Warning, this post is off topic.
I haven’t been able to get to water lately therefore I have been on my mountain bike much more than normal. I recently decided to take off my clipless pedals and go full on platforms. With a decent amount of research I decided to buy the UK pedals by Nukeproof (electrons) for a couple of reasons: most the reviews said they had great grip, they were durable and light and the price was pretty cheap. They also were thin which I wanted because I already have a beefy set of platforms that are so fat they hit many things on the trail.
I decided to head out to Bent Creek and test these bad boys out on Greenslick. For those of you that are not from the Asheville area, this is probably the best downhill trail in Bent Creek. 3.5 miles of mainly single track to get to the top and then 2 miles of screaming berms, rocks, jumps and sheer fun.
Here is what Greenslick did for me; gave me confidence. I live in Brevard, the mountain biking destination of the East, which means I usually ride Pisgah which equals really hard riding for me. I have a love hate relationship with Pisgah. It makes me a better mountain biker because it is hard, but I end up almost always thinking I suck. Like I said in a previous post, I am not a fantastic mountain biker. I would much rather be in my kayak. I like adrenaline. This is probably why I absolutely love the downhill on a bike. The up is a complete bitch for me. I ride a bike geared for downhill which means weight. I have a xs frame weighing in right around 32 pounds. Soaking wet, I weigh 120. This is my excuse why I suck on the uphill.
With confidence I push myself, no matter what I am doing. On this day, that meant trying out new things. Berms are new to me. I took on a huge berm (to me) and about ate crap but ditched my bike just in time for me look at my bike and think “that was rad.” That put a big smile on my face and the mindset to keep trying. This eventually lead to me eating it. I came around a turn fast and needed to pull my bike to the right over a bridge. I didn’t make that turn the way I wanted and I flew with my bike off the side of the bridge. I was caked in mud. I wasn’t hurt and jumped back on the bike and hit the next little jump as hard as I could.
Here is the point I am making. No matter what you do, if you are trying and pushing yourself, you are going to mess up. This is anything you do in life. We all had to learn how to walk, literally. This didn’t come without falling on our asses a million times. So as adults, do what you love and don’t be afraid to fail. Just get back up and try until you succeed. Push on ladies.
