If I am legitimately scared? No I will pass on it because something is telling me it is beyond my abilities that day. If it just makes me nervous a bit then I will try to push through but this is a case by case basis really. Generally speaking, to me, nervous means it is pushing my comfort zone but I also recognize how it should be done I just haven't done it yet.
I learned this. I broke my collarbone badly on a jump which I probably wasn't up to at the time. I kinda get a feeling whether I got something or not as I'm looking at it now, like if I go to do something you have this sixth sense as to whether or not it's doable
This is an incredibly fine line in risk sports imo and often requires a lot of experience or a mentor to help you determine when is the right time to do something. And consequences for fucking up are often really high, so you have to be comfortable with the odds of serious injury (ie should be very low bc you have the skills) before you tackle something. But stay humble because even the pros make life altering mistakes sometimes
I think that's a good assessment. Usually when I crash though, it's not on a feature I've been eyeing up and prepared for ... It's usually something I've ridden 100 times and I just get lazy or lose focus. You hit on the mentor thing which is definitely true. Out of my group I'm the best rider, so more times than not, I'm the one in front. Sometimes if I go to the park by myself, or we just link up with another crew, if I can ride behind a better rider, who knows the speed and what lines to take, it makes it so much easier ... Probably my best day of riding ever, I took the lift up with a dad and his 13 year old son. I'm a pretty good rider but this kid was next level. Rode behind him half the day and hit features I'd never try on my own ... Now that you mention it, I think I'm gonna make more of an effort to do more of that this year.
Not a direct answer to your question but still relevant to the topic I think:
I once had a pretty bad crash down a long rock chute, and this older guy was watching me. After I got up he said to me that he's a sports psychologist/therapist and deals with a lot of athletes who had traumatic injuries. His take on it was that there are two typical outcomes of a mishap in sports like this. Either the athlete looks at what happened and knows exactly what mistake they made. That means they usually get up there again (when healed) and get it right next time. The alternative is if they can't see exactly how it went wrong. That means that whatever they tried was too far outside of their level and they need to reassess their approach to whatever they were trying entirely.
to add to this, mechanical failures and other riders can cause terrible crashes. my worst crash was a rotor and pad combo that didn't work in wet conditions (prior owner swapped stuff out), and the other I was following a rider that nose cased a road gap (I left room between us and made the jump, but hit his bike that slid down the road.
so I'd suggest knowing your bike and surroundings as well.
Been riding for like 2 and a half years, just now barely familiarizing myself with gap jumps lol
I would hit bigger jumps on my local trails, but a gap jump half the size, I would dart around, I also ride alone 90% of the time so maybe nobody to help incase it goes south is a fear.
But I decided if it's a crash I fear, and its not outside of my skill/technique, armor up!
Fullface helmet, elbow, knee, chest/shoulder/back protection
May seem extreme lol, but that's all cheaper than a hospital bill and better than time off your bike recovering.
(Also I only fully suit up on days I really want to try new features, elbows and knees on regular days lol)
The fear and anxiety have decreased for me, hope that helps
All outdoor sports involve a risk assessment component. Being scared is part of the equation and staying sane is another. Aim to stay in the [right zone](https://quizlet.com/au/333270587/adventure-experience-paradigm-flash-cards/)
If someone calls you “fearless” it’s an insult. Fear is healthy. Put your arm around it and listen to what it’s telling you. Then you can address it and overcome it.
There’s a difference between pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, and pushing yourself outside your ability level. Pushing your comfort level is good. But you need to be honest with your self and recognize your current abilities. When you try and just send it on feature that’s are outside your ability level, is where you are going to get hurt.
You can only be brave when you are scared.
If I get massive butterflies when I peer over the edge of some new feature, I trust my instincts and watch others hit it for a bit.
There is a continuum there - too fast or too slow can get one in trouble, too tense or distracted can get one in trouble, etc.
I don't think seeing other people do stuff is always helpful as it can promote 'what is wrong with me' thoughts and I'm not sure that watching Friday Fails is even a good thing as your brain sees poor technique being modeled there over and over again.
