Why do i suck a dirtbiking so bad?

[MXracer195]

Fear is the biggest thing to hold people back, trust me, I'd know. I've been riding 12 years. When I was younger I was always scared of big crashes. When I rolled my utility quad being a dumbass and snapped my collarbone I realized I have a way higher pain tolerance than most people considering I just thought it was a little sore cause of the crash until I tried to push the quad back over and it snapped. Anyways, now that I've realized broken bones don't hurt as bad as I thought, I don't have much fear. My speed has improved tremendously and I went from a slow C class pace to probably a mid pack or faster B class pace. I can do a lot of things on a bike that I thought I couldn't do before because I was to scared to try them. Now the only thing I fear is being paralyzed or breaking my neck or back.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Demonic Forrest

[RockerYZWR]

Fear is the biggest thing to hold people back, trust me, I'd know. I've been riding 12 years. When I was younger I was always scared of big crashes. When I rolled my utility quad being a dumbass and snapped my collarbone I realized I have a way higher pain tolerance than most people considering I just thought it was a little sore cause of the crash until I tried to push the quad back over and it snapped. Anyways, now that I've realized broken bones don't hurt as bad as I thought, I don't have much fear. My speed has improved tremendously and I went from a slow C class pace to probably a mid pack or faster B class pace. I can do a lot of things on a bike that I thought I couldn't do before because I was to scared to try them. Now the only thing I fear is being paralyzed or breaking my neck or back.

Try breaking a femur, compound fracturing a wrist, and blowing out a knee. And then having a medical person shove a catheter down your pee hole while you're dealing with said injuries but still awake before surgery and all they gave you so far was a Motrin. That'll get you a little closer to your pain tolerance. Edited December 13, 2014 by RockerYZWR

[Berm-Saw]

Forget the track and head out to the Black Hills.

Have you been there lately? You need a permit to take a pisses now. They implyd all kinds of rules and regulations. ...lame, I just wanna ride

[not_again]

Try breaking a femur, compound fracturing a wrist, and blowing out a knee. And then having a medical person shove a catheter down your pee hole while you're dealing with said injuries but still awake before surgery and all they gave you so far was a Motrin. That'll get you a little closer to your pain tolerance.

Agreed. I got paralyzed for a month and it wasn't like a walk in the park. In fact it was a life changing experience though not a completely negative one. It taught me that adrenaline sports are best approached with one's sense of mortality. It makes the rush come at a lower threshold of danger.

[Slackkinhard]

Fear is the biggest thing to hold people back, trust me, I'd know. I've been riding 12 years. When I was younger I was always scared of big crashes. When I rolled my utility quad being a dumbass and snapped my collarbone I realized I have a way higher pain tolerance than most people considering I just thought it was a little sore cause of the crash until I tried to push the quad back over and it snapped. Anyways, now that I've realized broken bones don't hurt as bad as I thought, I don't have much fear. My speed has improved tremendously and I went from a slow C class pace to probably a mid pack or faster B class pace. I can do a lot of things on a bike that I thought I couldn't do before because I was to scared to try them. Now the only thing I fear is being paralyzed or breaking my neck or back.

 

or just wait til you hit the ground so hard it ruptures a spleen, or explodes an intestine.  Your 'high pain tolerance' will serve to kill you.  My doc told me "another hour and we wouldn't be having this conversation"......the human body doesn't take well to stopping too quickly, regardless if bones break.

[speedtoad]

Have you been there lately? You need a permit to take a pisses now. They implyd all kinds of rules and regulations. ...lame, I just wanna ride

I was there the end of September.  I spent a day at Farmingdale and two days riding the Black Hills.  After riding two days I still didn't ride everything I wanted and only saw a small fraction of the trails.  I believe the annual permit cost $25.  Part of that fee goes to people maintaining the trails.  Still the annual permit costs about half the price of a day at the track or a race entry fee.

