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 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.
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