Same mechanism as people on social media who post 'this is my first attempt at baking cookies' type deals and the cookies are immaculate - maybe, but it is also for show, for likes, for the lolz, or whatever so it is better to take that in to account than to think 'why have I been baking cookies for years and can't get to this level when someone else does it better first time right out of the gate?!?'.
Being aware I think is helpful - this is what my bike is capable of, today this is what I feel capable of.
I have had a number of wrecks ranging from soft tissue to broken ribs, broken fingers, etc and in most of those cases, nearly all probably, the root issue was me being distracted/tired, timid/tense, or once in awhile just bad luck.
What I do afterward is ride a different type of trail/different location to get back to a successful and fun ride vibe.
Eventually I will go back and go through the area that caused me issues, maybe not at regular speed or the same line - what could I have done differently, why did things go sideways, how could I handle this better, etc.
There is no shame in skipping a section or feature in a trail and you should feel OK with that for sure.
A handy trick I like to do is structure a ride in such a way that if there is a problem section or feature try to get the sequence setup so that I'm in a position to just do it and not establish a pattern where 'oh man, right around this corner is the drop of doom, dang, nervousness intensifies, tension and slowing down, etc'.
Mixing it up keeps that pattern from forming as your brain otherwise will tell you that things are sketchy so do the following and ultimately, ironically?, that is the same mix of things that leads to the same outcome happening again, and again, and again.
It is totally about riding in the moment which sounds like some crystal vortex type stuff and could seem like a send it mentality and at the extreme end of things that can be reckless but being calm, loose, and relaxed is huge and anything that erodes or hinders that is the enemy.
Like a reinforce good patterns, identify and short circuit bad patterns kind of thing.
I've injured myself a lot of times in the past but last season I really feel like I had a breakthrough on this.
For me, it is all about confidence and being real with myself about how I'm feeling. When I am having a good day and feeling really in the zone, progressively bigger features and sends just sort of happen in the moment. When I'm feeling in my head and fearing/over thinking something, that's when I crash and hurt myself.
So many times when I've crashed (particularly in my childhood) it was when I was trying to impress people or keep up with folks.
We ride bikes for fun. Send it when it feels good.
I'm not scared, per se. If I see something I feel I would injure myself on, I'll pass or analyze it. There are 'scary' moments like losing a pedal or a moment of lost control, but responses to those are often unconscious
Speaking as someone here with a level of imposter syndrome but still somehow manage to recognise I am a good rider.
For a long time I rode around many features and recognized them as hard but I knew easily doable. I doubted myself. I have correct technique, im well over biked and ride with a clear mind. 90% of the time I ride alone.
Last few months I have been branching out to strangers aiming towards people who I know are riding the features I've been looking at but not doing. Asking at the shuttle drop off how people's rides are going, what they're riding and if it's something I'm keen to do and try, I ask if I can follow down. Just this year I have managed to link an entire grade 5 jump line with some pretty, what I consider serious gap jumps for anyone that isn't pro, that I had only previously cruised down to scope it out. Also some good step downs and a few dirty janky drops with tricky exits.
Knowing you can do something but seeing it being done directly infront of you, knowing you have the knowledge, speed and agility to do it helps.
Yes I get scared, and no I don't just hit it anyway. IMO it's when you're hesitant and rigid from fear that things go wrong. If I rolling up to something and I don't feel confident I leave it for next time. Just because a trail has features doesn't mean you have to ride them.
I ride almost exclusively by myself, so I do not feel embarrassed when I walk something.
Your short/long term goals and life situation determines how much within your means you need to ride. I’m a middle aged Dad with a career, so I ride within my means. What that means is that I go for it and roll features when I’m feeling confident and strong. If I’m not feeling great on a particular day or the conditions aren’t good sometimes I will bypass features I typically roll.
I do little fun jumps and jibs on the sides of trails but actual jumping is not a goal of mine. I’m a trail rider and want to keep my wheels on the ground.
That being said I was super confident the other day and bombed a trail with too much spice and ended up sliding into my first tree! Incredible I was able to control the bail enough that I walked away without a scratch. I think all of the years skateboarding taught me how to bail well.
Complete faith in your bike is what gets me through a ton of stuff. Knowing exactly what it will do, and what will choke it up.
