The Fear...

[stewyh]

Today I got "The Fear" while out riding. I'm not talking about normal apprehension one gets when facing a steep descent or tricky terrain. This was a full blown choke.

Was riding my Djer on a dh run and lining up a smallish gap jump I've cleared several times in the past, thinking I'd keep up some pace and try some of the bigger jumps further down the trail. Nup. Every attempt I panicked and grabbed a handful of brake just before the kicker.

Kept telling myself I'd cleared it before without issue but something kept me from attempting it. Brain says no! Once I realized I wasn't gonna have at it I got pretty upset with myself. This is honestly one of the worst feelings I've ever had while riding. Even crashing, burning legs, exhaustion, being left behind by fitter riders, none of that even compares because at least I'd given it a crack!
I'm wondering... does your confidence/bravery diminish with age?
Not sure. I'm generally riding & cornering quicker than I ever have before...


I'm 41 and been mtbing for about 4 years. I'm trying to get better at jumping as it's one skill I've yet to become proficient at. I'm reasonably happy with my riding skills/fitness otherwise. Even medium sized drops are fine. But there's something about a gap jump with a lander... I can fly off a 1m drop on a hardtail without thinking about it... and half the jumps I was shitting myself about, I'd do in a heartbeat if there was just flat ground after the launch. It sounds silly as technically jumping is supposed to be much easier with an angled lander but there's something psychologically fecking with me whenever there's a bloody gap involved!

Any veteran Djers/downhillers care to weigh in? How do I conquer the gap fear?? :der:

 

[cokeonspecialtwodollars]

35 years old here, I agree that confidence and also reaction time diminish with age as well as external responsibilities like family, work and mortgages have a big impact in progressing skills.

Do you have access to any table tops? Beginning here can help get the technique and confidence before moving to gaps. Are there any regular riders in the area willing to give you a tow in? I always find it easier to jump a gap I haven't hit before by following someones wheel into it.

You'll find that if your basic skills are there then it really is all in your head but I always work on the three strikes and I'm out principle, if I chicken out of a feature more than three times I'll ride away and try it again another day, this way I don't beat myself up over it and don't put myself in a situation where I brake too late and roll off the top of a lip with zero speed.

Like this one...
https://www.facebook.com/DownhillLife/videos/518626041672201/
...sorry can't remeber where the non-FB source is at the moment.

 

[andrew9]

I too also get very frustrated when I don't try a gap. Last weekend I couldn't bring myself to hit a big double on a DH course, most of the problem for me was that there was no progression on the track, there was either tiny little features or these two large high speed gaps, and I couldn't work up to them. Go ride some other slightly smaller gaps for a while?

Another problem, I believe, is when I hadn't had a good stack in a while. If I've crashed recently, I am less afraid to ride close to my limit, I sometimes forget that crashing is usually not a big deal*





*sometimes it hurts

 

[moorey]

I live with THE FEAR now. Have for a couple of years. Riding fast as I can with 2 wheels down, no issue. Decent jumps and drops....:fear:

 

[stewyh]

35 years old here, I agree that confidence and also reaction time diminish with age as well as external responsibilities like family, work and mortgages have a big impact in progressing skills.

Do you have access to any table tops? Beginning here can help get the technique and confidence before moving to gaps. Are there any regular riders in the area willing to give you a tow in? I always find it easier to jump a gap I haven't hit before by following someones wheel into it.

You'll find that if your basic skills are there then it really is all in your head but I always work on the three strikes and I'm out principle, if I chicken out of a feature more than three times I'll ride away and try it again another day, this way I don't beat myself up over it and don't put myself in a situation where I brake too late and roll off the top of a lip with zero speed.

Like this one...
https://www.facebook.com/DownhillLife/videos/518626041672201/
...sorry can't remeber where the non-FB source is at the moment.

I'm normally pretty solitary when it comes to mtb. Something about getting away from everything with just you and the bike. Besides, most of my mates are still living the rock n roll lifestyle so I've kinda forged my own path with riding based on skills vids, books and lots of practice.

Having said that, Kensington jumps and Park Orchards BMX track aren't all that far from me. Perhaps I do need to hit up some tables ad nauseum until it becomes second nature.

Knowing it's all in your head doesn't make it any easier! Stupid brain! :doh:

This is the offending gap... pic taken the time I cleared it about a dozen times a while back!

