drop offs

Went up to our usual training ground on Craiglockhart Hill on Sunday. Found a few new things, but mainly we were doing a drop off that is higher then the wheel of the bike, ie. over 2 ft. Comes down with a bump. and plenty of run out, but a good psychological barrier to break. Wheelies are getting slightly better, I am using my back to pull the bike up nearly every time, as well as loading the front forks, but cannot keep the balance. No progress on bunnnyhops without the clips. Trackstands are getting there, but still can't wsay the whole alphabet!.

More technique videos - Bunny hops

Here is a really useful set of videos on bunny hops fromSecret Reality
Charlie's log jumping page
Ashwin at the Bikehub again.
Here recommends looking at:
webmountainbike.com has a whole range of tips and info.
BMX Basics

Learn to Trackstand

Something I have to learn to do better (at all!). If I do lose nerve and stop, then at least I shouldn't fall off.
Hans Rey Adventure. Pretty good instructions here for lots of basic technique, with photos and lots of details.
teamestrogen.com Lots of details and photos. Builds from riding in a circle
Biking hub With videos. And videos and descriptions of bunny hopping etc. (Not sure about this guy's elbows though)
BCMBG.com
Paul Makepiece, and no-hand trackstand too.
eHow
Ed Burke. How to use it to hop round a switchback.
Across hill method
Wikipedia 45 degrees to slope method.
Discussion on MTBR forum
Charlie B and his mates


Practice on grass, face up a slight hill, so that one uses the pedal to counteract a small backwards rolling motion. Stand up, weight quite forward, shoulders as far as over the handlebars. Have your good or 'chocolate' foot forward (same foot as you have forward on a snowboard) and make small short strokes to roll forward. Most people say turn your front wheel 30-45 degrees towards the lead foot, but others say the other way. Most say turn the body to face the handlebars. Asa Salas recommends practicing cycling with short stokes round in a tight circle as good practice. Most say it is good to practice leaning against someting a first too. Eventually the small pedal strokes should become a motion backwards and forwards with the body.
If it stops raining this weekend, then this is my task for the weekend, while the kids play with their own bikes.

Some useful websites

Bike4all is an information site for cyclists in the UK, mostly with links to all sorts of useful resources.

Some training sites:
Paul Bragenzers training programme for mountain bikers in their 30s, with all the usual explanations of training zones and types.
I rediscovered Discover Mountainbiking, a very useful site with lots of info about all sorts of things to do with mountain biking. It is a pay site, if you want to get some fothe more advanced info.

Mountain Unicycling

Please! 'Muni'From wikipedia. Here is a short film.

Glentress freeride training

Next week I fancy going to practice on the Blue and Red freeride trails at Glentress - from this video if seems they have been rebuilt as smooth paths with lots tabletop jumps. After last weekend's chicken run, missing the jumps and drop-offs I definitely need practice!

IMBA

THE International Mountain Bike Association (UK) has some interesting matieral about biking: policy, trails of various sorts (Challenging trails map) etc.
Link to a place up north called the Wolftrak that looks nice and scary.

Innerleithen

Went down to the Traquair XC course at Innerleithen for the Sunday morning adventure. Two other cars there at 9am, both with guys in full armour. This is the site of the Redbull Downhill project... a serious downhill course. The sign on the gate says, 'expert bikers only', the first ascent has had rocks planted across it all the way up to put off the grannies. After a short ride through the forest, and a huge bomb hole to test our nerves, a long 45 min climb though the forest to the top of Minch Moor, one of the higher peaks. 570m climb - 1 hour ish. Lovely sunny day. first descent is fun, and then some confusion in that the path goes back to the top again. 1km down a very slidey straight single track though the heather, down to a forest road. At this point we were thinking that there was not much too it, until the sign down a single track that says walk before you ride. Plora Craig is a recently felled hill, with a few built drop offs, then the rocky bits start, easy at first, but by the end one wonders - 'how the hell do you get over that'. Then the fun started - the path is very rocky, lots of drop-off, steps, climb-overs etc. Pulled up a few times, Neil managed to fall with the bike on his head, and a deadleg. Made it down to the forest track then to where the XC joins the serious downhill track. Expecting lunitics to crash past, but no-one, so we go for it, slowly, missing all the jumps, and half the dropoffs. Absolutely crazy, huge chutes to speed down and whizz up the other side, like nothing else I have been on (link to some videos). At the bottom we a crowd of downhillers arrive at high speed, a number of them seemed to be out of Steve Peat's Stana Cruz team van, not sure if he was there or in Peru, but I guess we were riding on the same hill as the world champion.
2:20hr total time round, 1:50hr in the bike.
Lots of homework to do, we can try some easy runs round the black run at Glentress before trying this again!
Some photos from the Edin Uni bike club to get an idea of what we did not do.
Another route description from mtbroutes.com
Cycling Scotland
More videos from Dave Halton
Some more videos posted on Google - downhiller stuff. this would break me and my bike. Includes some of Glentress and other bits of Innerleithen, mostly fom the Delamere bike club

