H2H Mayhem 2020 - It finally happened

If you're not willing/able to ride more, a coach isn't going to be able to help. You can watch a million YouTube training videos and pay a coach 3 million dollars, but all will be for nothing if you're not out riding consistently.

My suggestion is to focus on getting out when you can, be active in the community and you'll see familiar people at every trailhead when you go out, ride, ask questions, ride some more. Not a single one of us was born a fast mountain biker, we all have similar journeys.... but the key is we all ride..... a lot. Hope we cross paths, happy to help and give some tips if we do! Cheers
 
carvegybe said:
Riding more is one thing but riding with your consistency is out of reach for me. I simply cant accommodate it with other responsibilities. I know numbers is slippery slope but I am a numbers man. It helps me focus.

But I would like to ride Baldpate with you at some point to see what it is like to ride with the Beast of Baldpate. But it probably needs to be a day when you're hungover or

I just realized by aluminum bike should probably be included in my watts/kg calculation so I am not sure my watts/kg so calculated was an advantage. But even if that


I thought about that but if I think about the Maslow Hierachy of Needs applied to MTB racing, I think a new MTB is closer to the peak of the pyramid. I probably need to focus on skills first. Don't want to be that guy with a new bike that can't corner properly. Also, it seems there is a major backlog for new bikes anyway - that will encourage me to spend the next 6 months or so focusing on skills.

@jShort did a description of the race and I noted one phrase there: "didn't use brakes". I used my brakes a lot.

But you make a good point re the weight of my bike....I think if I add that to my watts/kg calculation, I would not do well.

But I also need to get a reality check. I just don't ride often enough and looking at some people doing daily rides at 5 in the morning...that is a level of commitment that would require a paradigm shift in my head. I'm just not in that headspace... @stb222, how do you get there with this level of motivation?
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I never thought much about technique until I bought a modern geometry mountain bike a year ago. Many old school trail bikes(can’t speak for old school cross country bikes) don’t corner as well as the bottom bracket and overall center of gravity(at least with mid level or taller suspension) is high. Advantage of the taller old school style was rarely a pedal strike and more clearance over obstacles. Modern geo requires a much more interactive riding style such as ratcheting and or constant re positioning help avoid pedal strikes. The reward is much better handling. What drives one person may not drive another. My advice is like many here is ride as often as you can. Most importantly try to enjoy.
 
carvegybe said:
But I also need to get a reality check. I just don't ride often enough and looking at some people doing daily rides at 5 in the morning...that is a level of commitment that would require a paradigm shift in my head. I'm just not in that headspace... @stb222, how do you get there with this level of motivation?
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Beast of Baldpate, I did chuckle at that one.

That commitment happened over a 10-15 year period and was largely inline with my son being born, who he is almost 14 now. This also corresponded with me turning 30, so maybe that was a motivation, but no longer is. It sounds weird, but I ride WAY more now since I have kids. Basically, my riding time impacts my family's schedule almost zero. After work rides became way to stressful to squeeze in and I moved to morning rides. I gradually worked up to it and at some point you will have an "adjustment year" where you ride a lot more than you ever thought possible. Just starting trying to ride an hour more days in a week than not and try and increase it where you can. At somepoint those numbers will be normal and then you see if you can extend it. If you look at my hours per year, it was 200-300 and then jumped into the 400's. At some point 500 was a target and that seemed tough. But now I settle in around 600 with maybe another 60 TM hours. Break it down into small chunks and it seems achievable, hell this isn't even 2 hours a day. 365 hours is only 1 hour a day, 1/24th of the day.

I tried this with the morning hours, 6, then 5:30, then 5. I tried as early as 3:30am and that was not sustainable and even 4:45 is a stretch (on-the-bike time that is) and I found 5 is my sweet spot.

Anyways, this rant was just to show it happened over a long in period, in general, 10-15% growth per year is a good target to not get burnt out. How do I stay motivated? I freaking love being on the bike, everything else just sorta follows that.
 
