thats_a_five Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) I think we are all joking because we have all been in that situation ourselves. I also think you have learned some things in the ten minutes of frustration. If nothing else, you had a chance to try different techniques to try to find some traction. That is always good. There are things that I say are simply unrideable. Or better said, "simply unrideable, by me, at this time." No shame in that. When that happens we still learn. If you are riding with others who are having better success, watch what they do, ask them how they are doing it. Trials riders are a unique blend of being competitive but always trying to help our competitors. Or you can take another look to see if there is a different line you could try that you normally would avoid. In one of Ryan Young's videos he says "Make the easy stuff hard to make the hard stuff easy." That is always in my mind when I am walking a section. Sometimes just being able to recognize that one area or line has slightly better traction than another can help you avoid the really ugly stuff. Lastly, sometimes it is better to simply say I know I can't clean that today and simply punch through with a five, saving your energy and avoiding injury, allowing you to do better on the other sections. In an event earlier this year we had sections that were completely frozen. Heck, I fell down just walking one of them. I just kept telling myself "we all have to ride in the same conditions." There was one section that I had to say "this section is simply unrideable, by me, at this time." I went back about 3 hours later after the event was over and the ground had warmed up and I cleaned it. Keep you head and feet up! Edited March 10, 2014 by thats_a_five 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr neutron Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) Dylan, I was really hoping you'd take my post in jest. If I offended, I'm truly sorry. Wasn't my intention at all.... FWIW, in the trial I rode yesterday, one of the guys in my class commented on the winner & his bike. He looked as if he'd stopped at car wash & cleaned his bike at the end of the trial, while the rest of us knew we were looking forward to some quality time with the wash bucket. His clean bike was no indicator of how wet/muddy/tough the trial actually was. And I've ridden enough to know that mud/lack-of-traction can be a sort of "relevant thing". There are holes on this planet, in seemingly perfectly dry areas, that are capable of swallowing up a motorcycle. And somehow, we dirt bikers seem to seek these out to ride...... And I dunno. We rode in a couple "rocky mud hill" areas this weekend. Small, loose rocks on the sides of steep hills, barely anchored to the hill by mud. The sections tended to meander, or zig & zag up through the rocks & up the hills. A lesson I took away was the need to keep up momentum while going around a turn. Slowing down too much, which I thought would help keep me in control in the corner, would always cause wheelspin as you came out of the turn and pointed headed back uphill. Making me out of control on the actual hill/loose rocks combo. So I resorted to A LOT of dog paddling, sitting, rolling backwards at times, pushing, and fives on the scorecard. I learned I need to get in better shape if I plan on pushing my bike up hill like that! There's something to be learrned everytime we go out, I feel..... Actually, I'd bet most of the Brits here would have the best advice on mud; they seem to be having a lot of rain lately....... Jimmie Edited March 11, 2014 by mr neutron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.