2019 goals

prunudo

Happy New Year mtb forum, hope you all had a good Christmas holidays. Whats the goals for the year, anybody have any mad trips or adventurers planned?

Mine are just to ride more, increase the fitness, improve the skill level and possibly enter a couple of races. A new or second bike would be nice too but doubtful.

Lemming

Much like yours jvan, just get out and ride more, increase the fitness & skill levels with an eye on not coming last in what will be my first 'full' enduro race in Scotland in September (PMBA Enduro round #5). Tempted to enter a few other races, but that's the only one committed to for now. Also keep threatening to bring the missus to Fort William which never happened in 2018.

Gerry

Similar, maintain/improve fitness and work further on skills, take some lessons. Will pick and choose a few xc and enduro races. Starting with the blitz. Time will be limited this year so need to use it wisely! Hopefully will get a new trail/enduro bike also

Peter T

Same as the rest of ye, get fitter and bring up the skill level, improving my jumping being the main skill focus so plan on making a few trips to bike park to dial things in. Blitz Ballyhoura is definitely on the cards and might squeeze in one or two extra

Wanderer78

Hopefully not fall off as much

rizzodun

Get at least 4 enduro races in this year.

Complete 3500km on the bike in total.

Run the distance equivalent of 3 marathons over the course of the year.

In short, get out more.

Gerry

3500 on mountain bike?! Fair play.
@peter t - yep jumping was one of my focuses for this year. I can recommend bike park. I have gone to the Gap fair bit this year. I didn't feel like I was making huge progress but I noticed when I went back to other trails that I was jumping a lot better and taking jumps on that I would have avoided previously. Still have a lot of improvement needed on jumps with short sharp ramps.

Peter T

Gerry wrote: »

3500 on mountain bike?! Fair play.
@peter t - yep jumping was one of my focuses for this year. I can recommend bike park.

I've been there before last year. Rented a bike off them and was doing alright but when pushing hard my jumps and landing were sketchy at best. The full suspension bike was doing its work covering my flaws which then ended up with a "I'm going to clear it this time :cool: " confidence level , big spill and a cat 3 shoulder acl separation confirmed my jumping technique needed more work.

Hurrache

Ouch, what happened, bad landing or did your back wheel catch the lip of the landing mound and bounce you over?

Peter T

There's a section in the middle of the red where you take a few bends through gorse bushes then you've a small table top that cuts into a left hand berm. Got my line wrong over the table top and clipped the tree on the right spun the handlebar out my hand and landed with my front wheel sideways and catapulted myself into the ground. All a result of being over confident for my experience and having a jump technique that has me going off to the right all the time. Still was a great day out

Tenzor07

Any MTB'er out there who want to improve fitness and skills should forget about online videos and/or paying for Coaching...

Just join a MTB club!


There's at least 3 main Dublin MTB Clubs, EPIC MTB, IMBRC and MAD...

Only way you'll get better is cycling with fitter more experienced riders

gnarbarian

I had a miserable 2018 on the bike, so my 2019 goal is to get out more..
Every year I put myself under great pressure to get fitter etc and then it all turns into a bit of a chore...
This year I am not bothered about my fitness as that will follow when I get out more.
Not interested in races or upping skills (even though there are no skills to speak of:pac:)
2019 is about the fun factor for me and keeping it all about fun

prunudo

gnarbarian wrote: »

I had a miserable 2018 on the bike, so my 2019 goal is to get out more..
Every year I put myself under great pressure to get fitter etc and then it all turns into a bit of a chore...
This year I am not bothered about my fitness as that will follow when I get out more.
Not interested in races or upping skills (even though there are no skills to speak of:pac:)
2019 is about the fun factor for me and keeping it all about fun

Good post, often we can get bogged down in events, needing to be better etc etc. At the end of the day it should be about the fun, its not supposed to be a serious sport, just an enjoyable past time.
And I bet you that if are having fun you'll actually improve without realising it.

saccades

Bought a new bike with an emphasis on trail rather than xco, want to have a bit more fun to get me out more. Saying that, it's a steamroller of a unit with a dinner plate cassette so hopefully not too much slower.

Goals... Do a 160km spin (100 miles), if the weather holds it will be this year.

Epic club league (if it starts again).

Get down towards 90kg, have a clear plan this time and it was working until Xmas.

Do more of the old school xc spins I did 10-15 years ago whilst I can still remember them.

Oh, and stay healthy.

C3PO

Start riding my mountain bike (rather than the road bike!) again!!

Tenzor07

C3PO wrote: »

Start riding my mountain bike (rather than the road bike!) again!!

That sounds good! :rolleyes:

steamsey

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Any MTB'er out there who want to improve fitness and skills should forget about online videos and/or paying for Coaching...

Just join a MTB club!


There's at least 3 main Dublin MTB Clubs, EPIC MTB, IMBRC and MAD...

Only way you'll get better is cycling with fitter more experienced riders

If you can deal with clubs, then yes - they're a great way to learn but are not the only answer. I'd hate for anyone to feel **** because they are not in a club. You can teach yourself (with help from youtube etc).

steamsey

Goals are:

- Top 10 overall in the Gravity Enduros in my category (keep dreaming)

- Visit Wales for an MTB trip

- Go back to Rostrevor

- Do one Blitz (it's been a few years since I did one)

- Keep up core exercise regime throughout the year

- Nail the gap jump at the GAP and get it off the pedestal it's been on. Then - DreamTrack gap jump.

- Learn to backflip (optional)

bogmanfan

Build fitness and get out more. Signed up for the Blitz which should help with the former anyway. Then hoping to do the XC and Enduro leagues up in Slade. But main goal is jus to have fun on the bike!

Tenzor07

steamsey wrote: »

If you can deal with clubs, then yes - they're a great way to learn but are not the only answer. I'd hate for anyone to feel **** because they are not in a club. You can teach yourself (with help from youtube etc).

Well yea true, sure you can do anything solo by watching videos; gym work, hiking, soccer, dating..... it's just more fun with other people....

saccades

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Well yea true, sure you can do anything solo by watching videos; gym work, hiking, soccer, dating..... it's just more fun with other people....

Aye, also trying to find decent trails and link them together is so much easier when you are been shown them.

Gerry

Fair points there steamsey re the jumps - I'd like to do the gap jump at the gap also. Same on dreamtrack, but getting back to dreamtrack would be a good start.

Top Dog

Over 2k km on the mtb
White Loop in Ballyhoura without dieing
Massive improvement in skills/abilities
Biking Blitz or 2
Tour de Ballyhoura again
Nire Valley Drop again
Attend at least one Enduro event to see how its really done
Try not to break any bones
Maybe buy a full-suspension trail bike later in the year

prunudo

Pardon the ignornace but what or where is Dreamtrack?

rizzodun

jvan wrote: »

Pardon the ignornace but what or where is Dreamtrack?

If I'm correct, it's an unofficial trail in Ticknock that has a pretty gnarly gap jump near the end.
More like a downhill course.
Big rutted mess near the top if I'm not mistaken though...

steamsey

rizzodun wrote: »

If I'm correct, it's an unofficial trail in Ticknock that has a pretty gnarly gap jump near the end.
More like a downhill course.
Big rutted mess near the top if I'm not mistaken though...

Correct. It's an amazing trail. One of my favourites. Definitely a downhill track but there are chicken runs for the jumps. Aside from the jumps - it has a bit of everything. Really good fun but only when you know it. Spent a fair bit of time on it 2 or 3 years ago and was bombing down it (still can't do the gap jump though).

If you stick dreamtrack dublin or dreamtrack ticknock onto youtube you should get plenty of vids, including an older one with Greg Callaghan doing it in style and showing you how it should be done. It's very well maintained most of the time and it brings you down just behind Lamb Doyle's so a great way to finish a spin, especially if you have parked at Lamb Doyle's.

I stuck a video up doing the boneshaker straight down to dreamtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56WxuvycHT0. Dreamtrack starts at 3.10 on my vid. The 2nd half of dreamtrack where jumps begin to appear is at about 4.50. You can see the bigger gap jump at 5.50 on the right. It's not a good video and is not how to do the dreamtrack but at least you can clearly see it as I'm not flying. You can tell that the dreamtrack is an old one - some of the vids on youtube were shot with video cameras back in the day with added special effects and some very old looking bikes.

You can find the boneshaker right at the start of the bottom loop / Metro 1 at Ticknock. This takes you right down to the dreamtrack. I like the boneshaker - it's a good challenge but not particularly fast. It's not a popular trail. Otherwise, you can go down Metro 1 and there is bit near the bottom where you come out of the forest (the trail turns left to continue down through the forest, across the road and down to the hut) - if you go right there - along sandy path, slightly uphill - it's 2 mins cycle to start of the dreamtrack.

Well worth taking a look at. If you have never done anything like it before - you'll defo find your heart in your mouth. Great test of your skills. First half is technical downhilly stuff - then the jumps start appearing so best to take it handy at first so you know what's coming. Savage fun wet or dry and it can get very wet at times and very overgrown late in the summer.

