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@dancing james
Weekends are better for those of us that work.
Today was strangely difficult for me. Clearly I have lost a bit of fitness over the xmas period and gained some weight, so the hills were more difficult. What was more scary was my utter loss of confidence in the morning. Far to nervous, clutching at brakes the whole time. This made for a tense ride, as I could not relax my arms so it became a viscious circle of frustration. Thankfully just before lunch we practiced a drop in that I bottled a few times, but finally took the plunge and started to loosen up a bit.
Hendrik brought along a friend/neighbour who was full of beans, confidence and energy. As usual Hendrik had whippet speed and he seems to be pushing the pace a lot more. Tom. as ever regaled us with his "I was there, back in the days of purple anodise, when MTB was good" type stuff, but he is a treasure trove of useless MTB trivia and very amusing with it. Having no sense of flow the mornings pace was a struggle as all my energy seemed to be used battling with my bike.
After lunch things seemed to relax, we found some less technical more flowing terrain and finally my desire to clutch at the brakes abated and the fun returned. I do really enjoy the trips to Swinley as I feel my overall MTB ability is improving, and there are sections now that can be completed that were an impossible challenge a couple of months ago.
There were a few oddities for me, since the bike fit and the change of saddle height it does make shifting my weight back a little more difficult (saddle move up and a little forwards after the fitting) though I would concur that I might have a little more power now. The biggest in the afternoon was how much my back wheel jumped around at the merest hint of a root or rock. Initially I thought this was just my jittery ness worrying about it but it was commented upon by others.
As ever looking forwards to my next venture to the forest.
http://connect.garmin.com/player/61608543