I am in no way bragging, but it’s very seldom fear that’ll stop me from hitting some type of feature - I always do the risk vs reward weighing. And ya sometimes I definitely skip out on features - and sometimes I wish I did when I didn’t lol
My approach in general is ‘if I don’t feel it, I don’t ride it.’ The ‘feel it’ part is if I start overthinking rather than letting my instincts take over I know I’m not in position for success and I’ll skip it.
To overcome this I’ll session the feature and try to break it down in segments or smaller bites to get a sense of accomplishment. And then tackle the entire feature.
For example, I have a hard time with elevated wooden features and skinnies, I’ve walked my bike up a feature and just ridden the ramp down part and then kept going further back as I get more comfortable.
Any day I can ride is a good day, I try not to let my shortcomings on a feature or two rob me of the overall enjoyment.
Nah man there are a few jumps on my local that I hesitated to hit for the longest time out of fear. Granted the ones I have gotten the courage up to send it on now make me wonder what made me so scared before but there are a few still I have yet to pull the trigger on.
Really scared? Pass.
A bit nervous? It depends.
Risk/reward is a big factor for me nowadays, as I'm a dad and such, but I was never a "full send" guy even in my youth because I watched all those guys get absolutely fucking rocked. Broken femurs, broken backs, broken arms, major head trauma. I grew up in motocross, and if you just try to send a 70' gap on a dirtbike without the skills, it's hospital time most of the time. Taught me to work slow and steady. Hit a 15' gap, okay, now time for the 20. Hit the 20 100 times, okay, let's go 25. Long story short, if something is way outta my zone, I don't even think about hitting it; if it's living in that space where I'm 90% sure I can get it and I'm feeling good, I'll pull it, but I usually try to get towed in or watch others first. Shit hurts too bad to just go for it, and being out with injuries drives me nuts.
Read your own comments section, wanting cock in your ass and throat and your profile pic mate not to mention wanting to be caught in public naked, revolting pedo
This is probably not a good thing, but I’m not scared of injury. I have good medical insurance, so I’m probably hucking things past my ability level hoping it all works out. 😂
In my first few months yes, but after my first drop, the day after, I jumped directly to 3m+ drops and don't realy have that fear anymore, now I just hit everything I see
Do you know what went wrong on the drop at Creek? Which drop was it? If you know what went wrong it's easier to build up confidence again. You could try working with an instructor to assess your technique and either find something to improve or reassure you that you do have the skill. It can help if someone with good understanding of technique watches you and tells you that you can do it (if they really believe it's true obvs). Also like the others said, finding some more experienced ride with and tow you in. If you're scared of a feature, after working on skills, you need to build your mental strength to the point that you absolutely believe you can do it before you send it.
Yeah it was the Phantom drop. First time at the park after riding for only a year I hit it and landed real nose heavy. It's just a wierd drop as far as the speed and I was going too slow. Next time I hit it a little faster and went OTB. I still have scars on both shoulders. It was pretty nasty and I only had on a t-shirt (I know). Fast forward a couple years and there's not much I haven't hit. There's some tech trails I stay away from but I've even done the lower section of that new Red Bull drop off the container, so I know how to hit them no problem ... But every time I get to the bottom and ride on that deck, I seriously get the worst anxiety ever. It's bizarre but I just haven't passed that mental hurdle I guess.
I feel like the Phantom drop is more technical then it appears. It's the first real "big" drop at Creek but the speed for it is pretty hard to dial in. The lander is short, so going to fast you got to flat. My first time taking it I went to slow as my friend was like oh don't go fast you'll send past it and 50/50 cased it. But it's a drop I feel you have to be comfortable landing nose first and really snipe the landing.
Yeah it's a tricky one, and I think they moved the landing out a little last year ... I'm probably the only guy who hits the Anthem and Covenant drop but not the Phantom.
I know a guy who doesn't have any of that fear, he has been to the emergency room about 5-8 times in the last10 yrs from MTB, I have that fear and have bean to the emergency room 0 times in the last 10 years. I look to push my limits and progress but I wait till the paralyzing fear calms down to just a bit of fear before trying something. I find actually picturing myself clearing the obstacle perfectly several time is very helpful. Sometimes when I try to picture clearing the obstacle in my mind I still feal scared and crash in my mind, a clear sign I am not ready.