 

[stewyh]

I live with THE FEAR now. Have for a couple of years. Riding fast as I can with 2 wheels down, no issue. Decent jumps and drops....:fear:

Sometimes a gravelly corner scares me more than a big drop! :dizzy:

 

[cokeonspecialtwodollars]

Considered doing a run with a full face and body armour?

Is the direction of travel right to left in the photo? Maybe try a half pace run and aim riders right to land on the 'B' line, although this will probably be more risky than just hitting it.

 

[MarioM]

A year and a half ago I had a big run of huge crashes . These were a whole month worth and each one hurt more than the last . It got to me so much that no sooner would I sling a leg over the bike my heart would start to race and bad thoughts would go through my head and I`d walk all the technical sections . The last crash I had according to my riding buddies I was luck to walk away from . Mind you it didn`t help I was using an XC race bike as an all mountain bike too . It took me months to get over it but my riding buddies supported me . I`m OK now , even have the right bikes for the job , but I now have a big phobia of gap jumps .

 

[stewyh]

Considered doing a run with a full face and body armour?

Is the direction of travel right to left in the photo? Maybe try a half pace run and aim riders right to land on the 'B' line, although this will probably be more risky than just hitting it.

Yeah right to left. The first time I cleared it i was going so slow I had to pump the crap out of it and almost cased the rear. I feel a bit ridiculous talking about all the times I've jumped it haha. Thing is it was the first feature I got to today and my freeze up wrecked my confidence to hit up anything else. If i had have cleaned it who knows, I might have stomped the bigger ones too.

I always ride with knee and elbow pads. Never tried a ff helmet or armour.

 

[Boom King]

I'm way old and only been riding mtb for 3 years. My confidence is only increasing as I improve.

Having said that, there are plenty of times I'll take the B line on doubles I've cleared before. The head is a weird piece of work.

 

[jarrod839]

Its common sense kicking in. Something that happens to me a fair bit now at the age of 34. Ever since I've started DH i get the little voice telling me not to do certain things even though I completely know i can ride the line or hit the feature. If features get to me i just leave it and try not to let it get to me then i usually just forget about it and usually hit it a few runs later. Im playing the mental game now after nearly breaking my neck and convincing myself to return to DH.

 

[born-again-biker]

The fear is always there...it's just that as you age it gets a leg-up from something even worse...The Doubt.

I have dabbled & played at extreme sports my whole life. I've jumped out of helicopters into powder snow on sketchy avalanch prone peaks, I've surfed huge waves in Tahiti, Indonesia & Fiji, I've ridden (& crashed) fast sports bikes on the road & racetrack, when I was much younger I raced karts at a pretty decent level, I've played rugby union in 1st grade suburban ......etc

I know a bit about The Fear.

I never, ever beat myself up when the fear ...and the doubt...take hold. I just say to myself "today is not my day...I''m just not feeling it..."
Because I know that just around the corner is one of those farken epic days when the bike feels like an extension of your mind & you literally can't do anything wrong & you could ride for a thousand years in the zone. You gotta remember those days will come to you just as often if you love riding. It's ebb & flow.

 

[tick]

+1 to this ^
Spent most of my life doing stupid things on two and 4 wheeled contraptions (i,m 42 )
Fear is the most important thing you need in any kind of dangerous sport , because without it you become dead very quickly
I pick my moments now if i,m not feeling it, i ease off .
Unfortunately as the body gets older it doesnt bounce aswell
I recently bought a new BMX and surprisingly after nearly 30 years since i,ve been on one i,m struggling with the fact that i can,t do anything on it like i could as a kid , and its really pissing me off
i know its gonna take time , also know it will take a lot longer if i hurt myself , ( thats my excuse and i,m sticking to it ):heh:

 

[stewyh]

Yeah makes sense. Could be I need to ride some easier trails for a few days. Get some flow going and put the fun factor back into the riding experience.
Those jumps'll still be there when I'm feeling up to it again.

 

[jarrod839]

Yeah makes sense. Could be I need to ride some easier trails for a few days. Get some flow going and put the fun factor back into the riding experience.
Those jumps'll still be there when I'm feeling up to it again.

This approach worked for me at buller last season. Sometimes killing the easier stuff builds the confidence for the harder stuff. Its all about fun.

