Can We Get A Bike Nerd Down A Gnarly Downhill Track?

[@gmbn]

Do you remember your first time out of your comfort zone on a difficult track? How did you get on?

[@lucasa_3101]

@@gmbn yeah one time a friend told me to go on this blue trail it had jumps I had never hit jumps before but I just sent it and finished the trail it was very fun

[@bobyplayzyt]

My first time mtbing was on a black my friends told me it was easy, turns out it wasn't. Sadly that was the only trail near me so I had to learn mtb on it :D

[@johnh3095]

​@@lucasa_3101 I had this as well, never ever been near a bike park before and hit it with guys that were regulars at multiple bike parks! I crashed a lot, but had a fab day, arms pumped so badly I had to sit the last run out which is a good thing as I discovered on servicing my bike back home that I might have lost my handle bars on the last ride, big crack right by the stem!

[@elononoras1902]

There was a decent stump under the autumn leaves. OTB. Don't remember the "landing", just had whole torso blue for weeks to remember.

[@redbomberr4594]

I'd luv to have somebody like Rich to break down the trails I build. I can ride them but can't explain to how. I'm sure Rich or somebody like him could also generate more flow (I'm like a mallet to a nail, it's going in no matter what)

[@markmoss1035]

I think I'm possibly at the same level as Owen. Watching Owen go down the black sections was most intriguing. Great video for lesser skilled bikers out there. . We need more Owen.

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Why thank you! Cheers Owen

[@helicopter12345678]

Agreed and we also need a Rich Payne to help us 😂 loved it guys 👍

[@markmoss1035]

@@helicopter12345678 They make a superb pairing. Great chemistry. 🤪🤞

[@gmbn]

Thanks for watching all 😍

[@gunshipanropace2gunshipand119]

Yea we need more Owen as we mostly can relate

[@KeironStarr]

A true glimpse of a novice friend following a more experienced friend down a black trail. "Small drop" proceeds to drop of what feels like a cliff 😂😂 Great video lads

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Thank you! Cheers Owen

[@johnlawrence4352]

Owen feels refreshing to see. I love the juxtaposition of someone who is/was pro and someone who is an enthusiastic novice.

[@guylevesque5401]

From someone in his 60s who started MTBing at 58, this video brings back the memories of hitting bigger and more difficult trails. The mechanic did exceptionally well. To hit a black after that OTB on the blue shows a lot of guts. Keep progressing at your own pace. Good job

[@matt_acton-varian]

The kind of content we have all been waiting for. Owen has a skill set more typical of a weekend warrior so it's great to see that kind of representation on the trails. He knows his tech. But Owen DOES shred too! Well done GMBN team.

[@gmbn]

Thanks Matt 😁 Awesome feedback

[@user-ga42]

"That's an erratic! Some glaciers dropped that off!" Brilliant, just the kind of comment befitting a nerd! My kind of bloke, excellent Owen.

[@creativechimp03]

Loved this GMBN. More content with Owen, more relatable for a lot of us. Perhaps a mini series building his skills and giving us all an insight to berms, drops, jumps etc with Owen as the participant. Because as much as I love the pros of doing the demos, you don't see the mistakes play out realistically which then makes it hard to replicate corrections. And Owen well done dude I know that feeling of looking down a feature and thinking ‘hell no!’.

[@creativechimp03]

Loved this GMBN. More content with Owen please, more relatable for a lot of us. Perhaps a mini series building his skills and giving us all an insight to berms, drops, jumps etc with Owen as the participant. Because as much as I love the pros doing the demos, you don't see the mistakes play out realistically which then makes it hard to replicate corrections.

[@therathunter1814]

100% agree.

[@EricSampson]

Owen is such a great addition to the channel. Well done mate

[@megatfaizarif690]

We should all have a better appreciation of Rich and his finesse for coaching and mental breakdown for Owen and his own thought process too.

[@bearzet2893]

Owen you are the best, in seconds going from getting hyped with Rich to ”nah I totally not gonna do that” 😂😂👌

[@treenahally4358]

Definitely need more vids like this helping newbies with line choices and confidence building.

[@kjracz15]

Owen speaks for all of us who loves to tinker on our bikes but aren't exactly great at pushing out of our comfort zones unless there's a friend to cheer us on. Great vid.

