Oct 14, 2026 · 59 min · 12 segments
How do you find your edge in mountain biking without crashing? We’re talking MTB confidence vs. skill, focusing on riding successes instead of past failures, and practical ways to relax your nervous…
Well, in honor of Red Bull, we had a comment, um, a few episodes ago by great listener Shady, and we were talking about in that episode, do we need to crash?
Yeah.
And Shady was talking about finding where the edge is, and do we need to find our edge by crashing, right? Do we need to go up to our edge and go over it sometimes and crash every once in a while?
Mm-hmm.
And he quoted one of his favorite moto riders who said, "You don't need to ride on the edge to win, but you'll be put in situations where you need to ride there." And I thought that was really interesting.
Yeah.
Like, you don't need to be on the edge to win, but you do need to know how to ride because you're gonna...
If you're pushing the envelope, you're gonna get to your own personal edge once in a while, right?
Yeah, that's a, that's a really tough one, Danny.
You know, like, it, it, uh, if you're pushing limits, right, and you want to push that progression level, y- you're eventually gonna hit that edge.
Now, do you, do you have to crash, you know? Does it, does it need to get to that point? I don't know.
I don't, I don't know if you need to get to that point.
I just know that if you don't know what that limit is, if you, if you've never taken it to there, like-
Right.
Right
... yeah, it's a really tough one, Danny.
I, I was thinking about it a lot and I just, I don't know how to...
I don't even know how to get my head around that.
You know? I've crashed, I've crashed, so I know what my edge is, you know? But now I kinda don't need to, I, I go through life, my riding, and I, I just, I don't feel like I need to crash anymore.
That's true.
Yeah.
So could you have gotten to where you are without the crashing in the beginning of your mountain bike career?
I, this is what I'm saying.
Like, I, I, I learned, right, everything happens for us.
Like, I've learned so much from each one of those crashes, and now when I get those signs, I, I, I really pride myself on don't make the same mistake twice, right? And I've certainly done that, but like, I try not to make the same mistake twice.
Well, in honor of Red Bull, we had a comment, um, a few episodes ago by great listener Shady, and we were talking about in that episode, do we need to crash?
Yeah.
And Shady was talking about finding where the edge is, and do we need to find our edge by crashing, right? Do we need to go up to our edge and go over it sometimes and crash every once in a while?
Mm-hmm.
And he quoted one of his favorite moto riders who said, "You don't need to ride on the edge to win, but you'll be put in situations where you need to ride there." And I thought that was really interesting.
Yeah.
Like, you don't need to be on the edge to win, but you do need to know how to ride because you're gonna...
If you're pushing the envelope, you're gonna get to your own personal edge once in a while, right?
Yeah, that's a, that's a really tough one, Danny.
You know, like, it, it, uh, if you're pushing limits, right, and you want to push that progression level, y- you're eventually gonna hit that edge.
Now, do you, do you have to crash, you know? Does it, does it need to get to that point? I don't know.
I don't, I don't know if you need to get to that point.
I just know that if you don't know what that limit is, if you, if you've never taken it to there, like-
Right.
Right
... yeah, it's a really tough one, Danny.
I, I was thinking about it a lot and I just, I don't know how to...
I don't even know how to get my head around that.
You know? I've crashed, I've crashed, so I know what my edge is, you know? But now I kinda don't need to, I, I go through life, my riding, and I, I just, I don't feel like I need to crash anymore.
That's true.
Yeah.
So could you have gotten to where you are without the crashing in the beginning of your mountain bike career?
I, this is what I'm saying.
Like, I, I, I learned, right, everything happens for us.
Like, I've learned so much from each one of those crashes, and now when I get those signs, I, I, I really pride myself on don't make the same mistake twice, right? And I've certainly done that, but like, I try not to make the same mistake twice.
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