queequeg Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 So I had my first day of the season yesterday at Okemo, and by all accounts I felt very successful. This Was only my second day riding my new Donek FC II 175 on the east coast (the first day was at Sunapee late spring last year, and other than that, it has only been ridden at Timberline one other time in the spring). Definitely got my ass kicked at Sunapee last year and I was more than a little nervous about taking the Donek to these skinny little east coast trails, but after some stance adjustments I really feel like I've got things under control. I had tried widening my stance before but the wide stance had made it much more difficult to get my hips and knees in position, I narrowed my stance back to 16" (I am set to 15" on my 159 believe it or not) and now I feel like I have a much higher range of motion and a better ability to absorb bumps and irregularities despite feeling that my stance is a little old school. I think my legs are shorter than normal or something ... I really seem to like like a narrow stance. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to pick my old boards (and old burton megaflexes) out of storage. Boards that hadn't been ridden in two+ years, my (much) beloved Kildy 159 with ancient burton race plates (epoxied and bolted in, as the board has no inserts) and my rock/AM board, an alp 6.9 with cheezy carrier step-ins (I'm hoping to pick up some cheap/soft bindings via the BOL classifieds to replace these). I really felt like this was my first real day actually, now that I had my bindings correct and I was riding on real winter snow. I ride high angles (~67 rear, 65 front) so strapping into those old race plates I was amazed at how flexible they are compared to My Cateks (I know, I know ... ). I had been worried I would not be able to rail the Donek 175 into a hard, super-tight radius carve to save me from a collision on these narrow/crowded East Coast slopes--but looking at my old equipment, I was probably losing TONS of board angulation to the binding interface. Indeed, I can coil the Donek up just as tight as the Kildy, maybe even tighter - despite the fact that the Kildy has a considerably smaller SCR - all thanks to a stiffer binding interface. I am still blown away by how awesome the Donek is. Stupid fast, cuts through anything, light/quick and effortless between edge changes, and totally locks and locks into a carve with unbelievable stability ... riding this thing is like cheating! Reading BOL and especially all the articles posted here and elsewhere on proper technique really helped me to focus on remembering how to ride and get the best performance out of my equipment. Being out of shape, I noticed that my technique was good right up until the moment I started to feel fatigued, at which point, all of my **** would start to fall apart (assing out, stiff front leg etc ... ). What do people do to prevent fatique on the mountain - for the moment, this is probably going to be my biggest problem. It was like night and day, one minute I was absorbing terrain with both knees bent, ass directly over my board, hips and shoulders aligned with my momentum, next thing you know I'm standing straight up, ass all over the place, shoulders hips and hands all over the place. So what should I do on and off the mountain to build up my stamina/constitution? I have booster straps on both my boots and I noticed that the booster strap on the front boot kept slipping up past the liner where it does me no good - is there any way to prevent this? Do other people have the same problem? Otherwise - I cant WAIT to get my BTS! I really feel like that is the missing ingredient in the whole equation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 clicky here for something neat really helps with early season and all around fatigue. bump the dose a little to really feel it, and start some kind of training. mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 clicky here for something neat really helps with early season and all around fatigue. bump the dose a little to really feel it, and start some kind of training. mario I think I'll give that a shot - I'm generally wary of magic ointment type remedies but in this case, the application seems specific enough to warrant some merit, and there are like a zillion athletes endorsing it so that doesn't hurt either. There is a gym down the street that offers a month long trial period. Maybe I will join that to get started, and then join the $75/year city gym once my good habits are up. Another good question is this I guess: when I am feeling fatigued and know that my riding is not going to be good, what kind of drills can I do that will be good while fatigued (other than heading into the lodge for hot-coccoa and a hotdog (mmmm ... hotdogs!). I hate paying for hotdogs at the lodge, my favorite dive bar gives away hotdogs for free!! (as many as you want! Yes! I am a pig!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcarver Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 A good stretching routine would probably help. I would stretch out before you ride to limber up and maybe take a break and stretch when you are starting to get tired and hydrate yourself with some sports drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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