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The morning after

1K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  bike for days 
#1 ·
Doubt if it's new thread worthy, but I'm just that excited. :p

The last two weeks, I've gone out the morning after a fairly epic (to me!) ride... And the next day it was totally doable! Not just "oh my legs sort of barely work" but "oh damn I just finally cleared that techy climb" kind of ride. Plus finally seeing lines past fifteen feet! That saves a lot of energy when you don't get hung up on every darn nook and cranny.

This feels like a milestone to me, because before 10+ miles on a single speed would leave me crippled for at least two days after. This is on top of 80 mi bike commuting a week, in wind, with about fifteen pounds in the panniers. In 40 degrees.

Again, maybe not big news in the world of MTBing but man, it is so much more profound to see the difference between years two and three, Vs year one and two.

anyhow, thanks for letting me get passionate for a sec :D
 
#4 ·
I was told by a trainer years ago (no idea if its truth or not) that humans can adapt to a conditioning program that would kill a horse.

Its kinda weird what we can force ourselves to not just do, but over time do aggressively. Its also funny how quickly we forget the work it took get to the conditioning level we are at and mock people who think a 10 mile ride is long.
 
#5 ·
I was told by a trainer years ago (no idea if its truth or not) that humans can adapt to a conditioning program that would kill a horse.

Its kinda weird what we can force ourselves to not just do, but over time do aggressively. Its also funny how quickly we forget the work it took get to the conditioning level we are at and mock people who think a 10 mile ride is long.
I have to be conscious of our "little ten mile" rides when bringing new people into the sport. Easy to forget 10 miles is not so easy for the new ones. You realize it half through a ride and they look they are dying and are done for the day.

Now most of us just start warming up at ten miles!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the supportive word ya'all. :) Those who said it's mental are right, but not just in the sense of mind over physical limits but just getting my head around the gear prep and ride to the trail head would often deter me the next day. Today even, it was georgeous out and I was trying out a new piece of gear (don't want to get into the whole story, grr...) that had been fiddly... Got a mile towards my trail and turned around. Was going to just then scrap the ride altogether when I grabbed old faithful (my dialed in SS)and went back out. Two hours later I feel spent, but great. :)


Yeah I had a friend who refused to talk to me for a few days after his first ride on real single track. I tried to stop often, and be encouraging.... But there is nothing you can do fer a point. I know I let my other friend about how much I hated him at the end of our first ride together... Hehe.

Now I try to make sure that rides with newbs are on a recovery day. Even if the ride road, no amount of that can prep you for singletrack. It's never to show off, it's just easy to forget when a section, especially not too techy, used to trip us up at one point now that the wheels seems to float over little stuff.
 
#8 ·
Sometimes when I'm doing a technical section of trail, the bike might get a little squirrelly when I do a new line or the trail surface is slippery or unstable. I notice that those little wobbles and recovery help my body regain stability and balance... quicker each time it happens,
When I was new to mtb and especially DH a wobble or a slip would cause me to loose control because I wasn't used to it and didn't know how to adjust. Conditioning helps
 
#10 ·
Yes! I love the feeling of recovering from a front wheel washing out, or not bailing when hung up on a log and then slowly following through. I used to take everything too slow. Then too fast. Now if I get hung up I have confidence in my handling skills to track stand and try to do the "redo" on the feature without putting a foot down. Not that it works every time ;)

It's dork as all get out but I've thought about getting one of those balance boards to work on subtle body English. Maybe I'll just pick up a bmx instead, hehe. (never rode as a kid)
 
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