[bpamp]

Only fell once last Sunday and that was just a little slide-out on the gravel. I concentrated on standing most of the time and any time I felt tension in my upper body I just relaxed up there and gripped with my legs. I was less tired and more in control the whole day.

Still having fun...

Barbara

[wade]

Congrats

[crfsonly]

barbara..it's great to hear from you and to hear the progress. sounds like things a coming together for you. you didn't mention the 'grin factor'? where you able to enjoy the riding as you practice these techniques?

ken

[ev]

any time I felt tension in my upper body I just relaxed up there

Ken is right
next step: relax your jaws
keep a jelly bean, a nut ... anything you can bite thu without harm ... between your teeth
dead serious!
one of the big German gurus does that in his road racing classes and it works!

[bpamp]

Yes, I definitely enjoy practicing and am looking forward to doing more. It's reinforcing/gratifying to do something a number of times in a row and be able to watch yourself improve. I'm a big believer in obtaining a technical foundation and developing core skills, cuz then you can safely enjoy applying those skills in different situations. This sport has captivated me because it's all about learning new skills (oh, and a good dose of speed now and then, too!). It's hard but great fun

Barbara

[bpamp]

Oh, yeah, I meant to add. Thanks for the jellybean trick. I'll give it a try next time to make sure I'm tension-free.

BP

[bpamp]

Well, for most of my ride today I stayed standing, gripped with my legs, and kept everything else relaxed. It seemed much easier to stay in control on the dicey stuff (e.g, gravel, hills, bumps, and little ruts). The one time I was sort of hanging on with my arms and hands (and not with my legs) I was going up a hill with a turn...got going a little fast, grabbed the handlebars, accidently accelerated, and ended up in a ditch. Well, the bike ended in the ditch; I kept going. Now I have a big bruise on my right thigh to match the one on my left thigh. I must say, I'm way too old to crash like that every time I ride. Maybe I need to ride more sedate terrain, something more age appropriate.

It was fun anyway. Hope you all had a chance to ride this weekend.

Barbara

[ev]

good to hear you had fun, too, Barbara
age appropriate? ask Gordon about that
when you see him for 1st time you ask yourself how that lil overweight grandpa
(no offence Gordon, you know I admire you) will mount a dirtbike,
but by the time you know he will be gone in a clowd of dust,
and do not ever let him get near trees ...
they seem to make room for him, then they jump at you
was that what you meant by 'age appropriate'?
never mind
good you had fun
not good you are collecting big bruises
but I guess that is the toll we have to pay if we want to get faster,
a friend had a hefty tree encounter yesterday when trying to follow a fast guy,
I had a minor spill later, riding with the same guy, had we stuck with our normal pace ... but no risk no fun
and we all "hang on with arms and hands (and not with legs)" every now and then

will it make you laugh if I tell you the only bruises I got this weekend are from clearing trees off our trails
still Ivan remainders, 1st Gartra workday since and my boots taught me they are not made for walking, my little toe is one big open blister
but we had a lot of fun working, I got to ride a KDX220 and a CRF450, since I had flat #2 in 3 rides ...
about 5mi into the trail, Hondfan,
oh ere I forget, she who rides will have to maintain her bike, too - next lesson: mounting tires

[bpamp]

Hi, all.

I couldn't ride last weekend but got back out to the Badlands in Attica, Indiana, yesterday...and didn't fall once. I am still practicing gripping with my legs and having no tension in my arms--barely hanging on with my hands, just enough to manipulate the controls. I was much better at not grabbing on and accidently accelerating. I went into a number of new areas and it was muddy, as well. That was scary at first until I got used to it. I also went up a steep, high hill I'd been wanting to try for some time (I took the easy way down, though). That 230 will climb up anything! The whole day I just kept reminding myself to grip with my legs and keep a really light touch on the throttle. I only panicked twice and even then I almost immediately stopped myself from revving into disaster.

I also practiced figure-eight turns a bunch of times to work on counterbalancing, sticking my leg out, etc.

It was a fun day.

I wish people (not here) would quit calling the 230 a toy. So it's not an MX bike or racer but it is a... TorqueMaster (at least mine is--I think it's the Sidewinder sprocket & chain set-up)

Barbara

[crfsonly]

barbara...sounds like you are doing great and having lots of fun. remember the main point of the 'grip with your legs' comment was just to highlight the use of your legs to help you control the bike and to maintain your body position in certain situations. you'll learn as you go when to use this technique and when to open up and let the bike move below you.

i'm pleased to hear you are climbing hills. i love to hill climb. like you i'd much rather go up a hill than down. practice going down though and as you gain skill and confidence down hill it will give you the confidence to try harder hills knowing if you don't summit you can safely get down. there's something really empowering about developing enough skill to go anywhere your bike is capable of taking you.

good luck and continue having fun!

ken

[crfsonly]

forgot to mention..the crf230 is NO TOY BIKE. it's a great all around trail bike. i know of at least two riders that can't beat handly larger bore motocross and off-road bikes. in tight off-road riding it is very much in its element.

ken

[bpamp]

Hi, crfsonly--
I made it sound like I'm a rigid block gripping the bike but I'm letting the bike move and am moving a lot as necessary to maintain position, balance, etc. It's just that I had such a death-grip on the throttle, it was really causing problems. I'm probably focusing more on legs than necessary at the moment but I do know I feel more confident now that I'm getting the panic revs under control. (We have a fun whoops area I really like--that'll teach you to let the bike move! )

"In tight off-road conditions..." I'm sure as I get better I'll go back to the tight technical trails we have but I had such a bad crash in the woods a few weeks ago, I am pretty reluctant to go back in there. Fortunately, there are wider trails, roads, hills, whoops areas, and all that keep me plenty challenged for now. I'll work up my courage again eventually... The 230 still rocks.

I'm not competing with anybody but myself; it just rankles when people (not here) say my very challenging bike is a toy. It's all relative, of course....



Barbara

[Monkeywrench]

It just rankles when people (not here) say my very challenging bike is a toy. It's all relative, of course....

That's exactly right.
I've been *slowly* getting to know the 250X and how (I like to say) it preferrs to be ridden, and enjoying small bits of success here and there.

Then...

Found a small MX pit here in town, and pulled up next to a huge Suzuki 2-stroker. I thought I had quite a challenging bike to get back into the sport on (with having made the choice to go "250 instead of 230", but quickly realized that these guys who ride the huge 250 and 450 2-strokers spoke of the CRF 250X like it was something they could have mastered back in grade school). That kinda rubbed me the wrong way at first. Then I watched them ride a while.

They're probably right.... with their skill level, and abilities, they'd be bored with my "little 250x".
It's a VERY relative sport, with abilities and fear/skill levels at both ends of the spectrum. But if you enjoy your ride, right then and there you've convinced everyone you need to convince that it was worth it.

keep going. you may find in a little while that it is *you* who are ready for the next size up!
matt

[ev]

Barbara, Matt
come on, I refer to my X as a 'wifes bike' or a 'toy' too
named my XR250 'little one'
so?
does that make her a bad bike?
does it mean I do not like her?
b/s
if you meet one of those weekend warriors that still thinks size does matter, oh well, just tell yourselves
"Löwenmaul, Hasenherz, Spatzenhirn"
lions mouth, rabbits heart, sparrows brains
and grin silently

[bpamp]

Ev,

You're right. I'm being too sensitive. To advanced riders, the 230 is a toy and that's okay.

Barbara