Psychology of an older rider

[Bruce CurtisMember]

Now i posted this on another forum, but understandably many of the answers sorta came back as basically “start acting your age” old man type advice
the rider in questions background-
riding dirtbikes for most of the 38years since getting his first at 4, when not on dirt did literally millions of kilometres on the road, specially since for ten years he didn’t drive a car. Was involved in formal off-road competition from 5-15 yr old at state & national levels, A graded in competition,has competed at club road level and cannonball runs etc, so this shouldn’t be a skills issue.
Since then has competed at a few “charity black events” etc in his 20s but rides with a group of very fast and talented young blokes and rides MX track for fun and keep ride skills intact.

caveat- has spent several longish stays in hospital bodily damage, one memorable one at 19 when he had to undergo rehab after a life threatening head injury off a bike, but this other problem has only really reared it’s head so badly in the past 12 months

Problem in question- flowing S/T and hillclimbs mudholes etc always absolutely blast them, top fun, no problems flows, right in the zone 90% of the time is always asked several times to take the lead, but generally refuses as sweep has become more fun..drop back and hit it…help someone out of a situation then go like a god on a bike to catch the pack you know the game, all sweeps who do this know it… then along the ride you start on some tight and highly technical tracks where the obstacles come thick and fast, no problemo….. easy as pie stuff just lots of it close together, then for some reason he baulks and ends up crashing heavily and fatigue sets in, which excerbates the problem, then for the rest of the ride he is hestitant and out of rythym which causes loss of confidence, obstacles that are easily cleared with no thought any other time turf become insurmountable in his head and heavy crashes are the order of the day. Has become more & more frequent in the past 12 months until he has started riding every weekend so as to “get back the flow & rythym, but that proved to be unrelaible as on the “practice” weekends rides like a god again but on the organised weekend it fell in aheap.

the defining off, the one that went “duh I cannot keep doing this what is wrong” or I think I’ve invented a new crash type

picture this…..
tight forest singletrack about 10 ks long, in and out of steep sharp eroded gullies with 180 switchbacks in them, heavily wooded barely enough room for bars to fit, often have to “flick” side to side to get through, corners so tight at times you have to brake slide to get around, 1st gear..sometimes 2nd and only one blind crest you may try third for 10 seconds on a steep downhill run before heavy braking into an off-camber switchback, well on this crest clicked third and nailed it only to find a huge storm-felled spotted gum lying lengthwise in the path, now obviously all the others had avoided this but no not to be this time baulks badly and stares at tree in path, is now doing 40 ks or so between a gaint fork of two massive limbs…well all forks end in a vee so then the enevitable lying on ones back along the log ten feet in front of the bike all the wind knocked out of lungs and feeling fairly secondhand and knocked about, then the bike is wedged in the vee so damn tightly it takes 1/2 an hour and all your reserves of strength to unwedge it and also sorta did something to the old brainbox, takes off again and have at least 6 more falls in the next 2 ks, so by the time the lead rider comes back on a search he finds the missing sweep leaning up againsta sheoak absolutely destroyed, mentally and physically.

The effect-
fairly well for the rest of the ride the effected rider is unconfident, he baulks at simple obstacles he can do in his sleep and generally holds the pack up, until suffering from massive leg cramps pulls out at the 5th hour and goes back to base.

Give us some ideas here oh wise Old bulls..cause this is getting worse each time it happens, the hole gets deeper

Mr Blue

[GregMember]

What can you say, we are men we will try and do what we used to do not what we should now do.

Old bull doesn’t want to hand title to young bull maybe?

TB

[Mick DMember]

Dunno what fixes that MR Blue??????????
But had a similar thing happen on Saturday. I was feeling good and ripping the XR along with the rest of the pack,when all of a sudden I came unstuck in a rutt,only a small off,no big deal. Untill I got back on the bike and got going,I remember thinking over the next km or so “that rattled me and my rhythm is not right” When you start thinking like that it is hard to overcome it,so much so, less than 2km after my first off,I found myself sliding down the road again after gassing the XR to much around a corner.
Being able to overcome the mental aspect of the sport is what champions do,us mere mortals have to just deal with it when it rears its ugly head.
After your ride no matter how crap you think you rode,try sitting in your shed with a beer, staring at your bike and thinking about the good things from the day.
Works for me!!