Teaching videos from West Coast Style

A British Columbia bike training school published some video training products for learning on the sofa, featuring world-class bikers.
West Coast Style
Have a look at the video clips.

More technique

A couple of specialised technque pages:
Biketrials.com for BMX
Stuff on fixed gear bike technique
Just to get some ideas.

Pentland Hills

We went out early Sunday morning to explore some tracks further away along the Pentlands than usual, taking a guide from the routes taken by members of the Edinburgh RC off road mailing list. Here is the official Pentlands park map. Absolutely beautiful weather, and hardly any people about. Up over Walklaw Hill by the Bypass, then round the tracks to Harlaw Reservior. The ground was very dry, so the path to Black Springs was open. From here there is an excellent traverse round Den's Cleuch on single track, sometimes a little narrow. Instead of following the path we crossed over the valley and went up the side of Black Hill and into a sheep field. Our feeling that we had taken a wrong turning was reinforced by meeting the farmer who was carrying a large gun with telescopic sights. After much apologising carried on round the Glen to Green Cleuch (Dave Henniker has some photos). No time to go up the steep track to Hare Hill - that's for next time - but pushed up the footpath to take the Black hill path back to Black Springs - only realised at the top there is a path to ride up on the other side of the wall. Black Hill path is excellent - completely dry - rocks and ruts, on a long downhill stretch. Neil managed an endo. Back home with a left at Black Springs, down Poets Glen and fast back along the Water of Leith. 37k in 3 hours. Cannot believe we had not found these tracks before! Look forward to more early morning rides out to the west - Harehill, East Kip are next on the agenda!

Google Earth map of Pentlands

Someone has put together a set of Google Earth points for mountain biking in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh where we usually go at the weekend. We usually sart by going up what they've called 'Puke Hill'!
There are some routes we have not been on - Dens Cleugh,Vlack Hill, Green Cleugh, Kips Bypass and Redd Road all have to be explored.
They have not put on the 'hill of death' descent through the woods just to the East of Puke Hill, turning left into the woods half way down 'the Field', which is the only really steep and tricky technical descent in the area. The is also a roue from the bottom of this descent, at the bottom of Puke Hill, over to Dreghorn, which as one hill to push, and some snarly single track.

There is also a set of points for the 7Stanes.

Other bloggers with rockhopper

Looking around to see who else in the blogspace has the same or similar bike to me - the Specialised Rockhopper
Someone called Andy Budd, who is also into user-centred design in Brighton.
Jubei in Germany
Audrey in NYC
Dave Richards in the Ozarks
Burriden, a political US blogger
Slient Squirrel in Ontario

and many more...
For those who care this model has been around for years and years, but gets upgraded every year. It is a basic serious 'hardtail' mountain bike that is light and strong ehough to do serious trails without breaking, but I would not want to jump or drop off anything very high.

Technical Tips

Here are some links to various pages with technical tips on how to do Manuals, Wheelies, drop-offs, Bunny-hops etc. ~These resources are progressivly more detailled. Wiki-How Bicycle.
7 Stanes hints and Tips
MTB faq
British Colombia Mountain bike guide.
THere are some good books describing these techniques too such as Ned Overlands' Mountain Bike like a Chmapion, or Chris Lopes' book.


There seems to be diffferent interpretations of what a 'Manual' is: for some it is a coasting wheelie, for others 'rear pogo', for others a standing wheelie, all of which are different techniques. Any way it is not easy! The Trials Techniqe dictionnary says it is a standing wheelie without pedalling.(Bicycle resource glossary does not mention it) Balancing on back wheel is a basic technique for going through ditches (bomb holes) without crashing the front wheel into the bank, or going over a series of humps (Whoop de whoops) for the same reason. Also the basis of Bunny hops, and large step ups.

There is a discussion on the ridemonkey forum, and on MTBR forum, and the Minnisota Off-road forum

flikr

Flikr has lots of pictures of bikes, including those tagged 'uk mountian bike'

another coach

Found another website for a coach - Cycle Wild Scotland