Let me know if you give it a try

steamsey

Here's Greg's vid showing you how to do it properly - still one of the best dreamtrack vids - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLpKKxh8mdY

"dreamtrack ireland" actually seems to pull up a lot of the good videos

Now I just really want to get out on the bike!

prunudo

Good to know, was up there before Christmas but didn't realise there were options like this there. Like everything, easy to find when you know where.
Looked on YouTube earlier, I'm a long away from doing a gap but must try the trail next time I'm up there.

On a side note, is there a good method to build up to gap jumps or is it just time on bike and practice practice and more practice. I'm heading for 40 so don't bounce as well as i used too!

rizzodun

Sounds like a good trail to try on a Boards MTB meet.

Bit too far for me to travel though, for one trail anyways...

coach22

Can you climb up boneshaker or is it just downhill?

Tenzor07

Bear in mind, with the massive explosion in the numbers of casual walkers out on the hills these days the chances of you coming across people walking up and/or down this track is fairly high, and they will have Zero clue that it's an unofficial MX/MTB track as they will be casual gym-gear wearing walkers.

Last year I had heard of a man out with his young son and was hit by a biker, the man of course went absolutely ballistic over this with Coillte and SDCC.
I'm surprised that the local council haven't completely cut up that track to put it out of use.

Tenzor07

coach22 wrote: »

Can you climb up boneshaker or is it just downhill?

You can but not recommended, partly because it's not an easy climb unless you're a strong technical climber, but the chances of meeting someone coming downhill at speed is high, a lot of lads session this trail so will be coming down fast.

Hurrache

Are you talking about the 'official' Boneshaker path, the long standing one that continues right up to the aerials, or is there one adjacent to that? If it's the same you'll also get lots of walkers and runners on it, and if someone coming downhill at speed is on the same track, it's a bit reckless. Having said that, in all my years and miles of using the Boneshaker I've never met a cyclist coming down it.

Peter T

rizzodun wrote: »

Sounds like a good trail to try on a Boards MTB meet.

A meet this year could be a good idea

Lemming

Peter T wrote: »

A meet this year could be a good idea

Well, I'll be back visiting from the UK near end of February and back in June for Metallica (with bikes in tow of course) if anyone decides to pick dates

rizzodun

Lemming wrote: »

Well, I'll be back visiting from the UK near end of February and back in June for Metallica (with bikes in tow of course) if anyone decides to pick dates

It's not a bad idea to help spur on the forum.
If organised if could be posted on the main cycling forum to get some of the part time mtb'rs onboard too.

I'm sure one of ye would be up for organising it...

:pac:

steamsey

Noticed yesterday the amount of walkers going down the boneshaker - it's not safe to cycle down. With Ticknock so busy these days it's become a popular walking trail. Best left for early morning / night spins I think.

Also found another video of someone showing how the dreamtrack should be done - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H23VSU-ACt8. I wish I could ride it like this guy.

Gerry

Boneshaker into dreamtrack is a great run. Mmm dreamtrack. Haven't been down it in a long time.. the boards MTB meet should include it and finish at the blue light

QueenMTBee

My goals for 2019:-

Do the entire Gravity series - and podium at least once
Do the entire IDMS series - and podium at least once
Work on my technical skills and bike confidence
Get off my brakes!
Do the river gap at GAP

Good jib!

My goals for 2019 (bearing in mind I only started MTB in Sept 2018)

Learn how to do a wheelie
Learn how to do a bunnyhop (no idea how hard these two goals are, but it'd be cool to be able to do them)
Make time to go to a bikepark, and not get caught up in "too busy" trap.
Try not to get injured.
Try to relax a bit more on the bike and not worry so much about getting injured!

steamsey

Good jib! wrote: »

My goals for 2019 (bearing in mind I only started MTB in Sept 2018)

Learn how to do a wheelie
Learn how to do a bunnyhop (no idea how hard these two goals are, but it'd be cool to be able to do them)
Make time to go to a bikepark, and not get caught up in "too busy" trap.
Try not to get injured.
Try to relax a bit more on the bike and not worry so much about getting injured!

Best of luck. One trick for wheelies when beginning is to remember that if you've come up too far are are going off the back of the bike - the back brake will firmly plant your front wheel - it's a useful one to give you a bit of confidence to try them more. Also - try them up slight hills first. I'd say bunnyhops are the easiest - especially if you have a full suss. All you need to practice is a kerb.

