I went out for a muni ride in Bracknell forest on saturday and I’m getting
better but I’m still having a few problems. The main one was sliding down
muddy slopes (intentionally), does anyone have a trick for doing this? I
find it really hard, especially anything big. I hurt myself quite a bit
when I slid down a steep muddy slope for about a metre or so on and landed
straight on the uni and then fell off backwards. We couldn’t walk on the
slope in hiking boots so I don’t think not sliding is an option, it was
really slippy. I can see two ways of doing this, one is to do what I tried
to do, ride off, lock the pedals once you feel the slide and not lean
forward much and then get steady once at the bottom of the slide, the
other one is to lean forward too much and pedal like mad and ride straight
off. I didn’t try this because I’d just fallen off and also there was a
corner right after the drop so I didn’t want to fly off the trail.
anyone got any suggestions? I’ve already got a great big fat tyre and
decent pedals and stuff so I think it’s a technique problem not an
equipment thing.
Usually when I lock up the tire for any sustained period of time I fall
on my back. Unfortunately on mud, you can’t really help but skid. What
does help maintain control while skidding helplessly to the bottom is to
let the tire turn a little. If you can keep it rolling somewhat (so you
end up locking up momentarily every time you hit the power position, then
unlock to go over the top) then you can work with it and make it a
“controlled” descent.
You might also try lowering the pressure in your tire. The more rubber
that hits the road, the better:) Once I was trying to ride across a really
soft, sandy volleyball court. I tried two or three times with no success,
until I dropped the air pressure in my 3" Gazz down to about 6-8 psi (the
rim was just off the pavement, and the uni was barely rideable on the
blacktop because it was so hard to steer). With the reduced pressure, I
was able to make it.
Chris
Joe Marshall wrote: > > I went out for a muni ride in Bracknell forest on saturday and I’m > getting better but I’m still having a few problems. The main one was > sliding down muddy slopes (intentionally), does anyone have a trick for > doing this? I find it really hard, especially anything big. I hurt > myself quite a bit when I slid down a steep muddy slope for about a > metre or so on and landed straight on the uni and then fell off > backwards. We couldn’t walk on the slope in hiking boots so I don’t > think not sliding is an option, it was really slippy. I can see two ways > of doing this, one is to do what I tried to do, ride off, lock the > pedals once you feel the slide and not lean forward much and then get > steady once at the bottom of the slide, the other one is to lean forward > too much and pedal like mad and ride straight off. I didn’t try this > because I’d just fallen off and also there was a corner right after the > drop so I didn’t want to fly off the trail. > > anyone got any suggestions? I’ve already got a great big fat tyre and > decent pedals and stuff so I think it’s a technique problem not an > equipment thing. > > joe
I really love sliding down steep sandy descents. I use a similar method to
Chris, where I slide when I’m in the power position, then roll the wheel
half or one revolution to get some control back. I also try to slide
sideways, so that the wheel is about 45 degrees to the angle that I am
moving. This is actually a way of forcing yourself to skid. It works
something like this: while going really fast downhill, then push really
hard backwards, twisting the uni to the side of your braking foot (the one
at the back). Then roll out of the slide and skid again.