[@MC_5562]

Owen did really well! You can see, he has good body position and decent skills. He just isn't used to bigger and gnarlier trail features. Keep riding stuff like that! You will get more comfortable pretty soon. 👍 Rich did a great job too (exept for not mentioning the 4 foot drop 😂)

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Rich was amazing - so help patience and supportive - yeah I need more time on the burlier trails - and maybe some pads! Cheers Owen

[@Krizefugl]

I just had that very same experience yesterday. First time at a bikepark with my best friend but he was already doing this for a couple of years + BMX experience before that. Went down some trails with him and crashed three times on the first run. First two falls I bailed successfully and got away from my bike but the third time my leg got caught in between the frame and the handlebar as I went kinda diagonally over the bar. Lots of bruising and abrasions, sprained my ring finger on my left hand and avoided steep berms completely after that. They always look so easy but for someone like me who has been riding for about a month now they are terrifying. I really did enjoy the "pumpy" bits of the trails we were riding and after a bit of recovery and taking it slow I went solo on some green trails while he was heading to the downhill tracks with other friends that are more experienced. Almost no on was riding the green trail and at least I can say I got "back on the horse again" quite fast because I just enjoy being on a bike. My body aches but it was worth it. I do need more practice though before tackling more trails again.

[@garryhaines3066]

Great vid, it’s so good having Owen doing this as he is one of us….want to do things but don’t or over thinks things. I had a bad crash a month back it knocks you. Owen is a credit to the channel more of this

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Thanks - yeah the confidence and well knee and hand took a dent - but thanks to Rich we able to build back up - but you're right it doesn't take time to get to full skill! Cheers Owen

[@mmww_]

Love videos with Owen, feels a lot more relatable

[@matthewgrimson4557]

Underthinking is actually such a good point 😅 works wonders sometimes

[@MsTatakai]

most of the crashes it happens due to overthinking XD at least to me

[@Seppster58]

I recently did basically a black run myself (not knowing it was that technical) and crashed similar to Owen. The rest of the day I was a bit nervous on the run. Seeing Owen doing this encourages me to go back and do it again with more confidence. Well done Owen!! Thanks guys for this great video.

[@gmbn]

Glad we could help out! You've got it the second time round, we're sure of it 😁

[@RichardMaguire110]

When Owen mentions the rock wich is large enough to be an erratic I expected Owen to go on and talk about the geology of Bike Park Wales which is mostly the South Wales Middle Coal Meaures Formation with Llynfi Measure Sanstone on the top. That large rock will be sandstone which has broken away and slid down onto the Coal Measures.

[@andrewgillman6327]

Breaking the skills down into the simplest task would definitely help, one can guess some skills were drilled pre ride. Nice to see how patient you are with each other.

[@YngveSjo]

Owen is just the best, and so relatable for most people, bumblefucking their way down trails slightly above their skill level 🤘 Full face, pads all around and a backpack with integrated back protector next time will up the confidence level. More of this 😃👍

[@markmoss1035]

Have we meet. Lol😅

[@rip.tear.]

I think this is really good, its easy to forget how good Rich and Neil are. Also not all black runs are created equal, I would say that's a pretty difficult black compared to something like Hopton Wood black runs.

[@chiefsilverback]

This is one of the hardest parts of riding, and skiing to an extent, the trail rating is only really relative to the trails at a particular network. A blue at network 1 could be a green or a black at network 2, and there's really no way to tell until you drop in...

[@tomd1826]

Rich makes a great instructor, very chilled and encouraging! I did BPW first time this year, itching to go back!

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Rich is awesome - he really helped me progress and build or should that be re-build post dirt nap! Cheers Owen

[@matsmellberg9127]

Thiswas really fun to watch, nice work Owen

[@richardwatson2348]

Loved this. Owen your my hero. What a guy!

[@JeffMTBinVA]

Let's go Owen! #GMBN we need a lot more of this. Please give us more videos of training up Owen. Get Anna in on it too. Sessioning progressive drops, jumps, turns, etc.

[@TiMoLoToV]

It's great to see Owen ride. More of this please!!

[@ricksimpson]

Hats off to Owen ! (..and he finished the video. Me and the bike would have been in the van and on the way home after that. )

[@kristianvannobelen]

"Thats enough about the bike. Unfortunately it's time to get back to the trails" 😂

[@dk735]

Hey Gents, really nice and informative video. Great coaching Rich. Owen, you're a bit of a sand-bagger...was impressed with your cornering skills and popping off the rock features. Keep it up guys!

[@ref498]

This is the kind of content I would like to see more of from gmbn

[@danielcameron1870]

Great to see. Me and my mate do this he's the more experienced. Done snippets of easier Blacks with him but not with any great confidence! That blue nearly wiped me out too, the flowy ones you get tonnes of speed up and I've had a few sketchy twitches.

[@Petrolhead912]

Maybe more pads next time and a full lid 😂 Owen is quickly becoming a superstar

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Yeah I feel you're right there on the pad's! Cheers Owen

[@ChampyOnPC]

First 5 mins into the video and honestly Owen has pretty good bike handling, I know he washed out, but form looks good in general, im impressed Owen! Eating dirt is part of the job i fear 😅

[@DiederichWouters]

Way to go, Owen!

