My Life On A Bike

I enjoyed a refreshing ride this afternoon.  The past 3 weeks have been filled with hard rides and intense workouts and the fatigue has finally caught up with me.   Long overdue for a rest week, I was not looking for a ride in particular.  Tuesday I expected to be recovered, but could barely pull out an hour and a half workout with Cam at the mountain and had to bail on doing the crit.

So what was so great about today’s ride?   It’s all in the company you keep. Our racing teamate from the days of old is coaching a young energetic runner/triathlete, Michelle, who is going to take on some Xterra races this season.  We have had the pleasure of road riding with Michelle and know first hand of her strength and prowess on the bike.  I’m guessing she weighs all of 80 lbs soaking wet, and can zip up a climb when she puts her riding legs on after running marathons all winter.   Michael enlisted my help in coaching Michelle on the mountain bike in order to get her ready for her Xterra in a few months.   Michael can pretty much obliterate 99% of the  competition on a bike, but there is one thing I can do better than him and I am proud to say it.  I can take him on a downhill any day, which is why he chose me to be her tutor over him.  (I like to remind him of that every chance I get since he crushes me on a regular basis on the road.)

The biggest challenge one faces when trying to coach a cyclist that is new to the sport is dealing with their attitude.  Michelle was so eager to learn that it was like a breath of fresh air.  She actually listened to the things I told her and put them into action.  I understand all to well how awkward and embarrassing it feels when  trying to learn a new skill.  It takes a certain amount of maturity, determination, and a relaxed attitude to receive the information, process it and put it all into action.

She was not afraid to try whatever I suggested and I could see the wheels in her brain turning as she actually did what I said.    We stopped at the first “downhill” and walked down picking out a line.  Then we went over the 3 phrases I had brainwashed in her head.  Next it was time to put into realtime practice the concept of “Look Ahead, Relax, Weight Back.”

As she zoomed by me at the bottom of the hill, I laughed at the look on her face!  She said, “huh, that wasn’t so bad, not a big deal!” Today was her 3rd time to ride a mtn bike and her 2nd time on this trail.  I asked her how that felt.  “It’s not nearly as scary as I remember from the first time, ” she said, with a smile on her face!   Amazing how much easier something is when we’re armed with the knowledge of How to do it.

We practiced this a number of times over and over.  I was loving it!   Someone that was excited about learning and eager to try until she got it right…..how refreshing.

We came to another tricky spot in the trail, a quick descent thru a creek crossing exiting with a sharp right straight up a steep incline.  Michelle surprised me by almost making it up the other side, but what really surprised me was when she asked if she could try it again.   “Sure!  We can stay here and do this all day if you want,” I said.   She was not going to give in to defeat easily and I was encouraged with her eagerness to get it right.

I will never forget the first days of our mountain biking at Sope Creek.  We would spend hours trying to climb the same hill over and over until we could conquer it dab free.  I think that’s a great way to learn a technique, but all too often on our rides I see people give up without giving it another go.  It’s probably the pressure of not wanting to feel like you’re holding up the group, but I am always a huge supporter of riders that want to try an obstacle over and over until they get it.   Just ask me, I’ll gladly hang back with you if that’s what it takes.

We spent a good amount of time at this spot learning a little bit more each time.  Michelle wasn’t afraid to fall, and we had a few funny moments, but she would always get back up and try again. Nobody likes to fall, but sometimes it is in those moments that you learn the most.   You cannot berate yourself and give up in exasperation.   That is when you learn to think about what you did and figure out WHY you fell.   If you don’t figure out what you did wrong, then you will never figure out what to do right.

I try not to take for granted all the zillions of things the past few decades have taught me.  When helping a new rider, it does make me realize just how much there is to know to pull off a good mountain bike ride.  There is alot to know and alot to learn, but you have to start somewhere and you have to keep trying.

It was alot to bite off for one day, especially when this is only your 3rd mtn bike ride ever.  I probably threw too much at her, but it was so exciting to see her responding in a positive manner.  We came to the Maniac Switchbacks and gave it a go.  By taking some pictures indiscreetly, I wanted to provide her with examples to look back and see the times when she’s doing it right and see when she’s not.   Here we’re working one of the switchbacks and she’s doing an excellent job of Looking Through the Turn!  Good job!  Those switchbacks are very difficult even for an “expert”.

It turned out to be a great introduction to mountain biking, at least for me!   We saw The Caminator and Sweetwater riding the Comet and tried to get them to join us on the trail.   But they felt their narrow little road wheels wouldn’t work as well as our knobbies.  It has been a while since Sweetwater joined us for a dirt ride and hopefully we’ll get some rides in this summer with him.   As for The Caminator.   I’m still working on getting him converted.  He’s a hard nut to crack.   I haven’t given up hope, yet.

I look forward to following Michelle’s progress on the bike.  She has all the tools she needs to go far;  a good attitude, determination, and an eager spirit.   It was a treat today!  I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.   Judging by her smile, I think she did.