Third-Last Ride Turns into a Messy Affair!

Today’s mountain biking group met at St Ives Showground, to ride their single-trail loop (and finally finish it!). It was really great to see everyone giving some of the trickier parts a go. Martin rode a dual-suspension for the first time, and remarked on how much smoother it was. Unfortunately Chris 2 had left it’s racing wheels on… so it was also quite “touchy” to steer! Never the less, Martin did great and enjoyed it more than usual.

We had a few stacks today, which is unusual! Clare fell off twice by riding off the trail. Chris 1 rode into a tree and knocked himself off. Martin did a great slow-sideways fall when he lost his balance getting off his bike – it looked like something out of a comedy set!

Clare approaching a rock… squawk squawk!

Jen and Chris 2 did some extra single trail rides, while Clare took the rest of the group riding on the fire trail do get some km’s under our feet (and butt’s!). As a group we decided the hills look bigger when you ride down them, compared to riding up. We returned the way we came, most of the team satisfied with what they’d accomplished.

Chris nailing a rock

Mountain biking is more psychological than we realised. Especially when you need speed to easily make it over the obstacles, but you’re afraid to go fast when you are unsure, scared, or uncertain. For these guys to have given anything new a go is a win! I have coined it “my inner chicken” – because it squawks like crazy whenever i approach a rock! Part of the skill of learning to mountain bike is learning what your bike can and can’t do, and unfortunately that means falling off (which by the way, is counter-productive if your goal is to shut the inner chicken up!!!). We have come a long way in 10 weeks, and have only two more rides before we are heading to New Zealand to put it into practice!