Starting downhill mtb at 17?

Pretty sure dak Norton never touched an mtb till college and he’s the top of us dh right now.  Maybe look for a college with a dh program.

Starting late in a sport is always going to be challenging to compete with the best in the world. Its not impossible, but its definitely rare. That said, giving it a go and developing your work ethic, good habits, and 'learning how to learn' (along with all the friends, skills, and other things you will pick up trying to become good at a sport) are some of the most valuable life assets/skills you can learn. I've never been a professional racer, but I also started racing quite late and had to play 'catch up'. Here are some of the things I wish I knew when starting out that I've had to learn the hard way (in no particular order):

1. Ride other bikes, ride a lot. I grew up in a flat area with very little downhill riding, but I thought the only way to get good at downhill was to ride downhill. I was wrong. I could have developed so many of the foundational bike skills needed to be a good downhill racer by riding a cheap BMX bike or dirt jumper at the skatepark, BMX track, pumptrack, dirt jumps, etc. This is a lesson I only really implemented in my 20s and I've seen a big growth in my riding as a result. These kinds of facilities are generally more accessible for people living in urban areas, which means you can spend more time on your bike, rather than sat in a car driving to do a few downhill runs. Time on the DH bike is important when you start racing at a high level, but when you're starting out, developing your foundational skills is key, and for many people, its hard to get enough time on the DH bike to grow those skills rapidly. XC bike, BMX, 50cc dirtbike, whatever it is, more time on two wheels is key. 

2. Learn how to hip hinge. The basic body position for riding a mountain bike down a hill is essentially a hip hinge, yet many people that have been riding for years can't do it. Without the ability to hip hinge, you're not going to be able to get into the position necessary to effectively perform basic skills (manualling, jumping, pumping, absorbing). While I think the importance of going to the gym can be overstated and some people spend too much time in the gym instead of riding, I think learning how to hip hinge will be give you a huge return on your investment. My personal favorite training technique for this is the kettlebell swing, as you can do simple but effective workouts at home in very little time and its easy to find good instructional videos on YouTube. Deadlifts or other hinge-based movements also work. 

3. Do races. Riding a bike is one thing, but racing is a skill in itself. You need to learn how to manage nerves, pressure, spectators, perform in the moment, and tons of other things. The more practice you have racing, the more comfortable you'll get. If you can, race different disciplines too. Plus, you'll probably meet a bunch of friends and cool people along the way. 

4. Don't let results become your identity. When you're a young racer, its easy to put a bunch of effort into something, not see an immediate payoff and get discouraged. If you see yourself as a bike racer, and only a bike racer, it can be really tough. Lots of young racers talk about feeling 'worthless' and bad about themselves when they aren't getting results. If you focus on the process (improving, learning, having fun, etc.) and think of racing as something you do, not the person you are, it helps insulate you against these feelings. A bad result is a bad performance, it doesn't mean you're bad as a person. This sounds obvious, but I'm sure almost every racer has experienced these negative thoughts at some point. An added bonus here is that when you put less pressure on yourself to get results and focus on having fun, you tend to get better results... Weird how that works. 

5. Be a sponge. Watch lots of videos of good riders, get coaching/watch coaching videos, ride with better riders, ask questions. Do your best to learn from others and try and evaluate their advice and find what works for you. Don't be afraid to try different things and be wrong. Even if you try something and it doesn't work, you'll probably figure out why it didn't work and learn something. 

Probably loads of other things, but hopefully that helps!

You used to not be allowed to enter downhill races until you were about 15 or 16.....even if you could there wasn't really bikes made to fit kids anyway. Pretty sure Steve Peat picked up the sport relatively late and it worked out OK for him. Apart from the cost of buying a bike, its relatively accessible nowadays so if you're able to just get out and ride a ton then theres no reason not to!

I second what others said about taking advantage of other bikes and other types of racing to cross train for downhill. Road bikes and road bike racing are relatively cheap and a great way to build fitness, bike skills, and race craft. You can be truly competitive on a $500 road bike and it’s almost always a one day event. $10000 road bikes are 100% marketing. Most cities have road races you can ride to and ride home, which means you can be getting miles in and race training when you otherwise can’t make it out to a DH ride or race. For people who are time or money pressed in a city, they’re great. I made it up to the pro level racing DH and most of my riding was on a road bike because the lack of trail access was so bad in the city I lived in (Portland, Oregon, but it’s a little better now). And there’s no substitute for real race experience where you feel the pressure and fear and excitement and reward of a start line, finish line, and other competitors. 

craft in road cycling competitions relatable to downhill , interesting... 

