Progression stoke

[skunkty14]

Had one of those rare rides this evening where not only does everything just click, but you can feel your practice and attention to technique paying off.

Headed over to Wompy and decided I'd practice some techy stuff rather than push miles since I've ridden the last two days in a row and ran this morning. Practiced skinnies in what I call Skinny Skool, nailed every line in both directions. Headed over to jump line, feeling much more comfortable hitting jumps and a nice little step down. Hit the gnarly line on a big azz roller for the first time rather than the mellow line. And finally, sac'ed up and hit some drops (my nemesis') and finally got one them dialed. No harsh air out, no nose landing, just nice a buttery where you know you hit it just right.

No huge moves, nothing crazy, but just got that nice flow going where attention to my technique and what I've been trying to learn is finally paying off a bit and the confidence level goes through the roof.

Very glad I headed out this evening. Share your stories if you want no matter how small or large to stoke people up, prime riding season is here! :rad:

[Jisch]

Funny you posted this today.

I went out behind the house at lunch. A couple of weeks ago I cleared out a natural ramp. Its not huge, maybe a 3' drop. I've just never felt comfortable doing this kind of ramp/jump. My dang brain just won't let me do it. Every time I've tried to hit it in the last few weeks, I slow to a roll and get behind the seat.

Today I finally hit it at speed - it felt great, hopefully this is the start of me doing this stuff "in the wild". It has a really nice transition, so smooooooth.

John

[Slappy]

I find my riding skills have always kinda progressed in steep (and decreasingly high) steps followed by (increasingly longer and flatter :o) plateaus. Nothing better than when all of a sudden things start clicking and you 'get' the stuff you've been working at. I've been hankering for a day like that for a while now. Thanks for making me all jealous - and fired up to ride tomorrow night.

Great thread. :D

[Graphics]

i went for a ride today.

2 steps forward 1 step back...or should i say "off to the side"??? :o

i had a great accomplishment in that i finally rode down that first descent when entering the woods. the one that kimani out rode me on Saturday. :) but of course...while popping onto a bridge that i've done (and he and i have done) a ton of times now...i missed it today. :( ugh. i don't know...i'm really thinking about some armor. today hurts. i missed and went crashing off the side. i got wedged in between the rail of the wood bride and a tree on the side. i just missed going all the way over which would have been a 5ft drop maybe. my left crease between arm and forearm was riddled immediately with tiny purple patches. i'm sure in the next couple of days it should start purding up. my right elbow...which is still purple from last saturday's ride, is now purple and black. and currently a nice sized bruise is developing on my shin. of course this had to happen early on in the ride...so i kept going. :)

i went on this new path that is more technical. there were a ton of logs...like combined logs that you have to roll over. i had to walk. it was a bit of a rollercoaster path with the ups and downs...lots of clusters of rocks and logs. i even went over a mini boulder that was in the middle of the path.

some new shots (sorry for the blur on that one...but you can get the idea)

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c366/melamani/Bike%20Shots/Branford%20Supply%20Pond/DSCN6644.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c366/melamani/Bike%20Shots/Branford%20Supply%20Pond/DSCN6635.jpg

that was fun...even if i walked in between.

and then off on the main path is a hugh hill and you can see that someone's been through compressing stuff. and it looks fun. it's really steep...but it looks clean without any obstacles. so i wanted to try that today. i climbed up. that was a joke. when you get to the top it's almost impossible to keep pushing the bike while you're sliding on dirt and leaves. so i had to cut through a diagonal to get up to the top of this thing. of course once up there i looked down and seeing i had already crashed...i figured today was not the day i was gonna try that. what a pip in trying to get back down. i went along the ridge to see where the path would go...but it didn't really seem to lead anywhere interesting and so i headed down a bit aways from where i climbed...a section that had little plateaus i could get my footing on.

some shots of that. i hate that pics never show how steep something is. :rolleyes::p

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c366/melamani/Bike%20Shots/Branford%20Supply%20Pond/DSCN6637.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c366/melamani/Bike%20Shots/Branford%20Supply%20Pond/DSCN6639.jpg

good ride. but d*mn i'm getting beat up pretty bad. (i think i may hit the gym this week and not the trail)

[skunkty14]

Jisch: Very nice, always a great feeling to hit something for the first time. As crazy as it sounds, I find myself talking myself through moves in my head the first time I hit something.

Graphics: armor definitely adds a level of confidence in some situations. Other times I find my without armor my desire to not get hurt makes sure I commit to a particular move and see it through. That rooty climb looks like one of this deceptively tough sections; trail looks easy enough, but the right features at the right moment especially in a climb changes everything.

Slappy: my advances and time between follow the same pattern for sure. I was lucky last night that I broke the long flat plateau and made a short climb in skill. Definietly gets the stoke level up, I'm already pumped to ride again this week.

[Jisch]

...I find myself talking myself through moves in my head the first time I hit something.

Actually that's exactly what I did - I stood at the top and "acted out" the motion of dropping off the back of my seat as I pulled up on the handlebars. And much like you and Slappy have said, my skills come in spurts as well. Most of the drop/mind over matter type stuff comes in spurts. I'm really good at rolling stuff, which is good and bad. I'll default to a roll when a launch or manual type hit would be better.

Interestingly I find that the downhill type skills sometimes fade away for a little while - when I remember them in the middle of a descent its like a lightbulb going off.

John

[skunkty14]

I'm really good at rolling stuff, which is good and bad. I'll default to a roll when a launch or manual type hit would be better.

Interestingly I find that the downhill type skills sometimes fade away for a little while - when I remember them in the middle of a descent its like a lightbulb going off.

You sound like me; I'm far more likely to roll than drop or launch something. I like rolling stuff and steeps and have plenty of room to grow with rolling, but I know there are things I roll that I feel I should drop keep maintain my flow.

Downhilling I don't lose as quickly, but I'm more willing to take compariably bigger risks downhill than with drops and riskier slow moves. Don't know why, just doesn't scare me as much. I'd really like to try some lift assisted stuff this year, I think I'd enjoy it.

[Slappy]

I'd really like to try some lift assisted stuff this year, I think I'd enjoy it.

You will. Say when.

:)

[Jisch]

... but I'm more willing to take compariably bigger risks downhill than with drops and riskier slow moves. Don't know why, just doesn't scare me as much. I'd really like to try some lift assisted stuff this year, I think I'd enjoy it.

Yep, me too. I hit way bigger things at speed than I will if I just roll up to it, that's what I'm trying to fix - get my mind around hitting bigger stuff without worrying so much...

John (I came this | | close to doing Lift Served last year, but I happened to have a lot of friends getting hurt right around then and I decided against it)

[Slappy]

John (I came this | | close to doing Lift Served last year, but I happened to have a lot of friends getting hurt right around then and I decided against it)

I specialize in the old-man-that-stays-near-the-ground style of DH - keeps me outta the ER pretty well. Maybe we can do a 'beginner' day at Jiminy or Highland again this year. Been a good time in the past.

[Jisch]

Very cool. Looking forward to it!

[skunkty14]

Sounds good to me, I'm down been thinking of heading up to Highland anyway. Probably a good excuse to grab some platforms.