I bring a couple jars with lids on them to avoid paying the pissing permit.

[Slackkinhard]

I was there the end of September.  I spent a day at Farmingdale and two days riding the Black Hills.  After riding two days I still didn't ride everything I wanted and only saw a small fraction of the trails.  I believe the annual permit cost $25.  Part of that fee goes to people maintaining the trails.  Still the annual permit costs about half the price of a day at the track or a race entry fee.

I bring a couple jars with lids on them to avoid paying the pissing permit.

 

What?  Pissing permit for the Black Hills??   OMG, I had no idea that the lunacy was so high on the Richter scale.  Aren't they fracking out there?

[andrzej]

Fat whips?  The thin ones hurt more.

 

Oh?  This thread isn't about BDSM on a Bike? 

 

Nevermind.....

 

[Rooster72]

Maybe it's not just dirt bikes, do you suck at other sports too?

[Carytowncat]

One thing i enjoy ab

[Carytowncat]

One thing i really enjoy about my motox skill level is that i do not try and ride anyone elses ride, i do not try to keep up with anyone else or imitate with others do, i just ride a mellow ride that i enjoy most. A few small hills to climb, i rarely reach 3rd gear. I wear big old Hockey goaley shin and knee guards, elbow pads, and a street helmet w butterflies lol Nobody cares how i ride, and no one tries to imitate my style )

[SilentAssassin II]

Who cares how good you are? 

Did you start dirtbiking to be good?

I started because it was fun as hell and it still is!  Doesn't matter how good you are as long as you have fun who gives a shit.  And remember being good just means you're going faster and the wipeouts will be more severe.  Careful what you wish for.

[SilentAssassin II]

Try breaking a femur, compound fracturing a wrist, and blowing out a knee. And then having a medical person shove a catheter down your pee hole while you're dealing with said injuries but still awake before surgery and all they gave you so far was a Motrin. That'll get you a little closer to your pain tolerance.

I will second all that.

 

I don't have a fear of the pain itself.  But injuries can be a real bitch and can affect you for the rest of your life.

I dislocated my shoulder this year.  It was not super severe like some can be, but still a dislocation to a major joint that I had to do lots of physical therapy, it's probably 95% now but that's maybe the best it will get, and it is more likely to come out again which would be real bad the second time around they tell me.

I am a car mechanic so this is my livelihood.  It's a big deal when you grow up.  When I was a kid I'd try anything.  I'm still pretty competitive but keep it in check, somewhat.

[RockerYZWR]

I will second all that.

I don't have a fear of the pain itself. But injuries can be a real bitch and can affect you for the rest of your life.

I dislocated my shoulder this year. It was not super severe like some can be, but still a dislocation to a major joint that I had to do lots of physical therapy, it's probably 95% now but that's maybe the best it will get, and it is more likely to come out again which would be real bad the second time around they tell me.

I am a car mechanic so this is my livelihood. It's a big deal when you grow up. When I was a kid I'd try anything. I'm still pretty competitive but keep it in check, somewhat.

I entered a local arenacross race for the hell of it back in August - figured why not - I have no experience with it or MX really either but thought it'd be a fun thing to do so I entered the beginner class. Ended up whiskey throttling myself into the wall in the whoops section and injured everything on the right side of my body badly enough to go to the hospital in an ambulance. Being 36 with a career well underway that requires me to be physically fit and able, I was unable to do my job for a month after that and am still having problems with my hand, wrist, and shoulder. If I hadn't entered that race, though, I would have kicked myself.

When I desert race, I ride pretty conservatively, not because I want to lose, but because I'm there to have fun, finish races, and still go to work Monday morning without breaking myself (and my bike if possible).

BTW, those AX and SX whoops are deeper and closer together than they look, and my hat is off to the guys who make them look easy.

Oh yeah, meant also to say I agree about your point about pain. I don't really fear the pain too much - it's no fun and you deal with it - but being injured can really suck and will definitely last much longer than the pain.