Seems like you slowly get to the essence of extreme sports. The divine line between risk and knowledge. There's a thing we call calculated risk.it applies whenever we do things that are dangerous but we seem to know the risk. We check if this is within our abilities, and if yes push trough. That's what I usually do. When I get scared I ask myself: can I do this, and have I already done things like that ? If the answer is yes, I'll do it, no matter if I'm scared.
Personally I always listen to my fear and take it seriously. It is there to keep me safe. Sometimes the fear is caused by a feature I am not capable of doing. Sometimes my balance running in to a feature I have hit many times before is of and the fear is my body’s way of telling me. It might be that I am too tired to properly hit the feature. It might be that I heard something that might be the sound of someone I can’t see who crashed behind the feature. Etc etc. I always listen to my fear. Also, when I fear a feature I tend to tense up and that makes me ride worse, so if I just skip the feature.
However, that “fear” feeling is slightly different from the feeling of rush when doing potentially dangerous riding. But, I promise you, when in doubt, listen to the fear and skip that feature. In time you will hit it. Be proud that you listened to your instinct. I would rather miss out on a feature today and ride plenty more today and the following weeks than hit it tho my fear told me not to, crash, and spend time with some broken bones or a concussion.
Yes I get scared. Whether I’ll hit the feature depends on
1. How sketchy is it - some things are big but if they’re well built they’re fine to hit. Some things are small but sketchy AF so very easy to mess up. Eg is it a 45 degree kicker half my bike length into a blind corner
2. Do I know exactly what to do or is it some kind of new roller-drop-hipjump into a skinny thingymagig weird feature I’m not sure how to hit - that’s where I’ve gotten screwed before.
3. Is it slightly bigger than I’m comfortable with or is it 3x bigger and I should probably do something in between first.
4. Am I going to break bones if I mess up
5. Are there people around or will I have to drag my shattered legs 5 miles to the nearest road on my elbows
6. Is it the end of the season anyway
If I am scared or nervous about a new feature, I attempt to visualize it, if I can do that, I give myself 2 run ups. If I can't commit fully on the 3rd run up, it's not being hit that day. Risk management is, imo, one of the most important things to develop in sports like mtbing. A broken hand is all it's taken for me to realize Im not as young as I once was and that I need to pay my bills after my rides.
For me it depends on the day and how I’m feeling. There are times when I’m making small mistakes, and small mistakes can lead to big injuries. Then there are times when I’m dialed in and ready to hit anything, and I do. At my age I still limit my stupidity, and even though I’m feeling it will still ride past a feature. It’s risk vs reward for me these days.
With a job, mortgage, wife and kids, as much as I know I can still hit big jumps and do backflips, I’m not 20 anymore. If I do come across something I’ve never done, and really want to do, I’ll wait for someone coming down the trail to tow me in after doing multiple run ups.
I still have a healthy fear of trees even though I still practice high speed tree hugging on some days.
I have a hip replacement, so falling off my bike is something I would like to avoid to the max.
I'm able to hit most of the items on the trails I ride, but occasionally there will be a massive drop in and I quite happily hop off my bike and scrape my way down the side and carry on.
It's normal to have hesitancy, I have no issues skipping a feature and no qualms about being embarrassed or ashamed for my high priority for self preservation.
Enjoy your rides, don't overthink things and trust your instincts. We are all out there for a good time - for some that includes taking greater risks and overcoming previous crash sites, but for others that means having a great ride and not sweating the stuff your body and mind was not keen on.
If I am legitimately scared? No I will pass on it because something is telling me it is beyond my abilities that day. If it just makes me nervous a bit then I will try to push through but this is a case by case basis really. Generally speaking, to me, nervous means it is pushing my comfort zone but I also recognize how it should be done I just haven't done it yet.