Global Mountain Bike have a ton of skills vids on youtube which could be useful - here is there one on wheelies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih05ONF0gc8. Getting out on the bike with the specific goal of practicing these is the way to learn - in your driveway, back garden - where ever you have the space.

Being relaxed on the bike is key so that's a great goal. If I think of any of the bad crashes I've had - I was nervous right before them and therefore tense AF. Have to be loose. If it doesn't feel right - come back to it. When you're nice and relaxed you know it and it feels great to be on the bike.

El Vino

Enter an Enduro race
learn to jump
ride 160km off road in a day

bogmanfan

El Vino wrote: »

ride 160km off road in a day

160km! That's an enormous spin. 55km is my longest (Cooley Thriller) and it was tough going. Best of luck with it.

steamsey

bogmanfan wrote: »

160km! That's an enormous spin. 55km is my longest (Cooley Thriller) and it was tough going. Best of luck with it.

Was thinking same thing. 160KM on the road is a savage spin - can't imagine how you'd do it off road. And the even bigger question is where you could do this in Ireland?

The Wicklow Way from Marley Park to Clonegal is about 132KM and that's 10/11 hours for a pro - not many have done it. I could not do it in a day - tried and got 42KM into it and then bailed somewhere near Roundwood. I totally underestimated how hard it would be.

Let us know how you get on and where you're planning to do that

Top Dog

Personal best so far was 44km on the Nire Valley Drop - hats off to you if you can manage 160km in a day!

QueenMTBee

El Vino wrote: »

ride 160km off road in a day

Surely that's a typo! Even 160km off road in a long weekend would be impressive.

steamsey

QueenMTBee wrote: »

Surely that's a typo! Even 160km off road in a long weekend would be impressive.

I'll feel a lot better if it was meant to be 16KM..

OP - put me out of my misery - did you really mean 160KM????

El Vino

steamsey wrote: »

I'll feel a lot better if it was meant to be 16KM..

OP - put me out of my misery - did you really mean 160KM????

So not a typo and not trying to brag, also not in Ireland. I know it will be bloody hard. I've entered the event below as riding the South Downs Way has been a goal of mine for about 10 years. I have had a couple of aborted attempts solo as there are two many easy bail out options so I entered the event below. Last few years I've done a lot of road riding so base fitness is good. I did the same Charity's London to Brighton offroad in September and this was pretty easy as about 40km was on a Greenway, SDW is proper off road.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bike-rides/south-downs-way-off-road-bike-ride

QueenMTBee

El Vino wrote: »

So not a typo and not trying to brag, also not in Ireland. I know it will be bloody hard. I've entered the event below as riding the South Downs Way has been a goal of mine for about 10 years. I have had a couple of aborted attempts solo as there are two many easy bail out options so I entered the event below. Last few years I've done a lot of road riding so base fitness is good. I did the same Charity's London to Brighton offroad in September and this was pretty easy as about 40km was on a Greenway, SDW is proper off road.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bike-rides/south-downs-way-off-road-bike-ride

Fair play. Let us know how you get on.

You'd probably love the Tour de Timor. My brother did it last year. 450km with 10,000 metres vertical ascending over 5 days. Some dirt roads and some "proper" mountain biking.

Lemming

El Vino wrote: »

So not a typo and not trying to brag, also not in Ireland. I know it will be bloody hard. I've entered the event below as riding the South Downs Way has been a goal of mine for about 10 years. I have had a couple of aborted attempts solo as there are two many easy bail out options so I entered the event below. Last few years I've done a lot of road riding so base fitness is good. I did the same Charity's London to Brighton offroad in September and this was pretty easy as about 40km was on a Greenway, SDW is proper off road.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bike-rides/south-downs-way-off-road-bike-ride

Take a peak at the Wales360; new event/organiser that I met at the UK cycle show last year.

6 days (teams I think), point to point, 550km through North & Mid Wales taking in some notable riding locations like Cody-y-Brenin, Llangdella, Bets-y-coed, and Machynlleth.

Peter T

Peter T wrote: »

Same as the rest of ye, get fitter and bring up the skill level, improving my jumping being the main skill focus so plan on making a few trips to bike park to dial things in. Blitz Ballyhoura is definitely on the cards and might squeeze in one or two extra

So following some reading I did in the normal cycling forum with people looking back at the previous year how did the 2019 goals go ?

For me the fitness improved very well, the nire valley was a nice benchmark for myself and i was very happy with my performance on the day. My skills came along also but jumping not so much given bpi's closure and the demolition of the jumps down in tracton so still improvement needed there. Did the blitz ballyhoura also so another thing ticked off the list. Looking forward to more biking this year