First time on serious single track.

[condor74]

Today I rode with a group of guys on single track for the first time....I learned I am not very good a riding steep loose rocky single track....I have a new respect for people who can do this for long distances. I think I will stick to desert riding. To boot because it is my first time doing it I dont know what difficulty level the trail was at...Another thing I noticed is I crashed and wore myself out trying to keep up with people who were a much higher level than me...I consider myself an average to good rider, I was just way out of my element. I will say that the people I was riding with all great and never complained when I was holding up the group trying to pick up my bike multiple times and get going again.....Anyway It was a good experiance but I think at this point I will stick to easier mountain trails and what ever wide open desert can throw at me.

[Veccster]

I could have started a very similar thread. I have ridden single track and only ride in woods but mostly on open quad trails. The few times I was on single track, I rode at my own pace to 'explore' it. A few months ago (and again this past weekend) I rode more difficult single track with guys who were pretty quick. There was no exploring, it was full speed ahead and they were MUCH faster than me. I felt bad holding them up but I did the best I could. As the day wore on, I got more sloppy because I was tired of picking up my bike and getting anxious that they would be annoyed with me (though they would NEVER show it - good group of guys). As I got tired, I also got sloppy and took some nice wrecks into trees.

I kept telling them to look up at the trees if they wanted to see where I was at. The tree tops were probably shaking as I bounced my way through them! Felt like I was in a pinball machine!

Anyway, I did like it but need to ride it more at my own pace. It's nice to be pushed but I hate getting stressed because other guys are waiting on me.

Compounding the problem, they would be resting waiting for me to catch up. Once there, they would give me a couple minutes to catch my breath and keep moving. They obviously had more rest than I did and could hold a faster pace. I don't blame them...just something that happens.

[neversettle4LCQ]

Some people have very different opinions about it and i felt the same as both of you when i first started riding it. Stick with it and go in gradually because it is really fun and i personally believe taht if you can ride California (Sierra Nevada Mountains Foresthill, Georgetown etc.) single track, you can ride anything!

[redrider606]

its something you have to work into i started on a 125 and have worked into the 250 power(even though the 250 is way easier to take on single tracks) but i will say the 125 made me a way better rider but if you dont go balls to the wall your first time it is much more fun and who knows maybe eventually you could be better than your friends

[Sticky Throttle]

Best tip I can give is to always keep your feet on the pegs. Once you tale em off you will start to get off line and loose your balance.

[Hatchet]

Best tip I can give is to always keep your feet on the pegs. Once you tale em off you will start to get off line and loose your balance.

+1

next tip, choose your line, and stick to it. learn to read the trails:thumbsup:

[NorCal]

Some people have very different opinions about it and i felt the same as both of you when i first started riding it. Stick with it and go in gradually because it is really fun and i personally believe taht if you can ride California (Sierra Nevada Mountains Foresthill, Georgetown etc.) single track, you can ride anything!

I wouldn't go that far. Foresthill and Georgetown are a cakewalk compared to

the good singletrack in Northern California.

[wormstrangler]

Single track is the best type of riding. I don't like rocky single track though, that shit's annoying.

But nice, flowing single track, with log hopping and creek crossings and mud pits? Nothing better.

The lighter the bike and smaller the piston/rotating mass the better (ie. 125) is the way to go. I don't like a big bore in the tight stuff. Except on the very steep tight stuff.

[CrazyJohnny125]

the rocky stuff makes you have the ability to ride anything. If you can bounce off of rocks or step single track, you can ride anything. The is one hill climb in california city that is good practice, it is near the track. It has huge boulders in it and then a 3 foot water fall 3/4 quaters of the way up. After riding then, all the other single track was keg.

[wormstrangler]

Eh, I can ride the rocky stuff. I just don't like too.

[doggerdan1]

You mean singletrack like this? I hate it.?

[Hatchet]

...

oh man, I wish we had stuff like that here in FL!! nice, very nice. im jealous

[x2468]

was it wooded or desert single track?

[x2468]

i can't get a handle on single track turns. because you need to lean the bike over to turn.... but as soon as you do so now you are too wide to fit through the trees, and im too afraid of hitting my head or shoulder on a friggen tree.

[crfxer]

Also, don't look where you don't want to go. On the edge stuff or obstacles coming up, concentrate on your line and ignore the hairy stuff

[doggerdan1]

Also, don't look where you don't want to go. On the edge stuff or obstacles coming up, concentrate on your line and ignore the hairy stuff

That's the best advise I could give anyone, and something I still struggle with. If you keep looking at the line you want to avoid, your sure to take it. ONLY look where you want to go.

[Baja trail Rider]

Where you riding with the donkey people?

[ron_m]

Single track is the best type of riding. I don't like rocky single track though, that shit's annoying.

But nice, flowing single track, with log hopping and creek crossings and mud pits? Nothing better.

The lighter the bike and smaller the piston/rotating mass the better (ie. 125) is the way to go. I don't like a big bore in the tight stuff. Except on the very steep tight stuff.

I agree with you on this. The big bores are definitely great for the steep, tight stuff.

[rjboschjr]

Another tip for riding single track, try standing more, like you never heard that before.?

[condor74]

I was riding a CRF250X. It should be a darn near perfect single track bike. I did have problems holding my line at times. There were miles of single track that were mostly loose rock between baseball size rocks and basket ball size rocks. I heard other people saying that the trails were rockier than normal due to a rain storm a few weeks ago...during most of the summer most of the rocks had been kicked to the sides leaving a clear riding line. I will give it another shot sometime. I just need to ride at my own pace and at my own skill level..I know I used my helmet many times during the trail (low hanging branches). leaning around a tree growing at an angle from my right and a 500+ foot drop on my left was a little nerve racking. The trails were on the outside of hungry valley area in he los padres national forest. I know part of it was on the Tejon trail...There was an uphill called flat tire hill....Ironically 2 bikes got flats going up it. There was a down hill that dropped 2000 feet in about 2 miles..