[Bruce CurtisMember]

yeah TB good point always been highly competitive at this stuff, maybe don’t want to face the fact I’m not 34, but 43, and the lads i’ve been riding lately with are all experienced & talented boys in their 20s, and I’m just experienced.
I think you’re probably right there about overthinking it too Mick, just “blank” my mind and try to “enter the zone” which is opposite of what i used to do on the gate which was intnense focus know how you are going to deal with each situation have an attack plan in your head, maybe that’s not a good idea on singletrack in general.

Maybe now just clear all thought and let the body and learnt bike instinct do what they have been doing so well for so long.

Gunna try that this weekend

Mr Blue

[Mick DMember]

While we are talking about it. Since flipping my bike and breaking my foot in November,The thought of being in plaster again has definately slowed me down,when things start getting a bit “silly” on the trails,visions of plaster keep entering my head and I instantly back off.
Also I am not as game to hold the bike at balance point for very long like I used to while wheelstanding.
Time to face the fact I am also getting old at 43.

[PeterMember]

Mr Blue wrote:

Quote:

Now i posted this on another forum, but understandably many of the answers sorta came back as basically “start acting your age” old man type advice

Give us some ideas here oh wise Old bulls..cause this is getting worse each time it happens, the hole gets deeper

Mr Blue

Mr Blue as you are aware I have already commented in the other forum. In there I thought maybe age and condition and the crew (not knocking them love their work Helmets or not….wish I was rider enough to ride with a crew like that:laugh: ) you ride with may contribute. Now I am thinking as this is playing on your mind so much its looking a bit like that old sex killer ….performance anxiety. You sound a lot like me and tend to over analyse things and god help us think too much about these things. I have a hill on ST near home here that first time I hit it while in there for a first ride(alone) made it up as it came out of a blind corner and because I didn’t know it was there until I was on it went straight up. Since then and with others around (a real anxiety for me ..spectators)I have got worse and worse getting less distance until it became a running joke that I would eventually fall off in my driveway thinking about that hill:blush:. That said was in there alone again couple of weeks ago and made it 2 out of 3 times:woohoo:. To me I feel you need to try and clear your head (I know not so easy) and maybe if you have the bucks do the sport Psycology thing and see if that helps. Only my opinion mate I am far from an expert except on the negative nellie side :laugh: .
Now speaking of anxiety you wouldn’t believe how much I suffer it putting posts up in forums:S

[Bruce CurtisMember]

yeah thinking about it I s’pose this is what is the main difference between us and champions, we get subconcious “nerves”, they control theirs. SirDAL I think a nail has been hit with your comparision to the “other” performance anxiety (& being men we shall never speak of such things again) cause it is like the more you think about it the bigger the accident. (btw your posts are constructive and informative, so no need to go dropping the count there)

I am going to just clear the mind and ride again.

As Mick just said we are after all not young men and the next youngest to I in this group is 14 yrs my junior so i should be chuffed just to be in the Brethrens’ company so to speak at my age

Mr Blue

BTW rode a killer beautifully prepared ’08 CRF450, almost made me want some extra valves in my bike, best damn thing I have ever slung a leg over, the chassis is so taut, motor crisp as, low weight and hooks up, steers, holds a line it’s got everything, straight away was fast on it. He in turn rode my YZ and thought the same apparently…except for the hooking up bit, smokers don’t hook up they hook out and let loose, so a motocrosser is a motocrosser, unfortunately most enduro bikes are too “porkine” and easy going & forgiving in nature.

[Eric SmithMember]

Mr B, I’m not even convinced this is age related. I recall in my younger days I would have good rides and absolute shockers. I’m in a similar situation to yourself at the moment – although I’m not the oldest in most of my riding groups. Since Christmas ’07 I have struggled with confidence on any bike due to a huge get-off involving a wallaby.

My latest strategy is to find a ride that works for me and just keep doing it until I get happy with the bike again. At the moment I am still finding my bike legs with this new WRF. Once we are on speaking terms, this bike and I, I am sure things will improve between us!

