I have been working at Nike for a month and a half and it's been AWESOME!!! I'm still over the moon about getting the job here and have been enjoying every minute of it. With that said, having a new job limits the ability to take a vacation. I guess my time off between my last job and here was it. So the summer has been going by fast with a new job and a new mtn bike (From Fat Tire Farm http://fattirefarm.com/) , which has been an experience in itself. I've been riding with some very wonderful and PATIENT people who have been thankfully forthcoming with tips and tricks on making it down single track without dumping (I do still bite it from time to time however). The old bike I was riding was my dads, and it did not have disk brakes. Disk brakes make such a huge difference in riding. The one thing that is taking time for me to get used to is riding clipped in. This weekend we rode Falls Creek over in Washington. It started out rough as, on Saturday, I'd already done a road ride from the Gateway tranist center up to Crown Pt. which was a lot of climbing and miles. The Falls Creek ride had us starting out with a 10 mile road ride up to the trail head and I didn't think I was going to make it up, then I worried about my legs being totally hosed on the way down. Coupled by a bad mood, I thought I was going to be doomed on this ride. The first part of the trail was nice and smooth single track which I was loving... then we hit up hill with roots and rocks. I guess because I've been so into road riding, the concept of riding over rocks and roots freaked me out because the fear of flats and getting bucked off the bike. That's where lovely suspension and fat knobby tires come in. Well, that concept didn't take hold in my mind until half way through the ride. I swear at one point my riding partner was expecting to see me holding the bike over my head, getting ready to toss it off the trail. The thought had crossed my mind. Then, I became tired of fretting, and just thought to myself "Just roll the F*c* over the sh*t" (I tend to curse alot when tired and frustrated)... and getting momentum and biking over every thing all of a sudden became fun!!!! I'd been such a scaredy cat in alot of previous rides and then it just occurred to me to go for it! This is not a road bike and it's not going to bust going over this stuff. By the end of the ride, I was smiling and laughing and felt so accomplished... I'd made a huge mental shift in biking. That fear that prevented me from enjoying it before was gone. The last 45 minutes of the ride was the next best thing to being on a ride at Disney Land. My ride partner was very patient and supportive and won major pts in my book for putting up with my earlier antics. Needless to say, I can't wait to go out Wednesday and Friday to ride some more. I am hoping the summer weather lasts well into the fall so I can get as much mtn biking (and road biking) in as possible!
No comments:
Post a Comment