rear tyre. you go down almost anything without going over bars. if it gets too hairy then just slam rear brake on lean sharply either way and hit the deck, easy peasy. but you need a narrow saddle, a wide one like the brooks just doesn't slide between the legs easily.

I was with you up to the point where you explained that the alternative to going over the bars was to drop the bike and hit the deck!

My alternative to going over the bars or hitting the deck is to get off and walk down!

Also - narrow saddles give me terrible sores so I have to use wider ones.

 

[RedBike]

lol - Remind me not to ride off to the side of SC.

Getting down hills is all mental. You just need to have the mental ability to let go of the brakes, relax and let the bike do the work. If you tense up, grip the bars for dear life and start applying handfulls of brakes things soon go wrong.

Sadly this is all much easier said than done. I have this strong survival instinct that seems to insist that I hang on for dear life and edge down hills very slowly making good use of the brakes.

 

[trio25]

Actually if your weight is far enough back you can step off the back and let the bike go! I have done that a few times! I hate falling off and do nearly anything to avoid it!

 

[ColinJ]

A Tale of Two Endos

Having just bought my first mountain bike, I decided to go and check out some of the bridleway action above Hebden Bridge.

As I was riding through the hamlet of Walshaw, another MTB rider came up alongside me and started chatting. He was a Keighley rider doing a loop taking in a bridleway sandwiched between Trawden and Boulsworth Hill. I liked the sound of that one and decided to tag along.

We rode up past Widdop reservoir together and made our way round to the bridleway, situated just before Coldwell activity centre. Keighley man was pretty quick and I was struggling to keep up with him, especially on descents.

I put a big effort in to catch up just as we got to the top of a rise which led straight into a fast descent into a dip. He plummeted down towards a large swampy puddle which covered the bridleway. As he hit the puddle he created a huge wave and powered his way up out of the dip.

Any doubts I'd had about the puddle were dispelled - he'd got through it okay so why shouldn't I? I hit it at full speed, intent on creating an even bigger splash than he had done. What actually happened was that my front wheel hit something and stopped dead! I was launched over the handlebars and flew about 6 feet up into the air. I was airborne long enough to realise that there were large boulders everwhere... By a miracle I landed between two huge chunks of millstone grit, face-first in the swamp. I heard the sound of laughter, cheers and clapping and someone called out "Brilliant - do it again mate!" I looked round and saw a group of about 10 ramblers sitting up the embankment. They were eating sandwiches and drinking tea from their flasks. I took a deep bow and said "I thank you, and for my next trick I will..."


Some time later, I was bombing down another descent and made the mistake of taking my eyes off the trail for a second. When I looked forwards again I saw that I had ridden into a narrowing and deepening rut from which there would be no escape! I panicked and grabbed a handful of brake and the front of the bike stopped dead. The back of the bike with me on it carried on moving forwards in a graceful arc. It threw me up into the air and I landed clear of the bike on my feet and running! Unfortunately, I didn't have any witnesses to that one!


There have been many other endos - too many. I've been very lucky so far not to have seriously injured myself. I reckon it's time for me to walk down the seriously steep technical stuff!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

no no, my point wasn't just let go of the brakes, that's for people with no regard for their own safety or people who know particular trails well. always always cover your brake levers. trio is right if lean far enough back you can let go of your bike, but your bike may continue on its merry way to the bottom and brake something. gently leaning to the side just makes your knees dirty but bike is nice and safe, but only if you are going slow, another way is to gently come to as stop, then lean over. i had problems when i got my bike for a few years of not being able to get the forks set up to my liking and doing too many endo's. in the end i spotted that i had my grips past the centre line of the wheel. i rotated the bars back and instantly improved my downhill handling problems as my shocks now do there job by going over stuff instead of stopping, bottoming out and launching me forward, extra benefit is i now have a more upright position which is better on the lower back. might be worth checking to see if you've got the same problem of the grips being past the skewer.

cheers

 

[Globalti]

Getting off the back of the saddle is the right technique for going down a really steep hill...

.....until both your SPDs unclip simultaneously and you crash forward hitting your nads on the saddle or even the top tube.

Don't ask me how I know!

 

[ColinJ]

Getting off the back of the saddle is the right technique for going down a really steep hill...

.....until both your SPDs unclip simultaneously and you crash forward hitting your nads on the saddle or even the top tube.

Don't ask me how I know!

I've gone backwards off my MTB, gone clean over the handlebars several times, fallen off heavily to the left, fallen off heavily to the right, had nad-saddle interaction, nad-top-tube interaction, nad-stem interaction and...





... now I get off and walk down some of the steep technical stuff!

 

[RedBike]

I'm off to ride to the start of the pennine bridleway tonight.
Stopping half way around tomorrow night and hopefully, all being well finish sometime late Friday night!!

 

[trio25]

Rode the MTL yesterday, the weather made it hard. Took us 8hours to get round without really stopping.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

just bumping this up. are we still on?

 

[Globalti]

Yes Dude.

 

[ColinJ]

I'd still like to do it but I've had nearly 3 weeks off my bikes with the dreaded lurgy. If I'm back to an appropriate level of fitness by then, I'll join you.

 

[RedBike]

I'd still like to do it but I've had nearly 3 weeks off my bikes with the dreaded lurgy. If I'm back to an appropriate level of fitness by then, I'll join you.

If I can get around then i'm sure you will!