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So the Cognition skills camp was fun. I finally managed to get air in a controlled manner. I think I like jumping more than racing...but both should probably feature in my MTB repertoire to keep a broad skill set.

One thing that was being taught I didn't get. I have developed a habit of cornering with outside foot down. We learned today that this should not happen: if we're not pedaling the pedals should be even - also when cornering. What's the general consensus out there: cornering with pedals even or weight on outside pedal?

Thanks!
 
stb222 said:
Beast of Baldpate, I did chuckle at that one.

That commitment happened over a 10-15 year period and was largely inline with my son being born, who he is almost 14 now. This also corresponded with me turning 30, so maybe that was a motivation, but no longer is. It sounds weird, but I ride WAY more now since I have kids. Basically, my riding time impacts my family's schedule almost zero. After work rides became way to stressful to squeeze in and I moved to morning rides. I gradually worked up to it and at some point you will have an "adjustment year" where you ride a lot more than you ever thought possible. Just starting trying to ride an hour more days in a week than not and try and increase it where you can. At somepoint those numbers will be normal and then you see if you can extend it. If you look at my hours per year, it was 200-300 and then jumped into the 400's. At some point 500 was a target and that seemed tough. But now I settle in around 600 with maybe another 60 TM hours. Break it down into small chunks and it seems achievable, hell this isn't even 2 hours a day. 365 hours is only 1 hour a day, 1/24th of the day.

I tried this with the morning hours, 6, then 5:30, then 5. I tried as early as 3:30am and that was not sustainable and even 4:45 is a stretch (on-the-bike time that is) and I found 5 is my sweet spot.

Anyways, this rant was just to show it happened over a long in period, in general, 10-15% growth per year is a good target to not get burnt out. How do I stay motivated? I freaking love being on the bike, everything else just sorta follows that.
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I will try to slowly increase riding frequency and see how it goes. It certainly helps to see an example, such at you, that it can be done.
 
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carvegybe said:
So the Cognition skills camp was fun. I finally managed to get air in a controlled manner. I think I like jumping more than racing...but both should probably feature in my MTB repertoire to keep a broad skill set.

One thing that was being taught I didn't get. I have developed a habit of cornering with outside foot down. We learned today that this should not happen: if we're not pedaling the pedals should be even - also when cornering. What's the general consensus out there: cornering with pedals even or weight on outside pedal?

Thanks!
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There is no slam dunk answer on the cornering thing, but in general, outside down works the best for basically every situation except corners with a berm, where dropping your pedal doesn’t gain you as much traction. In short, which every way gets you around the turn fastest.

truth be told, the level pedal thing is from NICA as you constantly have to remind kinds to keep level pedals all the time. Dropping your foot in corners is consider a NICA “advanced skill”.
 
i asked the same question - and adapted to level. with outside foot down when things get loose. it works.
the front tire is driving through the corner, so more important to press the inside hand and push the outside
(this is the way i think, not sure if that is how it it taught)
 
The whole level pedal business felt unnatural because I could not fully lean the bike when turning in the direction of rear foot. My leg was in the way. With outside foot down, inside foot is up so thigh is out of the way of leaning the bike. So level pedals on turns also means ratcheting so that front foot is the inside foot. Don't always have time or pedal clearance for that.

But I recall a Lee McCormack video showing progression to flat pedal turns to support pumping turns, which is presumably done with level pedals. I haven't progressed to this level of cornering.
 
@carvegybe if you are still looking for a coach I use BJL Coaching. Brian is MTB XC racer but I originally signed up to 3 years ago after not riding for 10 years to help with road Grand Fondo races. I have completed multiple road grand fondo rides and started back in MTB racing. I have steady endurance progression YoY. Just riding will get you so far and structured training will really ramp it up and improve consistency in my experience. I will be racing Mayhem Endurance Race next week and Wilmington Whiteface in June. Brian is based in Morristown area but can provide programs anywhere and also does coaching rides.
 
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