My first RR:
So I went to a trail that I ride on a regular basis at Rockbridge State Park in Missouri to try out
my newest setup which is reverting back to a riser bar instead of a rather nice flat that I
purchased(see my back fatigue post). When I first got outside I realized that not only had it cooled
down to below 80 at 5:00(very odd this time of year here), but the humidity was far less than usual
for Missouri (you know, like a swimming pool). So I started to get excited about my ride, but still
had thoughts of probable back issues.
Well, I got out on the trails, and tried a different route this time to make things interesting
which doubled me around after 4 miles or so to my normal 7 mile route. By the time I got to the
normal trail, I was feeling really good. Not only did I feel that I had a lot of energy, but my
legs, lungs and back were all holding up just fine.On top of that, the steepest rockiest hill I had
to deal with was no problem even with the new riser bar. I figured it would take me a ride or two to
get used to the change in how my weight is allocated on the bike, but I had no problems whatsoever.
As I got going on the normal trail, I noticed that I was climbing amazingly well and really milking
the momentum from the downhills to help me up the next uphill. In Missouri, there are sufficient
rocks and roots on the trails usually, that if you don't keep your momentum on the uphill, it can
be very hard to stay on your bike at times(at least for me). I noticed that I was also taking the
downhills at a faster speed and feeling a lot more comfortable about it as well as using any flat
areas to pick up speed rather than rest from the uphills. My lungs were doing wonderfully, my legs
were not losing strength, and I seemed to be floating through all the dips and over all the roots
and rocks. Usually on this ride, I have to step off of my bike at least 2 times. Today, I was on my
bike the whole time, including a rather loose rock garden on an uphill switchback that almost
always gets
me. Today, I powered over it, and my balance was perfect.
In fact, I have to say that short of picking up a bit more speed on some of the uphills, I can't
think of a single thing today that I could have done a lot better--I'm sure there are some, but it
felt sooooo perfect. This is why I started mountain biking in the first place, I got a taste of
things like this and felt as though I was on a quest to attain the perfect ride. Well, I have to say
that although real perfection might be impossible, this ride is about was about as perfect as I can
imagine. Other riders had even cleaned out all the spiderwebs for me already, and not one bug flew
into my eye. Ah yes, MB heaven. Also, my back, although still fatigued, felt slightly better than
preceding days, so I took some ibuprofen, and I'm hoping things will be even better tomorrow.
Alan McClure