All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

i watched that video earlier lol. he made me consider those knee pads....did yours come with the red logo? weird question I know...

 

Worst is at an intersection as you pedal home from the th. Pull up to a 4 way and *plop*

 

Lemme get to work and Ill link it.

 

Yeah they did. Which totally clashes with my riding Kit. But I figure I can just color in the logo with a sharpie. As soon as I heard best pedaling knee pad I was sold. They will do good for my riding style. Gonna make my first trip to a bike park next week so I’ll see how they do there.

 

haha good call, I may pick some up, see how they do....and at least have something to wear to Pisgah

 

Pisgah is on my to do list this summer. My riding partner just bought his first full suspension. He was riding a 2003 26 inch hardtail. We are gonna do Bryce, Windrock, Massanutten, Pisgah, Snowshoe and whatever else we can get into.

 

come!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/western-nc-ride-and-camp-2020.665848/

 

Nice list! Have you ridden massanutten or Bryce before? I haven’t ridden Bryce or massanutten in a while but the resort side of massanutten is sketchy as hell at the top. Super loose and fast haha. I went with some friends and for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to warm up on a black jump trail....we all ate shit

 

Heck yeah! I’ll look at my schedule and let him know about it.

 

I have not. Had a friend ride Bryce this weekend, said it was super busy but still fun. The same friend runs massanutten a lot and says there are some gnarly trails there. I live riding black diamond trails but I willing to bet black diamonds at a bike park are a little more advanced

 

Bryce was super fun last time I was there. Their black diamonds are hard but fun. I rode it on a 26” 120mm bike and didn’t feel the need for more to get by.

Massanutten black diamonds I did on my 27.5 140mm remedy and that was sketchy as fuck. It would probably have been better if I had DH tires. The lower trails are pretty fun though.

You need to hit the massanutten western slope too though. Those are some of the best trails around. They use an app now too so it’s easier to get a trail pass.

 

I've only done the clippless flop once, and thankfully I was alone in my garage. I rode clipless for years and never had any problems getting a foot down last second or being stuck to my bike in a crash. I started jumping a bit more and attempting other features and never quite felt comfortable doing that stuff clipped in. Switched back to flats for the past couple seasons and have really enjoyed it. I think the switch has brought a lot of confidence to my riding (after relearning how to keep my feet on the pedals), but I've been considering a shift back to see how I like clipless again.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll definitely make sure to ride the western slope. I’m riding a 150f/140r so I think that will be good. I was seeing pics of kids riding 50mm monoshock hard tails at Bryce so I should be great there. Haha.

 

I stay away from jumps with my clips. They scare the hell out of me. I will switch back to flats when I ride the parks.

 

Western slope is all earning turns though. Still worth it.

that bike will be plenty. Bryce is definitely more catered to everyone. Just an all around fun place. I think the jump trail is called brew thru. Super fun trail, we used to just hit that over and over. I think they’ve added a bunch of trails

 

Looks like they discontinued my regular day pads, but these enduro hybrids are great for chunkier days where you want a little more protection. They come down to about mid shin, and def help with flung up rocks and errant pedal strikes.

https://www.leatt.com/shop/bike/pro...-shell/knee-guard-3df-hybrid-white-black.html

 

hm, those are sweet but kinda pricey....I think I like the POC more so I might pick up those Gform cheaper ones for now until the POC are back in...

 

We need DH races going again. I miss heckling.

https://youtu.be/Ps6v8OCyv6c

 

I personally hate the g-form pads. The ones I tried felt so awkward because the thin material on the sleeve didn't really support the padding. Have you tried them on?

 

The mental block from taking a surprising crash on an easier trail is one of the hardest to recover from. It rattles and humbles you instantly, and makes you doubt your riding. So much of mountain biking is confidence and vision that these crashes are one of the hardest to recover from (aside from long-recovery-time big injuries). Unfortunately there is no universal procedure, as every person's personal psyche is different and requires different strategies for gaining confidence. BUT, that's the key, gaining confidence. So, do things that will help boost your confidence. For what it's worth, here's my advice.
-Dump the clips, get on some flats. This will remove that large piece of doubt that you can eject from your mind. Once you're confident, put the clips back on (though I doubt you will).
-Ride the same trail that you got injured on again, but at 50%. This will feel stupid slow, but your brain needs to see that it wasn't the trail, or you, but rather a small outlier that caused the fall.
-Go ride a harder trail, one that's not intimidating but fun. Ride that at 75% or so, allow your mind to see that you have the skills.
-Go back to the trail you got injured at, ride it at 75%. Just have some fun.
**Throughout the process focus on flow and smoothness. Since you're only riding at 50-75% you should have plenty of reserves of focus on finding the flow of the trail, NOT going fast. Remember that being rigid and riding your brakes will make you more likely to crash again, so dial it back and find the smooth lines. In the long run this WILL make you faster (every once in a while I purposely ride a familiar trail slowly, looking for the fun and smooth lines).

I JUST took a similar fall. Playing on an easy trail, popping off everything, sliding through every turn, just being a hooligan. Then I took a weird pop off a lip, and landed in a rock and wood pile. Broken hand and elbow, now I'm out for another month. Between skating as a kid, snowboarding in Utah for 20 years, and mountain biking, I can't remember too many years without injuries, some worse than others. I enjoy pushing myself, and I also know the risks involved. I'm getting better at the recovery process, now in my mid 40s. Your body can heal, the mind is much trickier.

There are so many options man, no need to wait. I run the POC VPD Air, and love em, they've taken some seriously burly hits and I wear them on EVERY ride no matter the length or temp. Still, there are so many great option right now. Check out the reviews on PB as well.