Confidence Gap

"You may think you believe what you know, but you really only believe what you feel."
- Malcolm Gladwell

For whatever reason, I had the realization the other day that I'm probably riding noticeably below my skill level. I've worked on my riding skills a lot over the last year and a half, but my actual riding hasn't necessarily kept up. I'm not sure if it's due to riding alone, habit, not racing or what, but I've gotten to the point where I'm rarely stressed by the trails I ride. I know for sure that I often hit the brakes when I don't need to (I get through the corner and think "gee, I didn't need to slow down that much"). I'm much more comfortable on descents than I used to be. I can pretty comfortably ride over the trail obstacles around here.

Although I still have plenty of room for improvement skill-wise, I also believe, in my gut, that I'm much better than I'm showing.

So, for now, it seems like I'm bumping up against a confidence ceiling rather than a skill ceiling. I'm planning to get in several mountain bike rides this week (including my first Expert race at Pontiac Lake). I think the plan will be to try to relax, have a fun attitude, and let it rip.

I've been thinking back to my car racing / karting days recently. My mantra for squeezing out more speed was: "Relax, look ahead, be smooth."