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Message: [QUOTE="Hainesy4, post: 203143, member: 26112"] I have been ridding in the woods since age 5. I do race some harescrambles and enduros from time to time and these are some things to keep in mind. First a couple things about the bike that you will want to consider if you ride for any length of time in the woods: Cut your bars down to between 29.5 and 31 inches (tight eastern woods). Set your suspension up on the softer side. Get bark busters. Good ones. I like to have metal in them. The all plastic ones make me feel like I am bouncing off trees instead of ricochet. As money permits you may want a steering dampner down the road. I run about 12 to 14 PSI in my tires. I run fast and hard and have never had trouble with flats or bent wheels. Knock on wood. As for ridding techniques. Just as the other posts say. Never look at something you don't want to hit (Heat seeking vision syndrome). Only look where you want to go. Keep your eyes glancing 20 feet to 5 feet in front of you. Stay loose. Usually stay one gear higher than what you might think. This will keep you smooth and keep your traction up. It will also remind you to go a little faster when you can to keep the gear. Keep your front end light through puddles and never gas hard right after going through one. Boozer already covered the cornering, steering with your knees, and keeping your elbows up. Also pay attention to when it makes the most since to stand up or sit down. There is no substitute for saddle time. Find a woods section that you can run a loop on and practice it until you are confident and fast through it. The rest is just a matter of finding other fast guys at the trails and have them ride with you so you can see what they do and they can give you pointers on what you are doing wrong. Happy trails. Hainsey [/QUOTE]

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