>I bought a Trek 850 a few years ago, for no other purpose than to ride
>around town. Is this a decent frame worth "upgrading?"
No. Easiest upgrade is to sell it and buy a better bike.
>How do you go down rocky hills?
Front brake just about at lock threshold, body weight way back and low, past
the saddle, pedal when needed to maintain traction. If you lock the front,
you're done. If you get too high, you're done.
>How do you fall?
Ride your way out of it, and don't fall, first. However, tuck and roll seems
to minimize abrasions, and do what you can to prevent a face plant into
solid obstacles. Putting your hand down while at speed is about as effective
as sticking your arm out a window if you roll your car. Trick is to
recognize the point at which you cannot avoid the fall, then protect
yourself.
>Well, I mostly walked this mountain bike through the trails. I'd never done
>single track riding before, and these seemed to mostly be from rock to
>rock.
>And I have a theory about failure. For example, if you fail in an
>autocross,
>you'll probably hit a cone, spin out, DNF, or whatever. You risk very
>little
>injury to yourself, even others, so it's all right to make mistakes. If I
>mess up mountain biking, though, I'm likely to break an arm, which would
>most likely ruin the rest of my day.
Well, skin a knee, or perhaps some cheek, anyway.
>Anyway, on the way back to the shop that rented us the bikes, we went
>through this "beginner's" single track. Compared to the rock jumping, this
>was a breeze. Nothing too difficult, and by the end, my confidence had
>soared. I was having too much fun. I practiced the "looking ahead"
>technique
>that comes at such a high dollar price for most autocrossers. This seemed
>to
>work, and after each little obstacle, I got better and better at it. I was
>enjoying the challenge. I felt as if I learned something.
I usually focus on what I'm about to go over.
>Well, there was this straight section, we were almost home, we're flying
>across the dirt, and I don't know what happened, but I must've hit a rock
>or
>something, because the next thing I knew, I made sudden turn to the right,
>and flew airborne into this tree on a mound.
>
>It hurt really, really bad. My friends Brigitte and Dan only heard the
>sounds I made, which went something like, "Huh? Uhh uh uh UHHHHHHHH."
>
>I was flat up against the tree. Thank God for helmets, I'll tell you that
>much. Brigitte tried to help me stand up, but I was all tangled up. I'm
>still bruised from this, and it this all happened over two weeks ago.
>Before
>I even tried to get out of my flat knot, I first had to check to make sure
>all my parts worked. The fingers on my left hand were numb, and the area on
>my hand just below my left pinky STILL is tender. I still can't run, nor
>can
>I even kick in swimming. I am just all messed up from this.
>
>Brigitte and Dan were really impressed, and said that when they saw me all
>smashed up in the tree, that I looked "really cool."
Did they say, "Do it again!"?
>But then they said, "But we're just trying to understand HOW it happened,
>Katie. We were going in a STRAIGHT LINE!"
>
>"Well, I think I hit a rock or something!"
>
>"But there are no rocks here, Katie!"
>
>All there was were just my tracks in the dirt as you can see that at first
>I
>was travelling straight, and then suddenly, I turned right, as if for
>ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.
I bet you hit a rut, or hooked a tree root. Knobby mountain bike tires can
grab quickly like that. Sorry to hear you got hurt. Hope you get back in the
saddle soon.
Regards,
Rob
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