How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

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Misti
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Misti »

bikenav wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:06 pm slowing down first, you learn more by going slower both road and trail, then learn to speed up (if you wish to) more safely Wish someone told me that a long time ago would have saved me a lot of plastic and plasters.
This is a good one. I often have students that just want to learn how to go faster or they push to be a "fast rider". I've been known to say, "slow down, learn the skills and the speed will come." This is how learning occurs, if you bring the pace down a bit and focus on learning the skills properly then the speed will actually come without you even trying to go faster. Often when you try and go fast, you make more mistakes, you ride raggid and you aren't smooth and those mistakes combined, slow you down a ton.

I even just told my 11 year old son this. We were riding motocross and he saw that I had my go pro on so he whipped up the pace to try and show off for the camera. I followed him while he made about a hundred mistakes, and then he crashed. When I showed him the video I pointed out how many small mistakes he had made and how much it was slowing him down AND that his big crash could have been avoided had he not been trying to hard to go fast. Smooth is fast :)
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Gerry Atric69 »

Sanqhar wrote:Confidence.

tom
Totally agree, thats my failing ! Guess it comes from long term riding not just short fine days out.


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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by steve the grease »

Anticipation. Surely he's not going to ... yes he is, good job I covered the brakes. And so on. I've been riding 50* years this year, a 4 month spell in hospital when I was 16 1/2 gave me plenty of time to ponder what was , or was not good riding practice. It has served me in good stead over the years.

*Not always legally on the road to start.
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Magnon »

Road riding - observation and anticipation

Trail riding - no substitute for experience

Going fast (track) - no idea, but again probably experience
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by tuftywhite »

steve the grease wrote: Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:12 am Anticipation. Surely he's not going to ... yes he is, good job I covered the brakes. And so on. I've been riding 50* years this year, a 4 month spell in hospital when I was 16 1/2 gave me plenty of time to ponder what was , or was not good riding practice. It has served me in good stead over the years.

*Not always legally on the road to start.
Anticipation is the one I'd go for.

With so much going on on the road, anticipating others is one of the most important skills.

I never assume a right of way. For example, if there are side roads with cars approaching or stopped, I still assume they'll pull out, so I'm off the throttle and ready, until I can see them look directly at me.

I've also noticed drivers/riders acting a little differently, I ease back, give them room and then just watch for some random turn or manoeuvre which inevitably follows. Never assume road users will follow the normal rules of the road

Speed at junctions. If you are pushing on a bit, slow down to at least the speed limit, you can't have a go at someone who pulls out on you if you're above the legal speed they're expecting you at. That's your look out, not theirs.

I fell off my bike on Tuesday. I wasn't going fast, 20 in a 60 on a country lane. Wasn't quite concentrating enough hit some ice with the front wheel and was down instantly, no wobbling around.

Note to self, should have anticipated the ice and looked out for it, rather than thinking about the cup of coffee I was 2 minutes away from.
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Stewie »

Balance and body position is key, especially on the trails, key thing is to let the bike do the work for you.
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Misti »

Magnon wrote: Sat Dec 05, 2020 9:30 am Road riding - observation and anticipation

Trail riding - no substitute for experience

Going fast (track) - no idea, but again probably experience
Great, so a few people have said Observation and anticipation. Let's look at those two things first, are they one in the same? Does one affect the other? Are there ways of improving your observation and anticipation skills? How?
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by bikenav »

observation= road position, scanning close far right and left, peripheral vision if you can do it. Anticipation hazard awareness, static and mobile. When I think about all the things my worn out little brain is trying to compute going round a bend on a wet leaf covered road on knobbly tyres, I think perhaps I should be at home watching box sets of Friends or something, but most of the time I seem to manage the task OK. Staying relaxed and having some experience of knowing that you have handled and can handle again minor errors perhaps helps me. I suppose that is Experience probably not ultimate skill. Interested in where you are going to go with this.
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by Elmer J Fudd »

Misti wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 10:34 pm Are there ways of improving your observation and anticipation skills? How?
Take up clay pigeon shooting: anticipation, how to really see an object both in peripheral and central vision, reaction, hand to eye co-ordination etc. are all improved. Sports like Tennis and Badminton also help, but aren't as much fun......

It also teaches you that sometimes you are not so good and you have to keep training to keep skills up.
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Re: How to improve your riding...Most important riding skill?

Post by bikenav »

oddly I have shot at a few clays, shells work out expensive, clays are cheaper as I can re-use many.
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