fear of going down hill

[dirtygrrrl]

I have not been riding for very long (couple months) but I am very keen and want to improve as much as I can. My biggest issue is that I am afraid of going down hill. Every time I get to the top of some kind of hill, I freeze up and end coasting down with my engine off.
I know that going faster is easier. I know that I should stay on my footpegs and lean back. I'm still afraid though.
Is there a way to stop wimping out, maybe some kind of taunt that will humiliate me so badly that it is better to risk the scary hill? :yikes:

 

[Ol'89r]

dirtygrrrl.

A hill is just a straightaway on an angle.

It's the angle that freaks everyone out.

Learn the proper use of the front brake. You will do most of your downhill control with the front brake. Stand up and lean toward the back of the bike and drag the rear brake a little bit. Don't lock it up, just drag it. Put your bike in a lower gear so you will get some engine braking also.

Only use a couple fingers on the brake lever so that you still have a couple fingers left to grip the bars. This way you can release the brake lever and still be holding on to the bars. Learn to pump and release the front brake as conditions require. On the flat, smooth sections use the brake heavily to keep your speed down and release it on the loose and off camber sections.

Learn to use the front brake on flat ground first. Then step up to small hills. You are correct about faster being easier. At least until you have to stop. Be sure to wear all of your riding gear since you will probably go down a few times learning how to do this.


Just my .$ 02

 

[Patman]

Start on some smaller hills or areas of a hill. If you can find a stupidly steep but very short hill/ledge (4'-6' high maybe) to drop off of it might also help build your confidence. If you really want to get a crash course see if you can hook up with some local trials riders. They are typically very helpful and willing to let a noob try their bikes. Just watching them might really invigorate your desire to give something steep a try. The biggest thing to remember is don't lock up! Don't lock the brakes up, dound lock your knees up, don't lock you arms/steering up, don't lock up your vision. Pretty much like riding on the flat.

 

[Shig]

dirtygrrrl.

drag the rear brake a little bit. Don't lock it up, just drag it.

Works like a charm every time :)

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

'Ol 89'er has it down the way I do it.... stand up, lean back, in gear, clutch out, engine braking the rear (very light rear brake.... stalling on the drop makes it lots harder), front brake for speed control BEFORE obstacles/unknowns... let it roll through the difficult.... if something REALLY bad shows in the drop (washout, big loose rocks, etc...)... pull in the clutch, let off the brakes, and hope to clear it by momentum...

The hardest thing I see people have with hard drops is that they are afraid to let OFF the brakes in the rough spots.... it's really hard to convince people that when they see something they are really scared of, let go of the brakes and go faster... they end up washing the front out and crashing hard with the brakes on... remember 'objects in motion tend to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by another force'

If you have a Mtn Bike practice on some really steep stuff with that.... use the same technique (aside from engine braking...lol... substitute a little back brake).... it is less intimidating, and more forgiving in a crash

 

[TwistNShout]

I used to do the exact same thing you are talking about. But, once I started using all the proper techniques that everybody has already suggested, it definitely made going down hills much easier.

 

[dirtygrrrl]

Thanks for the tips.
I can't wait to back out there and try again.
and again

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

try again.
and again

and again

and again

thats the best way....

the advice in this thread is right on the money... think it while you do it... "stand up", "lean back", "clutch out", "front brake", "don't skid, it's safer to go a little faster if you have to", "let it go if it gets rough"....

 

[dirtygrrrl]

I just my new kx100 last weekend. I thought I was pumped about riding it before. Now that I have all these tips I'm so jacked about trying them out.
I'll have my bfriend around to give me a hard time if I don't do something useful with them, so I better get the wimp out of me and stop riding like I'm a new girl.

Sometimes the bike will stall if I don't feather the clutch a bit. Is it alright to feather it a little when I first downshift?

