Having recently moved to an area with trails that are faster than my previous home trails \[about twice the avg speed on most rides\] I am 100% aware that these "easier" trails are more dangerous due to the higher speeds. Riding a hardtail. Working on being as smooth as possible not as fast as possible. Not virtual phone racing other chubby middle aged EWS wannabes. These are all part of my plan to survive the next decade of my MTBing career.
My two notable injury accidents so far in the new location were both speed related. I wasn't going exceptionally fast, but as soon as you go off the trail all the energy in your speed gets converted to impacts with hard objects like trees, rocks, etc...
My gut feeling is that slowing down 10% from my max doubles my safety margin. Given I am not a pro racer or even a great virtual phone racer that doesn't really change anything for me on the enjoyment front and pushing myself to ride well technically/smooth provides a lot of satisfaction.
Great article. We could use more discussion about important topics like this. I'm glad Moritz' brother is healing up well.
June 9, 2022, 6:30 a.m. - Vik Banerjee
Having recently moved to an area with trails that are faster than my previous home trails \[about twice the avg speed on most rides\] I am 100% aware that these "easier" trails are more dangerous due to the higher speeds. Riding a hardtail. Working on being as smooth as possible not as fast as possible. Not virtual phone racing other chubby middle aged EWS wannabes. These are all part of my plan to survive the next decade of my MTBing career. My two notable injury accidents so far in the new location were both speed related. I wasn't going exceptionally fast, but as soon as you go off the trail all the energy in your speed gets converted to impacts with hard objects like trees, rocks, etc... My gut feeling is that slowing down 10% from my max doubles my safety margin. Given I am not a pro racer or even a great virtual phone racer that doesn't really change anything for me on the enjoyment front and pushing myself to ride well technically/smooth provides a lot of satisfaction. Great article. We could use more discussion about important topics like this. I'm glad Moritz' brother is healing up well.