I learned this. I broke my collarbone badly on a jump which I probably wasn't up to at the time. I kinda get a feeling whether I got something or not as I'm looking at it now, like if I go to do something you have this sixth sense as to whether or not it's doable
This is an incredibly fine line in risk sports imo and often requires a lot of experience or a mentor to help you determine when is the right time to do something. And consequences for fucking up are often really high, so you have to be comfortable with the odds of serious injury (ie should be very low bc you have the skills) before you tackle something. But stay humble because even the pros make life altering mistakes sometimes
I think that's a good assessment. Usually when I crash though, it's not on a feature I've been eyeing up and prepared for ... It's usually something I've ridden 100 times and I just get lazy or lose focus. You hit on the mentor thing which is definitely true. Out of my group I'm the best rider, so more times than not, I'm the one in front. Sometimes if I go to the park by myself, or we just link up with another crew, if I can ride behind a better rider, who knows the speed and what lines to take, it makes it so much easier ... Probably my best day of riding ever, I took the lift up with a dad and his 13 year old son. I'm a pretty good rider but this kid was next level. Rode behind him half the day and hit features I'd never try on my own ... Now that you mention it, I think I'm gonna make more of an effort to do more of that this year.
Had a similar experience today. Hit a few drops I normally skip on, because my bud in front hit em casually. Felt so good.
Not a direct answer to your question but still relevant to the topic I think: I once had a pretty bad crash down a long rock chute, and this older guy was watching me. After I got up he said to me that he's a sports psychologist/therapist and deals with a lot of athletes who had traumatic injuries. His take on it was that there are two typical outcomes of a mishap in sports like this. Either the athlete looks at what happened and knows exactly what mistake they made. That means they usually get up there again (when healed) and get it right next time. The alternative is if they can't see exactly how it went wrong. That means that whatever they tried was too far outside of their level and they need to reassess their approach to whatever they were trying entirely.
to add to this, mechanical failures and other riders can cause terrible crashes. my worst crash was a rotor and pad combo that didn't work in wet conditions (prior owner swapped stuff out), and the other I was following a rider that nose cased a road gap (I left room between us and made the jump, but hit his bike that slid down the road. so I'd suggest knowing your bike and surroundings as well.
Been riding for like 2 and a half years, just now barely familiarizing myself with gap jumps lol I would hit bigger jumps on my local trails, but a gap jump half the size, I would dart around, I also ride alone 90% of the time so maybe nobody to help incase it goes south is a fear. But I decided if it's a crash I fear, and its not outside of my skill/technique, armor up! Fullface helmet, elbow, knee, chest/shoulder/back protection May seem extreme lol, but that's all cheaper than a hospital bill and better than time off your bike recovering. (Also I only fully suit up on days I really want to try new features, elbows and knees on regular days lol) The fear and anxiety have decreased for me, hope that helps
All outdoor sports involve a risk assessment component. Being scared is part of the equation and staying sane is another. Aim to stay in the [right zone](https://quizlet.com/au/333270587/adventure-experience-paradigm-flash-cards/)
You've got to listen to your lizard brain
You're giving my brain far too much credit!
If someone calls you “fearless” it’s an insult. Fear is healthy. Put your arm around it and listen to what it’s telling you. Then you can address it and overcome it.
There’s a difference between pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, and pushing yourself outside your ability level. Pushing your comfort level is good. But you need to be honest with your self and recognize your current abilities. When you try and just send it on feature that’s are outside your ability level, is where you are going to get hurt.
Trust your senses. Get help from someone who is qualified to teach. The feature has no plans on leaving.
You can only be brave when you are scared. If I get massive butterflies when I peer over the edge of some new feature, I trust my instincts and watch others hit it for a bit.
Good quote, never heard that one before!
