* EDIT: Hell Hill is History! * (Formerly "Dumped Seeker Today on Hell Hill!"

[Catalyzt]

First time my eMTB actually slid completely out from under me and into the dirt... I've come close before, but the first time it actually got away from me. Absolutely no damage or injury, just irritated it happened on the left side, where I could have bent a hanger.

This is actually a good thing... it means I am now getting 80% of the way up this nasty little hill that is my entry into the park. And not chickening out at all. Rite of passage! (Except I'm not passing, I'm failing-- or falling.)

The first rocks no longer stop me.

The second rocks no longer stop me.

It's the final, steepest section that did me in. I'm pretty sure it was traction loss that did me in, though I can't be sure... I know my wheels were spinning on the dirt, but I still feel like that section is rideable if I had a little more speed, and that if my balance had been 100%, it would be rideable. At first, I thought I could hop off in a controlled away, but I could almost hear the bike laughing, "When it's this steep? Good luck with that!"

You know what I think the problem was? After the steep part, the hill jogs left at about 120 degrees, so I have to initiate a turn when I'm pumping as hard as I can, and the little 40n motor is at max assist. Traction is bad to begin with, but when my front wheel turns, the back starts pivoting as well, so now I'm losing traction in a second plane. Turn left, bike falls on its left side.

I wonder what would happen if I just went straight and onto the grass. Or is there some countersteering technique that would work?

So close! Would love to make it just once, I just get so whipped pushing the bike up that last section.

But alas, here's the score yet again:

Hell Hill: 47 (or so)

Catalyst and Survivor: 0

Catalyzt and Seeker: 0

 

[Dave Rocks]

Try again

 

[Catalyzt]

Hell yeah.

 

[ruffruff]

Standing or sitting?

 

[rich c]

What kind of hanger is on the left side?

 

[Merle Nelson]

Someone to film you or set up a camera to catch critical section? Might give you better info.

 

[Catalyzt]

Standing or sitting?

Hard to remember, I was just so stoked to get as far as I did. I wasn't thinking about it, which tells you something-- I probably should have been. If I had to guess, I'd say that I lifted slightly off my seat for the steepest part, because that's what I often do, but since I was having traction issues, maybe I sat down at the last second to try to get more weight on the rear tire. I will pay attention next time.

What kind of hanger is on the left side?

The deirailleur hanger, right? I thought I was supposed to avoid dropping the bike on the left side, but maybe that's not how these get bent!

I so seriously don't know what I'm doing or talking about, thanks for your patience!

Someone to film you or set up a camera to catch critical section? Might give you better info.

Good idea, at least for a Go Pro run, which I've been meaning to set up for... though I do want to take my buddy up this way in the spring. He'd be riding my other bike, and the Trek kit bike definitely can't make this hill, so he could walk up the top half and shoot while I tried it. Warning: It will probably not look that impressive. Special Needs Senior Extreme Sports... it's not pretty!

Yard maintenance and bike maintenance for today is prescribed

@Catalyzt show photos.

Good idea, Mr. Not-Built-In-A-Day, thanks for reminding me, I will do a thorough inspection at a minimum. Can't count how many times I've set out for a ride and realized, "Oh, crap. Forgot to tighten the water bottle cage (or seat bolts or housing for the light or knock the mud off, etc.)"

 

[Merle Nelson]

Video would be for your learning purposes. (Not our amusement. )

 

[Dave Rocks]

WHAT??? "Back to owner performed maintenance"
We are talking about the Seeker Dump man.

 

[ruffruff]

Intrigued by electronic shifting as well. But that's a lot greens and a full day of prescribed bike maintenance.

 

[Dave Rocks]

Sorry I didn't get it.

 

[Catalyzt]

Video would be for your learning purposes. (Not our amusement. )

Yeah, well, if your amusement winds up being the price of some constructive feedback for technique, I'd consider that a bargain and will post! (It will be short.)

 

[Merle Nelson]

Totally a joke on my part, .....possibly exceedingly lame.

I'm just a noob to eMTB and am at the beginning of learning myself. I'm sure others will have useful tips.

 

[Catalyzt]

Finally! Made it all the way without stopping!

Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd ever make it.

Almost dumped it twice. The obstacles were a three-way split of technical, physical and psychological. The technical issue was mainly choosing my line about two seconds I had to execute every little turn or weight shifting-- not one second, and not five-- and maintaining even power delivery throughout the climb, only delivering slightly more or less power to the pedals when I felt the bike behaving differently (immediately, not anticipating), as well as even weight distribution, again, only shifting weight about a second before the grade or surface changed.

