Monday, May 25, 2009

Busted Chains

I had a couple of nice rides over the weekend. Saturday morning, I went out on a club MTB ride that was intended for beginners. My plan was just to ride slow with the group and work on my skills. I was reminded of a few things that I don't like about group rides pretty early though: we started about 20 minutes late, and we stopped less than a mile into the trail when someone broke their chain (with the wet spring we've had, the mosquitos were brutal!).

Once we got going though, I really enjoyed the ride. I tried to go as fast as possible down the hills and slow everywhere else. I had some nice moments again. I felt like my cornering was improved over last weekend, and my hopping was definitely improved.

Yesterday morning, I rode by myself at Pontiac Lake. I had some really nice moments, particularly early in the ride. I absolutely ripped through some of the faster sections at the beginning; faster than I've ever gone before. What I noticed during these sections was that my body position was really good: I was relaxed, my chest was down, and my head was up. The only times I had problems were in a series of linked corners: if I'd take the first one much faster than I was used to, the second one would sometimes come up much faster than I was prepared for and I might botch it. Still, that's not such a bad problem. I think it's mostly a matter of re-learning the trail's rhythm at a higher speed.

As for the broken chain... I saw three guys by the side of the trail on the final steady climb after The Chute and the steep climbs. I asked if they could fix their problem (a broken chain); they said yes, but without much confidence. So I stopped and watched them work for a little bit (they would have been there for awhile), and then I took over and fixed the chain. A little trail karma never hurts...

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