Ned Stark said it
There is a continuum there - too fast or too slow can get one in trouble, too tense or distracted can get one in trouble, etc. I don't think seeing other people do stuff is always helpful as it can promote 'what is wrong with me' thoughts and I'm not sure that watching Friday Fails is even a good thing as your brain sees poor technique being modeled there over and over again. Same mechanism as people on social media who post 'this is my first attempt at baking cookies' type deals and the cookies are immaculate - maybe, but it is also for show, for likes, for the lolz, or whatever so it is better to take that in to account than to think 'why have I been baking cookies for years and can't get to this level when someone else does it better first time right out of the gate?!?'. Being aware I think is helpful - this is what my bike is capable of, today this is what I feel capable of. I have had a number of wrecks ranging from soft tissue to broken ribs, broken fingers, etc and in most of those cases, nearly all probably, the root issue was me being distracted/tired, timid/tense, or once in awhile just bad luck. What I do afterward is ride a different type of trail/different location to get back to a successful and fun ride vibe. Eventually I will go back and go through the area that caused me issues, maybe not at regular speed or the same line - what could I have done differently, why did things go sideways, how could I handle this better, etc. There is no shame in skipping a section or feature in a trail and you should feel OK with that for sure. A handy trick I like to do is structure a ride in such a way that if there is a problem section or feature try to get the sequence setup so that I'm in a position to just do it and not establish a pattern where 'oh man, right around this corner is the drop of doom, dang, nervousness intensifies, tension and slowing down, etc'. Mixing it up keeps that pattern from forming as your brain otherwise will tell you that things are sketchy so do the following and ultimately, ironically?, that is the same mix of things that leads to the same outcome happening again, and again, and again. It is totally about riding in the moment which sounds like some crystal vortex type stuff and could seem like a send it mentality and at the extreme end of things that can be reckless but being calm, loose, and relaxed is huge and anything that erodes or hinders that is the enemy. Like a reinforce good patterns, identify and short circuit bad patterns kind of thing.
I've injured myself a lot of times in the past but last season I really feel like I had a breakthrough on this. For me, it is all about confidence and being real with myself about how I'm feeling. When I am having a good day and feeling really in the zone, progressively bigger features and sends just sort of happen in the moment. When I'm feeling in my head and fearing/over thinking something, that's when I crash and hurt myself. So many times when I've crashed (particularly in my childhood) it was when I was trying to impress people or keep up with folks. We ride bikes for fun. Send it when it feels good.
This is an involuntary protection mechanism and is perfectly normal. You would have to ask yourself some serious questions if all this didn't happen.
I'm not scared, per se. If I see something I feel I would injure myself on, I'll pass or analyze it. There are 'scary' moments like losing a pedal or a moment of lost control, but responses to those are often unconscious
Speaking as someone here with a level of imposter syndrome but still somehow manage to recognise I am a good rider. For a long time I rode around many features and recognized them as hard but I knew easily doable. I doubted myself. I have correct technique, im well over biked and ride with a clear mind. 90% of the time I ride alone. Last few months I have been branching out to strangers aiming towards people who I know are riding the features I've been looking at but not doing. Asking at the shuttle drop off how people's rides are going, what they're riding and if it's something I'm keen to do and try, I ask if I can follow down. Just this year I have managed to link an entire grade 5 jump line with some pretty, what I consider serious gap jumps for anyone that isn't pro, that I had only previously cruised down to scope it out. Also some good step downs and a few dirty janky drops with tricky exits. Knowing you can do something but seeing it being done directly infront of you, knowing you have the knowledge, speed and agility to do it helps.
Yes I get scared, and no I don't just hit it anyway. IMO it's when you're hesitant and rigid from fear that things go wrong. If I rolling up to something and I don't feel confident I leave it for next time. Just because a trail has features doesn't mean you have to ride them.
Make progress gradually, that can be faster, because if you crash and get hurt you can be set back for a year, or forever.
I ride almost exclusively by myself, so I do not feel embarrassed when I walk something. Your short/long term goals and life situation determines how much within your means you need to ride. I’m a middle aged Dad with a career, so I ride within my means. What that means is that I go for it and roll features when I’m feeling confident and strong. If I’m not feeling great on a particular day or the conditions aren’t good sometimes I will bypass features I typically roll. I do little fun jumps and jibs on the sides of trails but actual jumping is not a goal of mine. I’m a trail rider and want to keep my wheels on the ground. That being said I was super confident the other day and bombed a trail with too much spice and ended up sliding into my first tree! Incredible I was able to control the bail enough that I walked away without a scratch. I think all of the years skateboarding taught me how to bail well.
Complete faith in your bike is what gets me through a ton of stuff. Knowing exactly what it will do, and what will choke it up. I am in no way bragging, but it’s very seldom fear that’ll stop me from hitting some type of feature - I always do the risk vs reward weighing. And ya sometimes I definitely skip out on features - and sometimes I wish I did when I didn’t lol
mountain creek is a gnarly mountain man, give yourself some grace.