The physical part was really surprising. I've actually had terrible problems training the past few weeks due to irritating, totally non-serious health issues, but I did manage a steady 100 minutes a week of hard cardio even when I felt like I had no energy at all. Every workout has sucked, I never got the endorphin buzz biking, on the elliptical, rowing machine, or in the pool-- felt worse after every workout than I did before. I guess what that teaches me is, you can't always trust how you feel, you may be in better shape than you think. It probably helped that I was neither tired from overtraining or out of shape from staying home on the couch, which I definitely was this week... doctor had ordered me to take a COVID test Monday just based on how I sounded on the phone.

The psychological part was the most interesting. Just a weird mix of thoughts, the conversation in my head went kind of like, "Definitely won't be trying it today." "Yes-- and that's exactly the attitude to have if you want to get it done-- don't commit to it, don't get invested in the outcome." "I don't have time-- I'll take a different route to warm up, maybe try tomorrow." "That's exactly why you have to try it today-- because you think you won't make it, you don't even think you'll try it, so that will keep you from overthinking it." "See, now you're already overthinking it." "Fine, brain. Be that way. I have now definitely decided that I won't decide until I get out the door."

But the other thing was just making a commitment that I wouldn't stop because my legs and lungs were on fire. That was huge. I hadn't realized that was holding me back, but it absolutely was. I specifically held on to the thought: "When it hurts, just keep going."

I can't believe how satisfying this was. Five minutes from my house, but this was really right up there with my best run on Cornice at Mammoth, catching a wave at Acid Drops in Kauai, and getting a full hour out of a tank of air on a scuba dive after fighting my doctor for four months to get her to sign a release. (All stuff I did when I was north of 55, by the way.) 18 months I've been trying to do this!

Guess those two massive blood clots didn't destroy my leg as bad as I thought, because it was my connective tissue disease that's eating dirt today-- not me and Seeker.

I know it's rude to gloat but... I just gotta flip the bird at not just my own health problems, but the health problems of everyone and anyone on this board, particularly those who've had a far more frightening roll of the dice than I've had with health problems. Thanks for the advice and encouragement, I was really feeling that today! First two photos are from six weeks ago-- the grass was a lot shorter then -- last one is from today, later in the ride, forgive the face-blurring for security.

Go EBR!

 

[Kayakguy]

Hard to remember, I was just so stoked to get as far as I did. I wasn't thinking about it, which tells you something-- I probably should have been. If I had to guess, I'd say that I lifted slightly off my seat for the steepest part, because that's what I often do, but since I was having traction issues, maybe I sat down at the last second to try to get more weight on the rear tire. I will pay attention next time.

The deirailleur hanger, right? I thought I was supposed to avoid dropping the bike on the left side, but maybe that's not how these get bent!

I so seriously don't know what I'm doing or talking about, thanks for your patience!

Good idea, at least for a Go Pro run, which I've been meaning to set up for... though I do want to take my buddy up this way in the spring. He'd be riding my other bike, and the Trek kit bike definitely can't make this hill, so he could walk up the top half and shoot while I tried it. Warning: It will probably not look that impressive. Special Needs Senior Extreme Sports... it's not pretty!


Good idea, Mr. Not-Built-In-A-Day, thanks for reminding me, I will do a thorough inspection at a minimum. Can't count how many times I've set out for a ride and realized, "Oh, crap. Forgot to tighten the water bottle cage (or seat bolts or housing for the light or knock the mud off, etc.)"

All the derailleurs and hangers I've seen are on the right side. Never seen one on the left.

 

[Catalyzt]

All the derailleurs and hangers I've seen are on the right side. Never seen one on the left.

You are right. This explains why the hanger did not get bent! Mnemolnic dyslexia at the word level. It is a good thing I did NOT drop the bike on the right side-- it's possible that unconsciously-- if I had a choice-- I put it down on the left.

Memory is weird. If you asked me in my living room which side to mount a horse, I might have trouble remembering. However, whenever I encounter a horse, I always approach on the left side, whether I intend to ride it or not.

I even remember wondering, "Is this the correct side?!" before putting my foot in the stirrups. But I learned to ride a horse only a couple of years after I learned to ride a bike, so even though I only ride maybe once a decade during the last 30 years-- and not very often in the last 40-- it's burned into my memory.