[ezl_oo]

Went up to diablo today with my brother and friend and a great day the weather was great and we had alot of fun!! It was my second time up there so I'm new to downhill, but when I watch diablo videos and other downhill videos online...I think to myself man this is so easy I can do that and I want to punch myself in the face when I get home and watch some videos online, for not doing more drops and jumps at diablo...lol But, when I get to the mountain it's a totally different story!! Fear kicks in and also my skills are below par. Even though I did more drops and jumps this time than last time, I think overall I did horrible today as I was falling all over the place (maybe it had to do with my new and first full suspension bike with the suspension not set up for my weight and my type of riding) and was so out of breath with extreme arm pump 1/4 of the way every time down the mountain in all of my runs. I really have a huge appreciation and respect for the pros and the good riders that I see at diablo and in videos do the technical and difficult stuff while flying pass courses that take me forever going through cause of all the falling and slowing down I do.

So, I may stay away from looking at videos during the week and thinking to myself this stuff is so easy, I can't wait to go to diablo to take over the mountain only to get there and be 75% of the time rolling down the mountain instead of riding down...lol

I was thinking of maybe taking the 2 day training camp class but it's alot of money, anyone do it and is it worth the $400??

 

[TheTruth]

No, that is stupid, don't do the training camp spend that 400$ on the bike parts you brake learning. That is the only way to get better.

 

[fortenndu]

Don't waste your money, find some people who are better then you and ride with them, your skills will start to pick up as well as your fitness.

 

[adarmiento]

Couldnt of said it any better hes right . Once you ride with some better riders that will push you to ride harder but you must ride smart! start with smaller drops once you get the feel for your bike and the drops you can step it up little at a time . Then your confidence lever will go up, but never take the mountain for granted or get cocky thats when you will get hurt.Always be smart about what you know you can do and can't do. good luck!And yeah spend your money on your bike ,theres plenty of good riders that would more than be happy to let you tag along and show you the ropes.

 

[maddogdh]

You have to put in serious time on a bike, atleast back to back days if possiable!What kind of bike are you riding & what fork? I dont want to offend Diablo ,but dont do the camp unless you really have the extra cash. If your riding with other people who's skills aren't that good either you will never get better.
Getting your fittness up as well as confidence is a big asset also being naturally atheletic would be a big help. Do you have any bike skills like atleast XC?

 

[Timekiller]

I know what you mean about watching videos, then getting to the mountain. Been there...

Just have fun on the bike, get some saddle time. Your skills will progress rather rapidly, but you will have to eventually push your 'comfort zone'.

 

[ezl_oo]

You have to put in serious time on a bike, atleast back to back days if possiable!What kind of bike are you riding & what fork? I dont want to offend Diablo ,but dont do the camp unless you really have the extra cash. If your riding with other people who's skills aren't that good either you will never get better.
Getting your fittness up as well as confidence is a big asset also being naturally atheletic would be a big help. Do you have any bike skills like atleast XC?

I'm riding a 08 Commencal Supreme Mini DH with 2008 Fox Vanilla 36 RC2 forks and 2008 FOX DH5 Air rear shock. I consider my self naturally atheletic as I played alot of sports throughout my life. I really didn't do much mountain biking other than commutes and just riding around the streets for fun. I'm very new to downhilling and trail riding.

I figured that $400 was alot of money and just found out that it was this weekend so I missed it anyway. I'm looking to upgrading my bike too, to fit my riding style and size.

I pushed my myself even more yesterday and did some jumps and drops that I was scared of the first time, so I'm pretty happy with that but as far as the trails and rock gardens I think I got worse and I had a 4X bike the first time with no real travel in the front and rear and now did worse with a dh bike

 

[maddogdh]

So your runnin like 6 & 6 front & rear? well Diablo has got some big rocks & big holes these days, ,lotta dirt is gone on the DH trails. Go ride some agressive XC local & practice dirt jumping as well. How old are you? If your a young gun your balls should be pretty big yet! Anyway keep @ it , dont get hurt & you will get were you want to be. One big word of advise, " momentum" keep moving fast. If you are going slow you'll get sucked in & crash out in the rocks.

 

[adarmiento]

Your not gonna get much better advice than that and its free! Just print out this reply from this thread and tape it to your bike so you don't forget.! Momentum is your friend on the mountain in this sport!