[@zxrktm]

Nice, Definitely should be wearing a Full Face lid

[@kristenbrook897]

Great video boys, well done Owen, nice work!!!! Must have been so good to have a gret rider with you to talk you through. Keep at it!

[@seatography]

@GMBN Firstly - great shout for a video, nice one Owen (man after my own hear)...but I do have a couple of problems with this: 1) why oh why are you not encouraging the use of full-face helmets at a bikepark on a black especially when taking someone who's never done that high a level...and more so after that crash!? 2) why aren't you encouraging the mantra of: ride, re-ride, free-ride - BPW absolutely nailed it with this thought...it's absolutely fine to take it slow and session areas but use the mantra as a base? Great video - thoroughly enjoyed it, now I want to give Dai Hard a go 👍🏻

[@Ballantin]

Well done for Owen. I believe he would be able to complete it properly if he tried again a couple of times. Modern bikes are amazing, the do most of the work for us already. And as Rich said, overthinking is a blocker most of the times. Especially when you have a good wheel to follow. Keep at it Owen, don't let this be a one-off time for the video and keep pushing your limits little by little, you will be surprised at how much you can improve and enjoy the bike.

[@gmbn]

Thanks for watching 🤘

[@vickythompson8893]

Omg Owen did great! What a lad. Really appreciate this video, it’s reassuring and makes me think I can totally session the tricky bits I can’t do at Dalby. Although might need to find someone trekki to show me the lines, or I’ve been thinking about putting my motorbike gear on and just winging it ha. Thanks peeps, epic vid it’s appreciated. ❤.

[@craigweightman799]

Good job Owen a great first attempt. 👍

[@brickstar123]

great video I too have the same mindset as Owen, im a lesser skilled rider but I think coming on well done Owen.loved this

[@88davidw]

Really enjoyed this one! I miss BPW.

[@iangriffiths929]

Awesome effort Owen after that spill! Well done

[@carloslange9732]

Awesome! Great job Owen. I want to go out and practice drops now 🥃🥃🥃

[@feedbackzaloop]

At first I was like "wait, _this_ is red? meh", but the black and your effort redeemed the trails!

[@Spongeblunt]

The first time I got down a red drops trail at BPW I did it by following a train so closely I had no choice - it works!

[@blubug768]

sure, post at 2 am! Im here for it 😁

[@gmbn]

Thanks for getting up early! Where are you watching from?

[@ianharding3044]

Well done Owen 👍

[@russelllazenby4435]

Great video chaps.

[@MTB_Trekker]

Fair play Owen, that drop is a decent size after eating dirt earlier. Goes to show, a lot of mtb is in the head, think about it (the feature) too much and you'll talk yourself out of it!

[@jackvvv]

Very interesting and informative video! Thank you for your attention to detail!

[@gracegilpin7528]

Great video, think I need to get a friend to push me out of my comfort zone!!😅

[@paulbygrave6859]

That was great, myself is like Owen can do it but will back out on and go round stuff or to slow and make it harder for myself But very well done Owen and good job Rch

[@alexislifecycle]

Gagillion Rich! You have a great coach Owen!

[@lostintransit5822]

Really well done! the camera never does the height of the drops justice

[@boogiedownbronx73]

I would say well done Owen. It is not easy when you never done it before and on 160mm travel. I remember the day I got my double suspension. Where I live in Mexico we just have steep rocky terrain. I was too enthusiastic and braked my front lever too hard and flipped over (here the front lever is on the left as should)....thought I broken my arm...couple days later I went back up and ripped it hard...been MTB since last year and ride blue and black with confidence...Even starting jumping.

[@rpiian]

Legit impressive, feels a bit like getting my buddies down some blacks here back in the day. Me on a FS, him on a carbon Trek 9800 w/ V-Brakes no less!

[@jpg6482]

nice relevant video !

[@sultanabran1]

good stuff, owen.

[@wrongusername]

This was a nice vid!

[@neuzethmusic131]

Wow, I love that olive Propain of Owen. Reminds my of my own bike. 😂 Btw Owen did a great job 👏

[@xcx8646]

Owen might not be the fastest or smoothest but he's a decent rider. I realise that they need to be able to talk to make the video, but he has the confidence to ride a black with an open-face helmet. Props.

[@ADI121195]

Also keeping body position up ish and leaning the bike in more to keep stability on loose ground but still getting that corner you need to take

[@uselessmountainbiking3342]

Vicious Valley top section has been smoothed off and they moved the wooden qualifier to A470, it used to be good but they screwed it up.

