My ego is a bit bruised. Ok. Ridiculously bruised. I'm the first to admit I have the balance and coordination of a drunk, 2-yr old Hippo - but this stuff is just plain embarrassing... So I'm hoping I'll find someone to agree with me - or else just gracefully take the justified abuse that a post like this will no doubt invite... Off on one of the beaten tracks up Paarl Rock, is a hard-as-nails loop that varies from flattish to particularly steep... The loop either acts as a linkup with the top of the mountain's paths (going up) - or a potentially eyes-blurring quick downhill from the top tracks to the main bottom access road... It's quite overgrown on either side by vegetation, and in spite of it being rather wide at parts - clearly doesn't always get a full-day's sun... As a result, parts of this hard-as-nails path, are covered in what appears to be a very thin layer of moss(??)/algae(??) - which is either nowhere, or completely covering the surface area of the path... So... my introduction to this loop was a few months back, with a mate on his full-susser, after a nice loop around the top of the Paarl mountain... Coming down - all was breezy for the first part - until the path started turning green... I remember thinking to myself: "That's odd - I wonder why the path's suddenly gone gree----- [darkness]...." As soon as my tyres came into contact with the green, I found it to be the equivalent of what I suppose it would feel like to be riding around the Grandwest ice-rink, inebriated, on a mtb, backwards... Took me 25 minutes to get down that section on the day. I tried to ride on a few more times, but came off a random intervals, in successively more painful dismounts... The main problem was that each wipe-out was completely unexpected - with no warning - wheels washout and over I go... Walking down it turned out to be as much of a mission, since the hard-soles of my mtb-shoes didn't exactly offer oodles of grip! Regardless, coming downhill - brakes appear to be irrelevant, since one's wheels have in any event practically been locked-up since the last time you stood up and remounted after the previous wipeout - and the bike basically just skids along... The slightest adjustment in weight, left or right, sees the front OR rear wash-out in the opposite direction, and you bouncing along the hard-as-nails path alongside your bike... Going uphill (a few weeks later) - seated, and irrespective of gearing or my position on the bike - rear AND front tyres sporadically start spinning, as they lose grip with each crankturn... which results in the inevitable stall and foot-down. F.U.N. So... TWO questions: 1.] Coming down - is speed the key? The first time we took the path, on the way down - my mate on the full-susser (who has been riding for donkey's years, and graduated to XC from old-skool DH riding) - appeared to get through it relatively unscathed. Granted - he was as white as a sheet when I reached him - but he went down alot quicker than I figured any sane person would have considered... He himself conceded he was lucky, since (as mentioned above), should he have needed to stop, he couldn't... Momentum would presumably make washing out less likely - but I simply cannot get my head around bombing down something like that - since on the steep parts, speed is going to be picked up at a sick rate of knots, and there would simply be no means to slow down, never mind stopping... 2.] Down or up - would tyre selection make a difference? The first time down, I was on the point of replacing my tyres - since their tread was virtually smooth... I've since gone up the route again - with new tyres (Vredenstein Black Panthers on back, Crossmarks on the front) - and couldn't see any improvement... With the trail being as hard as it is - in spite of it always being moist - the tyres don't appear to have anything to grip 'into' - which explains the spinning 'on/in' the moss/algae... I'm thinking that if anything - tyre pressure would probably make the biggest difference? I'm no lightie - so in spite of running 3 bar at the back, and 2 bar at the front - tyres do appears to be bulging sufficiently ... bit nervous to go any lower, though - so I guess this is a moot point? So... Have any fellow Hubbers [i guess Paarl Hubbers would know where I'm talking about] come across algae/moss as described above on their regular rides? If so - how do you guys/gals approach it? Am I the only one who appears to be riding it in a similar fashion to a cat on a glass-top table? Or do some of you also struggle? I'm completely aware of the fact that experienced riders float over these sections as if they're hardly there - so I really want to try and work out *how*! [As an aside - on one of the days I was heading up - I glanced over the dam and saw the other side of the loop, the downhill section, and could make out two riders heading down... They weren't flying, but were certainly taking it way faster than I had thought possible... I passed them later in the morning on a different section - and their Addidas kit, rides and appearance had me figuring them to be European... I assumed they would be more used to riding over algae - but then cancelled that thought since here, in my own backyard - I had a stretch of mountain with moss 365 days of the year...] I guess I should probably just suck it up and learn... Any thoughts - similar experiences - suggestions - comments - would of course, be appreciated!