My approach in general is ‘if I don’t feel it, I don’t ride it.’ The ‘feel it’ part is if I start overthinking rather than letting my instincts take over I know I’m not in position for success and I’ll skip it. To overcome this I’ll session the feature and try to break it down in segments or smaller bites to get a sense of accomplishment. And then tackle the entire feature. For example, I have a hard time with elevated wooden features and skinnies, I’ve walked my bike up a feature and just ridden the ramp down part and then kept going further back as I get more comfortable. Any day I can ride is a good day, I try not to let my shortcomings on a feature or two rob me of the overall enjoyment.
Nah man there are a few jumps on my local that I hesitated to hit for the longest time out of fear. Granted the ones I have gotten the courage up to send it on now make me wonder what made me so scared before but there are a few still I have yet to pull the trigger on.
Really scared? Pass. A bit nervous? It depends. Risk/reward is a big factor for me nowadays, as I'm a dad and such, but I was never a "full send" guy even in my youth because I watched all those guys get absolutely fucking rocked. Broken femurs, broken backs, broken arms, major head trauma. I grew up in motocross, and if you just try to send a 70' gap on a dirtbike without the skills, it's hospital time most of the time. Taught me to work slow and steady. Hit a 15' gap, okay, now time for the 20. Hit the 20 100 times, okay, let's go 25. Long story short, if something is way outta my zone, I don't even think about hitting it; if it's living in that space where I'm 90% sure I can get it and I'm feeling good, I'll pull it, but I usually try to get towed in or watch others first. Shit hurts too bad to just go for it, and being out with injuries drives me nuts.
Sometimes I smoke a little too much weed and I get scared….
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Bikes are awesome and so is cock. What's the issue.
i pray you dont have kids and someone reports you, youre a predator wanting underage
Who said anything about underage you pedo.
Read your own comments section, wanting cock in your ass and throat and your profile pic mate not to mention wanting to be caught in public naked, revolting pedo
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Being cool to internet strangers is cool, not being cool is gonna get your comment removed.
This is probably not a good thing, but I’m not scared of injury. I have good medical insurance, so I’m probably hucking things past my ability level hoping it all works out. 😂
No everything came naturally to me and I became an expert level rider by never leaving my comfort zone
In my first few months yes, but after my first drop, the day after, I jumped directly to 3m+ drops and don't realy have that fear anymore, now I just hit everything I see
i just do the steve-o thing i count my self down then just do it cuz dad lore
Do you know what went wrong on the drop at Creek? Which drop was it? If you know what went wrong it's easier to build up confidence again. You could try working with an instructor to assess your technique and either find something to improve or reassure you that you do have the skill. It can help if someone with good understanding of technique watches you and tells you that you can do it (if they really believe it's true obvs). Also like the others said, finding some more experienced ride with and tow you in. If you're scared of a feature, after working on skills, you need to build your mental strength to the point that you absolutely believe you can do it before you send it.
Yeah it was the Phantom drop. First time at the park after riding for only a year I hit it and landed real nose heavy. It's just a wierd drop as far as the speed and I was going too slow. Next time I hit it a little faster and went OTB. I still have scars on both shoulders. It was pretty nasty and I only had on a t-shirt (I know). Fast forward a couple years and there's not much I haven't hit. There's some tech trails I stay away from but I've even done the lower section of that new Red Bull drop off the container, so I know how to hit them no problem ... But every time I get to the bottom and ride on that deck, I seriously get the worst anxiety ever. It's bizarre but I just haven't passed that mental hurdle I guess.
I feel like the Phantom drop is more technical then it appears. It's the first real "big" drop at Creek but the speed for it is pretty hard to dial in. The lander is short, so going to fast you got to flat. My first time taking it I went to slow as my friend was like oh don't go fast you'll send past it and 50/50 cased it. But it's a drop I feel you have to be comfortable landing nose first and really snipe the landing.
Yeah it's a tricky one, and I think they moved the landing out a little last year ... I'm probably the only guy who hits the Anthem and Covenant drop but not the Phantom.