 

[firecracker22]

Definitely don't choke up on the brakes. I have had to teach myself these things the hard way. Feather the brakes, and look for spots you can use them--coast through the rest.
And when they say stand up and lean back, remember to lean WAY back. A friend who is a retired pro mtn bike AND dirt bike racer helped me out quite a bit. She had me so far back over the bike that if I had sat down, I'd have been on the fender not the seat.
Also, don't tense up your arms/shoulders. Let the front end do what it needs to--if you fight it, you will wear yourself out AND crash.

Good luck!

Oh yeah. If the engine is stalling, as long as you can get yourself pointed downhill, you can just start coasting and compression start the bike again. Just get rolling a little with the clutch in, put the bike in second, and let the clutch out at the same time as you bounce a little on the pegs (that's so the rear tire doesn't just slide). No need to wear yourself out kicking. Once you're going downhill, the engine will keep itself running as long as you don't lock up the brakes too much. Just click it back down into first, and stay there.

If you're riding trails a lot, I'm fairly sure someone (probably Steahly) makes a flywheel weight for the KX100. That will keep it from stalling as easily, and also make the power feel smoother. If you ride trails a lot, they're pretty nice to have.

 

[Ol'89r]

I
Sometimes the bike will stall if I don't feather the clutch a bit. Is it alright to feather it a little when I first downshift?

dirtygrrrl.

It's ok to feather the clutch. Don't worry about stalling the motor. If you do, all you have to do is let the clutch out and sit down on the seat and the bike should restart. (Sorry Firecracker, we posted at the same time. Your explaination was better anyway.)

You can also use the clutch as a rear brake. If you are going down a very steep, nasty section where you need to put your feet down and can't get a foot on the brake pedal, you can put the bike in first gear, kill the motor and feather the clutch against the dead engine to use it as a brake. This works good on offcamber sections where you can't get on your brake pedal.

Don't worry, no matter how bad you mess up on a downhill, you and your bike will almost always end up at the bottom. ;) :laugh:

The best way to get better, you said it yourself, try again, and again. :cool: :yeehaw:

 

[Shig]

Oh and one more biggie. Spot your runout as far ahead as possible. You want to know that if you start picking up speed there is a safe direction to go in. Look ahead to see if there are any turns in the trail, ditches, or obstacles before starting downward. That way you can adjust your direction for a safe runout if you lose control of your speed.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

oh yeah, as if this isn't enough to absorb... look where you want to go, not where you are and not where you don't want to go.... the easiest way to hit what you are looking at is to keep looking at it... if that's where you want to be (further down the hill in this case), it's a good thing, if it's where you don't want to be (the ground right in front of you or some bad obstacle), it's bad

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I had a nice experience of downhill spill Memorial Day. Tigger & I were at Lake Whitney for the mx races. Sat. evening, the two of us went for a ride on a bicycle & an electric scooter to chech out the woods section of the track, it was almost dark. They had just finished grooming and watering the track when we came to a steep downhill. Tigger was on the scooter but was afraid to tempt going down the hill on it so we switched. She said "I can do it on my bike" so I told her the scooter was no different. Watch how daddy does it, just attack it and all will be fine. The top speed of the scooter is probably 25mph so I said "pay attention, this is easy!" All was fine as I started down the hill untill I hit the gas about half way down. I must have been doing a little better than 30 when I cranked the throttle because as I did it was as if I slammed on the brakes. I've never seen a vehicle fly out from under anyone as fast as mine did. I managed to take a few layers of skin off the back side if you know what I mean. Morale of the story? Don't go down any hill faster than the vehicle you're on is designed to go. :clue:

 

[firecracker22]

Yeah, looking where you want to go is a BIGGIE. Do NOT look at the rock/root/ditch/tree/edge of trail! No matter your intentions, that is where you'll go! And you don't even have to really look at it--if you make yourself look away, but you're THINKING about that big-ass rock, you'll still end up bouncing off it. So look at your trail ahead, plan your lines, don't look at the nasty stuff.