I went up today with Dale and Rachel Hutchings to pre-ride once again the Solitude race course. We met Sally and Ben Hutchings up there. As we started the climb and got pass the nine and under course we met a new team membe--for some reason his name escapes me at this moment, but if I remember I will fill it in. He is going to be racing in the beginning men 40+. His son is racing in sport 16-18. We talked for a minute, and then continued to ride. We started off with the intention of only doing the lower loop course, but after climbing the hill I volunteered to go with Ben up the upper loop. Glad I did it was fun to see a different part of the course, and we saw a few deer off to the side of the course. On the way down as Ben was helping me navigate different technical parts of the trail who should we see bombing down the trail none other than Jim and Kyle Jackson. We said hi, and I showed them my swollen lip. Consider the lighting, I'm not sure they got see the full effect. I am very self conscious about it right now, so I prefer to say something about my lip than feel like everyone is staring at it. We talked for a minute with Kyle and Jim, and then all of us went on our way. I went down the trail and felt really good about it, and had no problems with navigating the downhill. We met up with Sally, Rachel and Dale on the pavement, and continued down the course to the uphill single track. The uphill single track was not too bad. I am stilling having a couple of areas of struggle, but hopefully race day it will not be an issue. We hit the downhill again and we went off in a staggered group starting with Sally, Rachel, Dale, me and Ben anchoring the back. I was doing pretty well going down and passed Dale and Rachel (not because I was faster, but because there was a rock that stopped Rachel). I continued down and felt pretty good, when all of the sudden my bike skidded out, I must have braked, and I endoed, right in front of a Revolutionary Racer. He was nice and made sure I was okay, and even gave me an excuse for the endo saying it was loose dirt and difficult to ride, and went on his way. At this point Ben, Rachel and Dale catch up with me. I let them know I am okay, get on my bike go no more than 2 feet and begin to skid out again! This time instead of braking I grab a tree. I am holding on to the tree as my bike rides away and I am still clipped in. My bike starts to go up the embankment, I become unclipped, and Dale calls out "Don't break the tree". No sooner does he finish when snap! I broke the tree. This brings nothing but laughter. Poor tree I am sorry I broke it, but I am glad it was there to keep me from going down. Thus I become the comic relief for the night and have done what I now call a 1/2 endo. At this point I decide to walk my bike off the slippery part to a more level part of the trail and once again take off. We continue down the trail with dark coming on quickly. I am doing well and feel pretty good about my riding. I wasn't too fast since I was having trouble seeing, but I felt I was going fast enough. As I come to the lower end of the trail prior to the pavement there is a good, little rock garden. For some reason this time I take the wrong line and I begin to go off a rock realizing if I keep riding I am going to ride down the hill not the trail. Well I did a good, bad thing as I am half way dropped off a big rock I brake. I end up endoing again, and me and my bike roll down the hill instead of riding down the hill. Actually there is nothing good about this riding would probably be muh better. Once again a nice soft landing with my legs sticking straight up in the air. As Dale and Rachel ride by they see me down the hill, and I let them know I am okay. I get myself back on the trail and continue down with Ben backing me up. This time I went really slow to make sure I made it to the bottom without any more incidents. I made it back to the car with no more endos, wipe outs or crashes. The ride was fun and is definitely going to be memorable.
In the last week I have had 3.5 endos, road rash from sliding in to 3rd base and a fat lip and cut mouth from being hit in the mouth by a foul tip. Since the week is not up I have decided it is ending early and I am starting a new week and there will be no more mishaps.
Over the past 4 weeks I have had 3.5 endos and one good wipe out. It makes me wonder if I am becoming a more aggressive rider willing to take risks, or if I am getting worse and I don't realize it. I wonder how you gauge something like this? Right now I am somewhat at a bewilderment. I feel like I am going faster downhill, but I am not sure if my skills are getting better. I wish there was a definite way to tell. Maybe wrecking a lot is a sign of improvement, because I am trying and excelling and in order to pass the next level I need to have a few mishaps. I wish I knew.
Poor tree, life ended too soon for you....but thanks for keeping from completely hitting the ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment