Back to the other side...
Sunset from the bottom trails at Bonneville Shoreline.
Finally got back on the mountain bike, but on the other side of the mountain. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) is quite different from North Fork. It takes a little getting used to, but a great place to work on the off-season skills. This particular segment will burn-off earlier then other areas and usually gets a ton of traffic. Tonight was just a quick up and back. Nothing too serious. Only enough to burn my lugs with the cold air - kind of stupid.
The need to condition is ever present, but the need to improve some basic skills is very important as well. There are a lot of differences between road riding and dirt riding. There a lot of different types of dirt riding and bikes to go with them. Dirt riding requires considerably more athleticism than road riding, well beyond conditioning. Knowing your bike is only a beginning. Mastering basic skills is a must. Improving advanced skills, makes the experience a whole lot better. At the end of it all, we only do this for the escape. Who needs more stress? The satisfaction of riding to ones limits are ingratiating. Setbacks suck, but that's what makes us better; pushing through the hardship.
Hats off to Katie
I don't really follow anyone else, but I do kind of pay attention. There are a ton of people that have biking gigs on Youtube. I'll occasionally watch some of them for some ideas, but really don't stay up on them. I was truly impressed by Macky's Everesting attempt earlier this fall. That guy is a lot tougher than I would have given him credit. I will link that one below. The one that kind of struck home was Katie Kookaburra's thing the other day. Again, I don't follow her either, but am intrigued by her story. I'll post that link below as well. A huge fan of the human spirit, I love to see people overcome those things that seem hard. It is simply amazing what we can do if we let ourselves overcome the pain and discomfort.
In a way, I can kind relate to Katie, in that I'm slow on the climbs. I'm not built for cycling, but I love it all the same. When I was 19 years old, I had just finished playing varsity football my freshman year of college. At 184 pounds, I was less than 8% body fat. According to every chart known to man, that is still too heavy to be a competitive cyclist. So here I am how many years later, 20+ pounds over that in the off season, and no chance of ever getting below 190 again, but trying to compete with 165 pound rockets. That's okay, but I'll never own a KoM record. Then again, maybe I need to be more demanding of myself. After seeing Katie smoke her goal, I feel like I should stop being a victim of my own self doubt. Sound familiar?
There is a lot coming this next season, and I need to find that motivation - FAST!
Meanwhile, hats off to both Katie and Macky (& Syd). You are truly studs in my book.
If I could only be as tough....