Edited December 23, 2014 by RockerYZWR

[Mtrain730]

Why didn't you grease or look at linkage bearings in a five years?

Edited December 24, 2014 by Mtrain730

[philfell]

Why didn't you grease or look at linkage bearings in a five years?

Because they don't have a moto dad to do it.

[2PLY]

The reason is probably similar to many of us starting out.  We are in a hurry to "Be Fast" or "Good" and then skip the basics of balance and control.  After 4 years of Trials Competition, I was in the top class.  I was good, but not great.  There were people there that worked a lot less than me and could beat me every time.  It wasn't until 6 years later when I backed out of competition and went trail riding that I met others that needed help, so I took them back to basics...   It was THEN that I discovered that I could NOT demonstrate the Basics !!!  I could not hold a full lock turn for more than 1-1/2 turns.  So I had to go back and learn them myself before I could teach them.  And you know what?  My riding improved by leaps and bounds.  I was more relaxed, had more fun, could go places that were impossible before and lost all of the huge callouses that had built up on my hands.

 

I learned how to release the death grip on the bike and how to allow it to move independent of me and learned how to ride with a soft grip by staying centered over the foot pegs allowing the pegs to push me instead of having the handle bars drag me along. And I learned how NOT to grip the bike with my boots or legs.

 

Slow down !!!  Learn to ride slow and precise.  If you have the opportunity to buy a used Trials Bike, do it and learn how to go slow and balanced FIRST..  Then switch back once you've got the feel and speed up without clamping yourself to the bars or the frame of the bike..  Let the bike move around under you while your upper body stays still and over your intended line.

 

And most of all, go riding for the fun of it and only compare yourself to yourself yesterday. ?

[RockerYZWR]

Awesome post.

[Tryingoutdirt]

The reason is probably similar to many of us starting out.  We are in a hurry to "Be Fast" or "Good" and then skip the basics of balance and control.  After 4 years of Trials Competition, I was in the top class.  I was good, but not great.  There were people there that worked a lot less than me and could beat me every time.  It wasn't until 6 years later when I backed out of competition and went trail riding that I met others that needed help, so I took them back to basics...   It was THEN that I discovered that I could NOT demonstrate the Basics !!!  I could not hold a full lock turn for more than 1-1/2 turns.  So I had to go back and learn them myself before I could teach them.  And you know what?  My riding improved by leaps and bounds.  I was more relaxed, had more fun, could go places that were impossible before and lost all of the huge callouses that had built up on my hands.

 

I learned how to release the death grip on the bike and how to allow it to move independent of me and learned how to ride with a soft grip by staying centered over the foot pegs allowing the pegs to push me instead of having the handle bars drag me along. And I learned how NOT to grip the bike with my boots or legs.

 

Slow down !!!  Learn to ride slow and precise.  If you have the opportunity to buy a used Trials Bike, do it and learn how to go slow and balanced FIRST..  Then switch back once you've got the feel and speed up without clamping yourself to the bars or the frame of the bike..  Let the bike move around under you while your upper body stays still and over your intended line.

 

And most of all, go riding for the fun of it and only compare yourself to yourself yesterday. ?

 

 

One of the best posts of the year.

[Kenpo1]

 

 

You should simply be challenging yourself to be better than you were the year before...

 

 

 

Put your attention to the variables you can control, and stop dwelling on those that are beyond your control.

 

 

 

And most of all, go riding for the fun of it and only compare yourself to yourself yesterday.  ?

 

 

Pretty good advice there. 

 

By the way, I'm not very good either. 

 

 

You should simply be challenging yourself to be better than you were the year before...

 

 

 

Put your attention to the variables you can control, and stop dwelling on those that are beyond your control.

 

 

 

And most of all, go riding for the fun of it and only compare yourself to yourself yesterday.  ?

 

 

Pretty good advice there. 

 

By the way, I'm not very good either.