Back on the Mountain Bike

8/25 bike 60+ mins at Lake Crabtree on the TORC beginner/intermediate ride

HR avg 160 max 176

Somehow I ended up being the only beginner on the ride, so I spent most of my time struggling to keep up with everyone.  Taking three weeks off since my last ride, didn't help either, as I was full on white knuckle in the beginning, especially with the faster pace of the group.  Toward the second half I started to calm down (or was that exhaustion) and began to remember how to position my weight on the bike and relax my death grip.  I wouldn't say I made any progress from my last ride, but I managed to stay upright again.  I did screw up a couple of the more difficult obstacles.  I really need to make a point of doing one of these each week if intend to improve at all.

I think I'm getting the hang of this...

8/4 bike 82 mins at Lake Crabtree on the TORC beginner/intermediate ride

HR avg 144 max 182

So today wasn't quite so terrifying, ok, it wasn't terrifying at all.  Except for maybe when we watched the crazy guys at the pump/jump track thing.  I didn't fall, and I managed to complete almost all the obstacles I attempted.  Michael, who led the group, spent a good amount of time explaining various skills and techniques as we encountered opportunities to practice them on the trails. I feel like I learned a lot and I only hope I can implement it on my next ride.  Brian, who led our first ride the week before, was there too, but he went with the intermediate group today.  Our friends, E&C were there along with their friend Will.  The +1 was out sick, so she missed out on lots of tips, hopefully these added techniques will give me the edge I need to keep up with her on the next ride :-)

Apparently fear makes for a great cardio workout

7/28 bike 75 mins of sheer terror at Lake Crabtree on the TORC beginner/intermediate ride

HR avg 162 max 181

I haven't ridden my mountain bike since February on the Tobacco Trail and I haven't been on a real "mountain bike trail" since my first and only time over a year ago on the beginner trail at Harris Lake.   The first time was slightly scary, in part, due to the pogo stick I had for a front fork at the time and my somewhat non-functional derailleurs.  I've made the necessary repairs and improvements to the bike over the last couple months and I was finally ready to ride again!  When we went to Harris Lake over a year ago, it was pretty obvious the wife was much better at this than I am.  I also managed to crash, which didn't help things.

After picking up my newly repaired bike from REI, during my test ride around the backyard I managed to crash, and I probably should have seen this as an omen of things to come.  I was expecting a nice ride on some rolling bridle trails, but what I got was more of a white knuckle single track experience.  We met up with the beginner group and set off in single file, I talked the wife into going in front of me thinking I would have no trouble keeping up and this way I didn't have to worry about her running me over when I crashed, adding insult to injury.  She quickly disappeared into the distance with the lead pack and I was left feeling like I was trapped in an out of control Camry going the wrong way on the freeway at rush hour.  Now, I know the seasoned mountain bikers out there consider the trails at Lake Crabtree to be beginner stuff.  They still scared the crap out of me.  I only truly crashed once, and it was actually in a non-scary portion of the trail due to loose dirt/pine straw, but I had PLENTY of close calls.  How I didn't face plant into a tree I'll never know.  There was one really huge drop into a banked right hander that I walked down, but this was after seeing the wife go flying in rather spectacular fashion.  I would learn later this was due to the guy in front of her and not any lack of skill on her part.  Maybe next Thursday will go better....