 

[scblack]

Yeah makes sense. Could be I need to ride some easier trails for a few days. Get some flow going and put the fun factor back into the riding experience.
Those jumps'll still be there when I'm feeling up to it again.

Yep, that could work. Often riding somewhere else then coming back to the offending section can give you better perspective on what you are facing.

If I am facing a section or gap that is scaring me, I blank my mind and tell my self the bike can do FAR more difficult stuff - then just scare the shit out of myself and hit it. Sometimes that involves sketchy landings or a crash. But it then gives me the confidence it can be done, and I then proceed with the rest of my ride. I'm 46 and know my limits, so some gaps I just wont hit. But if its something I know I can do, then I do just scare myself and hit it.

 

[Nautonier]

The thing about The Fear is that it can make you ride in a really tense fashion, which usually results in doing the "Captain Stiffy" when you hit jumps. This week I've had quite a lot of exposure to The Fear while hitting gaps that I haven't ridden for a while (on a new bike) and by myself, which always makes it harder as there's nobody to help out if things go really badly. On one gap I was so tense on the bike and so worried about 'making the distance' that I massively overshot it and ended up doing a jump that was way bigger than intended. Every single time I hit a gap I've been worried about, the first thought that enters my mind is "holy shit that was easy".

It's not good to overthink gaps, as others have said you have good days and bad days and if The Fear is just too much, just quickly make the call that today's not the day and move on. In my experience the more time you spend bailing out on jumps and standing around looking at them, the less likely it is that you'll ever hit them.

Another thing I find helpful is knowing that you can come up a little bit short and not die. The jump in question looks like you could land it well short and still ride away in tact. Back wheel might not like it so much on a HT though...

 

[Jesterarts]

I'm only 31 but have the same issue. I was never all that great at jumps/gaps but I find that now I won't do things I've done previously.

I find that it seems to be totally random though. Some times I will go for a ride, hit the first obstacle and be pretty happy hitting everything I want to after than.

Other times, I chicken out on the first one and that sets the theme for the day.

Lucky for me I'm not all that interested in big jumps, rather just getting lines right, getting a flow and going as fast as I can.

 

[ozzybmx]

Don't be hard on yourself. There are jumps and features I used to ride without thinking, now I take the B line. I tell myself I've done it before and can do it again... reckon its the worry of an injury that keeps me from riding.
Be happy you have the fitness and health to ride, would hate to loose it all and change my families lives over my selfish decision to hit a big gap jump.

 

[stewyh]

The thing about The Fear is that it can make you ride in a really tense fashion, which usually results in doing the "Captain Stiffy" when you hit jumps. This week I've had quite a lot of exposure to The Fear while hitting gaps that I haven't ridden for a while (on a new bike) and by myself, which always makes it harder as there's nobody to help out if things go really badly. On one gap I was so tense on the bike and so worried about 'making the distance' that I massively overshot it and ended up doing a jump that was way bigger than intended. Every single time I hit a gap I've been worried about, the first thought that enters my mind is "holy shit that was easy".

It's not good to overthink gaps, as others have said you have good days and bad days and if The Fear is just too much, just quickly make the call that today's not the day and move on. In my experience the more time you spend bailing out on jumps and standing around looking at them, the less likely it is that you'll ever hit them.

Another thing I find helpful is knowing that you can come up a little bit short and not die. The jump in question looks like you could land it well short and still ride away in tact. Back wheel might not like it so much on a HT though...

Yeah absolutely. I dead sailored that gap one of the first few times I hit it up. Landed a bit sideways and one foot off the pedal, could have been a lot worse. That's one of the things that goes through your mind, "don't be tense or you'll dead sailor" (which makes you tense thinking about it haha), "don't go too slow or you'll have to pump it and maybe come up short and go otb", "Don't go too fast because..." well, there is no reason but your brain thinks there is. The run into that jump is pretty steep and you can get some really decent speed up. When I was nailing it I'd fly down the roll in, no brake, soak up the launcher a bit and generally had it flowing nicely. There's no lander to overshoot as it's simply a little step up gap so I was clearing it by a good 1-2 meters.

Had a bit of fun at the local skatepark today, gonna hit up Lysterfield for a lap tomorrow, nice easy trail. Hopefully the old brain gets on a roll & some confidence comes back. :decision: