Upper Mac and Luton...a mental battle

Riding has been pretty good lately. However, with more riding comes the mental side of this sport. Last week was one of those times where the mental battles were happening. Lets start at Upper Mac.

I had ridden Upper Mac two days in a row the previous week. Not my favorite trail, but something different for sure. So, Nate wanted test out the fatty, and his choice was Upper Mac. So, I loaded up and went to work. All day I sat there not wanting to ride Upper Mac. No desire. Once we got there we had a handful of issues. First, Mike had a flat. Then Nate was tweaking the brakes on Albert and it took me forever to get them adjusted. Not his fault, they needed to be adjusted. It did however take up a lot of time. It was hot. I didn't want to ride there. The ride finally started and it didn't take long to figure out that I really really wasn't in the mood. We took the first short cut and headed back. WHen we got back Mike had found a tube and was getting ready to head out. I wanted to ride more...for some reason...so I headed out again. I rode past the first shortcut to find Nate waiting. We collectively decided to turn back and take the shortcut, letting Mike continue on his full lap. I was done. We hit the short cut and I limped back to the car.

Mentally, I had defeated myself before I ever got on the bike. I was honest enough with myself to know that this just wasn't a day for me. I let my brain get the best of me. I lost this battle.

My next ride was at Luton with Mike, his wife Jessica, Nate, His girlfriend Perry-Ann, and Matt. We headed out and it was a solid pace. We would separate a bit then regroup. The ladies were doing excellent. At the Black trail we decided to roll ahead and then wait for the ladies. Right away I got dumped. No worries as I was riding my pace and was just enjoying being on the bike. After the first loop Mike, Matt and I headed out again. We were running out of daylight but we pressed on. Yellow, Black and then we skipped the Red. We rolled out of the woods and completed our ride. Nice.

These 2 rides were drastically different. Not by terrain. Simply by mentality. Much more of this sport is mental than what people realize. A few years ago I had pretty good mental toughness. Now, I need to rebuild. Lets get started.

I finally beat someone....

It was rainy on Wednesday nearly a week ago. It has been raining off and on all day and as "ride time" was drawing closer I began to have my doubts. I heard it was downpouring. I heard it rained all day. Then, right before heading out the door I got a post that read "I rode Merrell an hour ago and it was great. I am currently a block from the trail and it hasn't rained much...also not raining now". So, off I went to Rockford. 

Once I got to the trail I was pleased with what I saw. The parking lot was damp, but no puddles...and the skies were parting. Still some dark clouds, but none too concerning. I was joined by a few members of the wolf pack and one other guy. This guy in particular was on the ride at Cannonsburg SGA a while go where I got dropped by everyone a few miles in. I led into the woods. It was Wednesday so the direction is Counter-clockwise which isn't my favorite direction at Merrell. At any rate I was pushing a bit because the conditions merited the harder pace. I wanted to ride fast because it had been a while. I realized I was pressuring this guy. We got to Sawtooth and the 3 guys turned in there. I had no interest so I went ahead to where the trails rejoined and waited for them, see pic above. It was a short breather before they joined back in and off we went to the Wynalda loop. For the record, I dislike this loop on Red day. It feels like it is uphill the whole freaking loop....which it isn't...but still. I pressed on slogging away on the climbs, still putting a bit of pressure on the other guy (not on Mike or Nate, just the other guy). 

As I hit the end of Wynalda I started to ratchet up the pace for the last few sections. I was riding about as hard as I have this year while still being in control. It felt awesome....it felt like I was "back". I was riding fast. I pressed until I got back to the parking lot where Mike and Nate were waiting. They asked where the other guy was. He was a long way back. He was just cruising, but I still got back before him...much like he did to me the last time we rode together. So, crushing a guy that didn't know it was a race.....still a win. lol.

And it has now been a week since I rode. ugh. Life ya know. It happens. Might try to sneak out tomorrow. We shall see.

2nd Ride on the Ardents

After a busy couple of days full of garage sales and roofing I loaded up the D.U.F.F. and headed to Custer. I was planning on Yankee with some of the Wolf Pack, but thankfully they were not able to make it and I headed to the flat land instead.

As I hit Augusta the roads were steaming after a surprising rain. It was partly cloudy but it appeared it had rained quite a bit just before I hit town. That was very helpful on the trails. Everything in southwest Michigan has been crazy dry. 

I was stocked when I saw a just barely wet trail. The rocks were already drying and the trail was perfect. I wasn't pushing hard. I was just riding. I was making sure that I was getting traction before I decided to push a bit. Still not the fastest, but I was feeling pretty comfortable. 

I am really starting to like the new tires. Granted, it is only 2 rides but I had a lot more trust on these tires. So much so that I actually power slid a corner and kept control. It was on the Green at Custer. I have been trying to learn how to corner faster by leaning forward vs. leaning back. Might sound strange but have you ever heard the saying "drive the bike into the corner"? I alway have heard that, but I have always been a "float into the corner" kind of rider. Meaning, I tend to sit back on the bike and let the front wheel float around the corners. Floating is much slower than driving. By simply keeping my weight forward on the bike I have learned to corner faster. This comes with some semblance of trust to the traction of the tires. I was trying to learn on my last set of tires and was gaining speed. Then I switched tires. lol.

Anyway, because these new tires are 2.35 I am even more confident in the traction I get. I was pushing pretty hard and found myself leaning forward on a downhill corner. It has a sharp turn at the bottom and as I went thru the corner I had the urge to kick the bike to the left. When I did, the rear tire slid and then connected, rocketing me out of the corner. It was a whole new thing for me. I was fairly surprised with myself.

Overall, a solid 15 miles on tacky and still dry trails at Fort Custer. Had a solid gym session tonight and I am feeling pretty good. Gotta keep it rolling. 

Back at it

I am feeling quite a bit better. And since I was feeling better I wanted to burn off some stress. There is no better way to do that than to ride my bike. I finally got picked up my wheels and actually loaded my bike up on Friday morning. After a productive morning I headed to lunch with my manager. Once we got back the department was told we could leave after 8 hours. That meant I was able to bail out of work at 2:30. Since it was so early Mike was able to ride with me. 

Photo credit: stolen from internet.

Mike and I made the trek to Luton Park. I was shocked at the amount of traffic on the streets at 2:30 in the afternoon. Because we were riding Luton we took the East Beltline all the way to Rockford. Why not the highway? Well, there were 3 accidents between 28th street and the s-curve. We chose the lesser of 2 evils. Knowing that Nate and Karl were heading up we planned to ride a loop and then meet up with them for a second loop.

Mike and I headed out to find a very dry and dusty Luton. We need rain. We hit the yellow and the orange and the black before I got a text that the other guys were getting close. We skipped the red and then took the short green back to the lot. I was feeling ok, but lacking any semblance of power. The climbs were sluggish and I was simply trying to survive them. Yes, survive the climbs at Luton....did I mention I am heavy. lol.

We picked up the other guys and headed out again. To my surprise they took off like bats out of hell on the first section. Riding new tires I was trying to get comfortable on them. Add the new tires to the lack of shape and I was dumped pretty quick. They would ride ahead and wait for me then ride ahead and wait for me. That is fine, I was riding.  We did all the loops and it was a solid ride. Not super fast, but any type of mileage is good mileage right now.

Now, about the new tires. Rocket Rons have been my tire choice for nearly for years. I like them, but I wondered if there was a better option. I poked around and looked at some other brands like Kenda, Maxxis, Specialized, and ended up looking at 45Nrth tires for my fatbike (got sidetracked). What I found was the Maxxis Ardent Race tires. These tires, much like other brands, offer a thicker more durable sidewall. Schwable has the snake skin, Maxxis calls their version EXO.

As you can see from the pic above the tread pattern is interesting. Having ridden Specialized fast tracks before making the Schwable switch I immediately loved the tread pattern. This was the first ride on them so I was interested to see how they worked. They sounded different. As odd as that sounds these tires sound different than the Rocket Rons did in the corners. Here are my initial thoughts on these tires:

Straights

I didn't notice any difference. 

Climbing

The traction seemed more reliable on the Ardents than I had with the Rons. I noticed when standing and mashing that I didn't have as much chatter on the loose areas. Not as much slipping. Pretty good and constant grip over rocks, roots, sand and gravel (all the Luton surfaces)

Cornering

Here is where I cannot give an opinion yet. My thoughts are that they will be just as good, if not better, than the Rons. My issue is that I didn't trust them and was fairly tentative in pushing the corners hard. Once I get a few rides on them I will elaborate a bit more.

Overall

The tires roll pretty good. The traction is solid climbing and in the corners. They are easy to get up to speed. I had a few times where I pushed pretty hard and the tires were the least of my concerns. They responded how I thought they would. So far, I like them.