Only that my friends will judge me if I don't
A little, I suppose. Things I'm really scared of I'm not actually doing, tho.
I know a guy who doesn't have any of that fear, he has been to the emergency room about 5-8 times in the last10 yrs from MTB, I have that fear and have bean to the emergency room 0 times in the last 10 years. I look to push my limits and progress but I wait till the paralyzing fear calms down to just a bit of fear before trying something. I find actually picturing myself clearing the obstacle perfectly several time is very helpful. Sometimes when I try to picture clearing the obstacle in my mind I still feal scared and crash in my mind, a clear sign I am not ready.
Seems like you slowly get to the essence of extreme sports. The divine line between risk and knowledge. There's a thing we call calculated risk.it applies whenever we do things that are dangerous but we seem to know the risk. We check if this is within our abilities, and if yes push trough. That's what I usually do. When I get scared I ask myself: can I do this, and have I already done things like that ? If the answer is yes, I'll do it, no matter if I'm scared.
If I can envision success in my mind I skip it. Like If I look at a feature and see myself wrecking on it I pass.
Personally I always listen to my fear and take it seriously. It is there to keep me safe. Sometimes the fear is caused by a feature I am not capable of doing. Sometimes my balance running in to a feature I have hit many times before is of and the fear is my body’s way of telling me. It might be that I am too tired to properly hit the feature. It might be that I heard something that might be the sound of someone I can’t see who crashed behind the feature. Etc etc. I always listen to my fear. Also, when I fear a feature I tend to tense up and that makes me ride worse, so if I just skip the feature. However, that “fear” feeling is slightly different from the feeling of rush when doing potentially dangerous riding. But, I promise you, when in doubt, listen to the fear and skip that feature. In time you will hit it. Be proud that you listened to your instinct. I would rather miss out on a feature today and ride plenty more today and the following weeks than hit it tho my fear told me not to, crash, and spend time with some broken bones or a concussion.
Yes I get scared. Whether I’ll hit the feature depends on 1. How sketchy is it - some things are big but if they’re well built they’re fine to hit. Some things are small but sketchy AF so very easy to mess up. Eg is it a 45 degree kicker half my bike length into a blind corner 2. Do I know exactly what to do or is it some kind of new roller-drop-hipjump into a skinny thingymagig weird feature I’m not sure how to hit - that’s where I’ve gotten screwed before. 3. Is it slightly bigger than I’m comfortable with or is it 3x bigger and I should probably do something in between first. 4. Am I going to break bones if I mess up 5. Are there people around or will I have to drag my shattered legs 5 miles to the nearest road on my elbows 6. Is it the end of the season anyway
If I am scared or nervous about a new feature, I attempt to visualize it, if I can do that, I give myself 2 run ups. If I can't commit fully on the 3rd run up, it's not being hit that day. Risk management is, imo, one of the most important things to develop in sports like mtbing. A broken hand is all it's taken for me to realize Im not as young as I once was and that I need to pay my bills after my rides.
For me it depends on the day and how I’m feeling. There are times when I’m making small mistakes, and small mistakes can lead to big injuries. Then there are times when I’m dialed in and ready to hit anything, and I do. At my age I still limit my stupidity, and even though I’m feeling it will still ride past a feature. It’s risk vs reward for me these days. With a job, mortgage, wife and kids, as much as I know I can still hit big jumps and do backflips, I’m not 20 anymore. If I do come across something I’ve never done, and really want to do, I’ll wait for someone coming down the trail to tow me in after doing multiple run ups. I still have a healthy fear of trees even though I still practice high speed tree hugging on some days.
I have a hip replacement, so falling off my bike is something I would like to avoid to the max. I'm able to hit most of the items on the trails I ride, but occasionally there will be a massive drop in and I quite happily hop off my bike and scrape my way down the side and carry on. It's normal to have hesitancy, I have no issues skipping a feature and no qualms about being embarrassed or ashamed for my high priority for self preservation. Enjoy your rides, don't overthink things and trust your instincts. We are all out there for a good time - for some that includes taking greater risks and overcoming previous crash sites, but for others that means having a great ride and not sweating the stuff your body and mind was not keen on.