[@ubaydullahrassack509]

Bro leveled up

[@ltrtg13]

I've only been to BikePark Wales once. Didn't go higher than a blue run. Will be doing red runs next time. As my second ever time riding at a bike park is Dyfi Bike Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

[@stujm8376]

Absolutely awesome, you should do more teach Owen vids… get him ready for red bull rampage…😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@uselessmountainbiking3342]

Bike parks need to make people more aware it is ok to stop and look at features as you progress down the trail. The lack of people standing around down the runs makes you think you cant.

[@carolinelief9132]

Great video

[@ish474]

I think one of the most important things said in this video is that black runs are meant to be run faster and they're actually easier the faster you go. I know that to be true for myself and I also try and tell other people that the flip side to that is when you get it wrong it goes real wrong real fast and unfortunately for me that's about riding frequency and riding strength and once I've passed the point where my arms and legs have enough in them I tend to crash badly and then hurt my confidence going forward

[@thelanehunterdevon1664]

Well done Owen

[@timyates1]

that big rooty drop is one of the gnarliest features at bpw, such a horrible run in to it, not done it yet myself in 5 attempts

[@lucasa_3101]

omg the bots with odd profile picture strike agian

[@corykayhoe1033]

It's nonstop on this channel

[@lucasa_3101]

@@corykayhoe1033 yeah unfortunately :(

[@JamesMkII]

Next video, resident expert Blake teaches Owen how to Underthink 😂

[@kennethcampbell7263]

Based on taking a blue crash to ocassionally taking his own line on a black because Owen didn't feel safe taking the actual Black, and Rich letting him points for that BTW, But I give Owen a Kagillion, It is a real number in Australia and bigger than Gazillion.

[@DZig]

Def a gagillion I'm bettin he can nail it next go round

[@pattyb3]

@gmbn where do you guys get all these sick tunes for your videos? Puts me in the zone! 12:28

[@markbayhon]

Wait a minute! Should Owen be wearing an Enduro kit? It is his unfamiliar territory of MTB.

[@kennyforgot83]

defo need a T shirt with "under think it" wrote on the front

[@nigelrandtoul8646]

Underthinking my new mantra (as I'm a chronic overthinker)

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Snap! Yep really trying to not think about the new underthinking mantra - its tougher that first appears! Cheers Owen

[@AliasHSW]

IMO Owen is actually Superman punking us as a bumbling Clark Kent rider.

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Alas no - I'm just a bumbling bike nerd! Cheers Owen

[@Barryens]

Next challenge @owenbikenerd does Morzine!

[@mattjennings6730]

The hardest features I've ridden were being towed in blind by somebody that knew the line. No time to overthink, just send it and think about it afterwards.

[@astonsolly3793]

Shreading the gnar

[@Ian-qf5ny]

Thats funny he crashed out on the easy trail I recently had the same experience. Rode one of the gnarliest trails of my life, very very steep rowdy secret “double black diamond” trail sunshine coast BC (i grew up riding the north shore and if that secret trail was actually marked and rated on a normal scale it would likely be triple diamond in most places),rode it completely blind and absolutely crushed it. Was too hyped up and crashed out in a pretty chill flowy black diamon just being an idiot rallying recklessly cause i was too gassed up haha

[@PazLeBon]

A nerd is typically an expert

[@johnwarren9993]

Wee... Wee... Oh! I've been there before 😂😂😂

[@kyklosian]

yeah... yep, yep,yep... yeah

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

Oh Owen... The age old issue that's affecting new to moderate level riders, the ONE. Usually affects people that don't drive a lot of cars or motorcycles at high speeds. Looking just in front of your front tire instead of processing what's further ahead, makes your brain too active to micromanage all the hits. Pls don't hurt yourself but if you do make it spectacular 😅

[@OriginalTrev]

3:37 it only gets worse after you've taken a foot off a pedal to regain your balance rather than steering into the skid and riding it out... OUCH

[@mbfcamanslife]

Great video but please stop putting the ads in the corner. When viewed on a phone it is a real nuisance.

[@ALf-mn3qe]

A small cheat, I'd say Owen has a lot more technique than he intends to show on these descents. He takes the corners like an expert, the fall comes from a rear wheel skidding.Saludos

[@mcl40000]

i mean that scale needs to be extended to atleast two and a half gadjillions...

[@SkiSurfBike]

No full face when trying harder trails with bigger drops you've ever done?

[@stug45]

Would a full face helmet not have been a better option?

[@gmbn]

Personal preference, but yes potentially!

[@SimonBauer7]

I think i am about at owens level.

[@MTBPerspective]

at least a gajillion!