I know I can ride better and faster than I did last weekend. Even though I enjoyed myself I just wasn’t at one with the bike most of the time. That’s purely mental so I figure I’ll train my brain to the bike and I’ll be right!

[Mick DMember]

You are right in what you say EKS,it isn’t all age related,I believe that a bad incident will play with your head more than you realise.
My son flipped a brand new KX65 over a table top and broke his pelvis,he was never comfortable or confident on that bike from then on.The memory of that crash has faded a bit now and he now has another bike and is pulling some huge jumps on it but there was no way in hell he would “go big” on the bike he crashed.

[Bruce CurtisMember]

we are funny critter us humans, we will do seemingly irrational things driven by subconcious issues.
I am going to go out this weekend and find the steepest realistic hillclimb and eat it up, and maybe even do some larger log hopping without an audience.
BTW troy lee pressure suits spine protector is absolutely he ducks gutz, I came down so damn hard across that log yet all I got was winded, no dislocated or broken ribs, no vertebrae out nothing in the back just a little soreness the next day, and having a look at that part of the suit it is very similar to the Dianese design.
also did the full 270 degreee rotation off my bars and the new barkbusters DIDN”T snap my wrists like i always thought they could.

I am seeing a way out of the performance fog here as well.

B

[Mick DMember]

Hills and logs any thicker than 12″ are something I intend on practising more with out an audience or the pressure of staying with the pack. THe last thick log I tried at speed saw the XR stop abruptly as the sump guard hit it flush and sent me over the hangers. All the guys ahead of me hit it at speed and made it look easy, I made it look like something of Australia’s funniest home video:blush:

[WayneMember]

Rocks, stumps, logs, fallen branches, ruts, trees, windrows, creeks, drop-offs, jump-ups, uphills, downhills etc etc etc.
Shit’s gunna happen – it has to!
The best of the best f*#@ up. Even whilst training – look at AJ Roberts last year – just before the season starts, he trashed his knee!
If your going to push yourself hard, you’ve gotta give yourself
the best chance of being successful! You have to ride regularly and keep yourself “BIKE FIT” ……….your mind will follow).
Definately don’t try to over-analyse situations.
Go with the flow, with all your experience, you know the right thing to do! Just like the OLD BULL on the hill with the YOUNG BULL! he didn’t think twice at what to do when the youngin’ said lets run down and do a few! – he just knew what to do!
Crash

[GregMember]

I let a ride, be it a race or a trail ride come to me, as weird as it sounds I just find I let the rhythm come to me, never push to get up to speed it just has a way of working I find that and now days I never go past 8/10’s I am not interested if they are faster they will and can pass. Always concentrate to the end, I always back of on the run home, no point in busting yourself after a good day out I figure

TB

[dennis da menaceMember]

well mate im only 37, have nowhere near the experience any of you guys have, let alone the skills. i had one of those days last sunday. (read my post in ride reports). now im nursing 3 mangled ribs and various other sore bits..
i think it was definately a mental thing for me i was on a new bike, with new people, on new ground. i wasnt trying to show off or anything and i crashed all day.
it was like a disease eating at me. i even had the horrible thoughts like “i cant do this anymore.what am i doin. im too old. why did i buy this bike. etc.

that was sunday, its now tuesday night and im already hangin for another ride.

i guess it all comes down to the love you have for it.

menace. (if this makes no sense im probably still concussed!!)

[GregMember]

menace wrote:

Quote:

well mate im only 37, have nowhere near the experience any of you guys have, let alone the skills. i had one of those days last sunday. (read my post in ride reports). now im nursing 3 mangled ribs and various other sore bits..
i think it was definately a mental thing for me i was on a new bike, with new people, on new ground. i wasnt trying to show off or anything and i crashed all day.
it was like a disease eating at me. i even had the horrible thoughts like “i cant do this anymore.what am i doin. im too old. why did i buy this bike. etc.

that was sunday, its now tuesday night and im already hangin for another ride.

i guess it all comes down to the love you have for it.

menace. (if this makes no sense im probably still concussed!!)

Menace you must be concussed because thats the most sense you have made since you joined, ha ha good work for an orange rider! (maybe orange ground hugger) lol :laugh: :laugh:

Good work champ

Tb

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