Pick a BMX/dirt jump bike and hit the pumptrack , until your blisters are callusses.. forget big dirt jumps... pumptrack or even real BMX racing..as somebody already said.. 

Look at all of the upcoming races via British Cycling: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?keywords=&view=off&distance=&p…

Other more casual events might not be listed, so I'd suggest looking at Bikeparks within driving distance and checking out their events calendars. 

Yes too old. Yes! Too old to begin the training! - Yoda

A lot of good feedback in here! Maybe these days starting pre-17 is more common, but, unheard of 20 yrs ago and many a elite DH racer made a fine career in DH just starting in their 20's!

Look up Camille Balanche as well, reigning world cup champion, she was never a cyclist until I think her mid to late 20's.

Building core muscles, technique, fitness are key, almost more than 'doing runs'....and ultimately, race anywhere and anything you can because Racing is the best training. Good luck and glad you are here.

Flyup 417 is roughly an hour from Birmingham and not only is it a great bike park, they also host races aimed at beginners nearly every month.  We travel up from Somerset for my nine year old lad and he loves it.  I think if you have the drive to ride all the time even if its at the local skatepark or pumptrack, time on the bike is important!

As mentioned, most pro's really didn't start some form of racing until their teens because only until recently there wasn't the luxury of racing like my lad has.  Is there a BMX track nearby? Might be worth having a look and some will hire bikes and kit for a small fee.  Good luck.

If you want to go to top level racing and you just start now unless you are super talented with unlimited time to practice and big money for good equipment, bikes, and trainers, you wouldn't be able to get the top level. But there are other ways to "go big in" this sport, being a top level mechanic, social media persona, bike related engineer, or just that type of person who knows everyone in the biking scene are some of many ways to be some sort of famous in the biking scene

Obviously not aiming for world or even regional success but I didn't start DH MTB until I was 41 years old! I am aiming to ride a race series next year and will turn 44 during the season.

Focus on technique, staying healthy, and keeping it fun while staying competitive and you'll find no limits to your success.

@C_cbeach :

Hang on, this is gonna take awhile (TL;DR just go for it)

The first thing I want to say is that you should follow your dreams. Norman Vincent Peele said “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Even if you don't break into the sharp end of the WC field, you'll learn a lot about yourself, as @EBlackwell said. 

The second thing is be judicious about where you get advice. @TEAMROBOT raced DH professionally, and @Stiksandstones was a pro mountain biker, married to one of the all-time legendary women's DH racers, and has worked with top level pro riders ever since.

Me? I was a NORBA hack in the late 90s. I did my first race, the Breckenridge NORBA national in '97(or 96?) on a hardtail with 63mm of front suspension and V-brakes, crashed and needed 24 stitches in my elbow. I was hooked. I had fun, made great friends, and pushed myself. I ended up hurting myself pretty badly in 2000, and had lots of time to decide that I wasn't good enough at DH to risk more injuries. I don't regret those injuries, or the time and expense to drive to races. I may regret the purchase of the Zzyzzx fork, but that's another thing all together.

You may decide that you aren't as gifted as some other riders, or that the sacrifices are more than you want to give, or that it's logistically too much. But the thing about regret is, it's better to regret something you have done, than something you haven't done (and when you see your mother tell her I said "Satan! Satan! Satan!" (gratuitous Butthole Surfers reference)). You can't know until you really try. 

if ypu were curious on what it takes to get to that level i jave some standarts and info about what it takes financially and in terms of skill to get to that level, if you dont have these i think its better to just try and enjoy this sport  and not to take it to the absolute max level (i didnt say not to compete, just not to expect podiums on elite levels). to get to national levels it usually takes around 5-6 years of serious riding  and a modern 4000$+ dollar bike and hard training with a professional coach, if you dont live near a really good bikepark you need to include a lot of travelling too. you can get to that level if you can afford 3-4+ days of riding a week, bike repairs, coaching, bike park passes, travel expenses, and racing fees, those things are possible without shit tons of money and are quite achievable with a lot of hard work. however for the internationals level you need a full week professional routine a top level bike, constant bike repairs, a personal mechanic if you dont know really well how to do stuff yourself,and top level coaching, i know that even without the bike itself for a full season your budget needs be above 20k and that you have to give everything you have for biking. these are not exact numbers but from i know from this sport this is pretty what you need to have in order to get to this level in the current era of mtb racing

Peaking performance for a sport such as DH can be easily around 30’ so there is definitely a time. It is mostly about how serious you want to be about it and what you want to sacrifice for it (especially at your age when there is a lot of “interesting” things to do). I would say that’s where most dreams die for the majority of the people.

As for the skills, knowing how to jump is probably the most important one as it will teach you to truly feel the bike and how to work with it.