 

[ezl_oo]

So your runnin like 6 & 6 front & rear? well Diablo has got some big rocks & big holes these days, ,lotta dirt is gone on the DH trails. Go ride some agressive XC local & practice dirt jumping as well. How old are you? If your a young gun your balls should be pretty big yet! Anyway keep @ it , dont get hurt & you will get were you want to be. One big word of advise, " momentum" keep moving fast. If you are going slow you'll get sucked in & crash out in the rocks.

Yea I'm running 6 in the front and rear. Any good recommendations on some aggressive XC local trails and jumps that I could hit up?

I figured that I was maybe going too too slow that many times on some technical rock gardens my front tire would hit a rock and I would flip over the handle bars. I guess I have to trust my bike and suspension to go fast enough to let the suspension soak up the rocks. I will keep that in the back of my mind "momentum" next time I hit up diablo.

 

[demo 9]

Are you the guy i sold tires to at old tappan high school? Two DHFs

 

[cracked]

in regards to momentum and along the same line.........my buddy gave this little mantra:
off the front brake and let her roll!! i keep saying that as i enter every rock garden or difficult section.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

...And lean back. That's the single best piece of DH advice I've ever been given.

For what it's worth, I rode 3 months last season on a 6 inch bike before it started to hold me back. It was good because it made me appreciate a full-on DH bike so much more, and it allowed my skills to progress on the less gnarly stuff on the mountain.

I say stick with the commencal for now. I don't know the exact geo on it but I'm assuming if it's called "mini dh" it's got angles that are suited for DH riding. Once you feel like it's the bike and not your skill level that's holding you back, look into switching bikes.

Don't worry about progressing, it'll happen naturally as you ride more and more. Just get out there as much as you can.

 

[yuroshek]

in regards to momentum and along the same line.........my buddy gave this little mantra:
off the front brake and let her roll!! i keep saying that as i enter every rock garden or difficult section.

its just like as if you were driving in the snow, your better off useing the gas pedal to keep the wheels spinning than lockin them up and slideing off the road. wheels in motion mean tires are griping to save your butt.

 

[ezl_oo]

Are you the guy i sold tires to at old tappan high school? Two DHFs

Hey wassup...yea I'm the guy you sold the tires too. I didn't get to install them and instead used some other tires. Did you end up going to diablo this past weekend?

 

[demo 9]

nah, torn PCL, havent ridden yet. hope i get to before next may though

 

[WhoRyder]

yeah i watch too many porn videos too.....

wait..... this isn't a porn video thread?

sorry my bad.....

 

[adarmiento]

yeah dave maybe you should post some porn picts that would get some attention on the forum!

 

[FoesDHSMono]

let's not make ridemonkey turn into freeones...

 

[Ktrass15]

Momentum and riding back on the bike are the keys to staying up-right, but if you put it in your head that your going to eat, it you will. Every bad crash I've had, has happened because I've doubted myself. If you just look to rip the trail you'll get through just fine

 

[jbro]

Pick up a dvd titled Fluidride. Watch that over and over. It wont hurt

 

[Belfskins]

may stay away from looking at videos during the week and thinking to myself this stuff is so easy, I can't wait to go to diablo to take over the mountain only to get there and be 75% of the time rolling down the mountain instead of riding down...lol

its alot easier to watch them when youre the one riding in it

 

[WhoRyder]

These Crazies!!!!

 

[zebrahum]

You need to ride your bike, you've already seen that you're getting better at drops in a really small amount of time. Well, the more time you put into your bike, the more confident you're going to get. Don't move up to a bigger suspension bike until you really have a good feel for the one you're on. Once you can jump it, run rock gardens, steeps, and so on, then you can probably think about a full on DH rig.

Do you have a school around you? Go jump some stairs. Sidewalks and parking lots? Go ride curbs and parking blocks like they were skinny bridges. I'm sure you can find enough concrete around you to make a pretty fun urban skatepark. It all comes down to this:

RIDE YOUR BIKE.

Everything else will come naturally as you learn what your bike is going to do.

 

[tree hugger]

Pick up a dvd titled Fluidride. Watch that over and over. It wont hurt

absolutely agree! this is money VERY well spent. A+. there are some skills you just can't know unless someone tells/shows you how and why.

saddle time is obviously critical, but this video is awesome for putting the right ideas in your head. they also give you drills you can do in your off-time. great addition. I watch it about 10 times/season to reinforce the good habits.