by downhillingdemon » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:28 pm
[quote="benzilla"]Yeah, must have been going fast, looks like a pretty huge air!
It is a bit of a drop (bigger than it looks in the pic - prolly around 4-5ft ish??) - the landing is somewhere near the rocky bit on the pic. Johnstuff and I were discussing it whilst pushing back up to get some video - you can't really see from the pic, but if the boards weren't there it'll be quite a big gap jump. Just shows how much it is a mental thing, as I doubt I'd have been flying off it quite so carelessly if the penalty for failure had been falling in the gap!
Right then, race update!
Well, I was VERY brave and managed to race. I hated it
Funny thing was, the trail was probably my worst kind of trail to ride - one I didn't know with slippy wet roots that twisted in an out of the trees BUT I was riding it pretty well in practice and surprised myself with how I was not flapping at all - I was seriously pleased! And the rest of the trails I do know I was flying down and feeling great on the bike.
But when it came to the first timed run down it all went to shite. The first run nerves, people everywhere watching, I couldn't get my feet in the right place on the pedals, cameras etc meant I really hated it. My time wasn't great, but I never expected it to be on my first race day. I think the frustrating thing was that I was actually riding pretty well so the race times just weren't reflecting what I was capable of riding (even over the wet, rooty stuff I'm normally terrible at). So I decided to have another go and see if I could at least better my own time. Spent a bit of time running the easier red trails with Johnstuff (which was as awesome fun as ever!) whilst waiting for the clock to tick down to second race run time, and then had a final race run........it was as bad as the first! I just couldn't get it together for that specific time period, mostly because yet again my feet weren't in that 'sweet spot' on the pedals and it was really aggrevating me. But overall I just hated the pressure all the way down - cameras, people watching etc. If anything the second was worse than the first! Also, it was great when Johnstuff was around so I had a bit of company, but once he went, it was a really lonely place to be - I know they say that 'everyone is friendly' when racing, but actually, I found most of the guys just stood and stared at me rather than saying anything. I just felt pretty intimidated by the whole thing.
Still, I'm pretty pleased with how well I was riding when I wasn't racing and I'm glad I tried it. A mate of mine summed up perfectly why I'd probably never make a racer..
[quote]Its not the result that is important its how you ride, so you could come last but with a very controlled and flowing run and you'd be happier than first but with a sketchy uncontrolled run
Never a truer word spoken! It's not the actual time that's relevant, it's the fact that I know I wasn't able to ride anywhere near as well as I was capable of because I was too distracted by the pressure. Still, I'll let you know my placings when they post the results.
I'd probably still be tempted to do a downhill enduro - where you ride the same trail for an extended period of time, or another 12/24 hour race....I was really nervous when I started my 12 hour race last year, but after the first 30 minutes I just settled into it and really started to enjoy the challenge.
