Preparing for racing all weekend on Englewood Open: UCI XCC, XCO and WORS (Wisconsin Offroad Series). Race Report here.
On May 17th Nathan, Kyle (13, our oldest boy) and I went to pre-ride the course for the upcoming races on the weekend (May 19-21) in the Englewood Farm. It would be the first time I would ride my new bike, the Pivot Mach 4 SL.
The Pre-Ride Drama:
I was told it would be a more technical course then the prior WORS Race, but words like flyover, rockgarden and drops were unfamiliar to me and even more to what even expect.
When we started riding the course after a twisty rocky section in the woods that I barely took in at first, we approached the first rock garden. I stopped and started crying. I was confronted with huge fear and doubt my skills could handle any more of this course. With a background on Skateboarding, I learned to face fears and push beyond, although, more recent experiences with injuries on the bike left me with some trauma to work through.
"There is no way around it"
I kept telling myself, while Nathan was helping me organize thoughts, emotions and reasons. I knew I would have to calm down, get myself together and face my fear, even if that would mean a risk of getting injured "again" (past injuries from other sports: Knee surgery #3 , Shoulder surgery #2 , Shoulder Surgery #1).
And that's what I did. We took quite a while to work myself through the emotional experience, look at the rocks and lines possibilities to take. Once I decided it was more than time to give it a try, I realized how much work the bike does.
From there on we worked through every section little by little. Little rock drops and later another rock garden section (that I think was way more tricky than this first one) surprised me less and less. I got more confident on the bike and towards the end of the ride I was almost having fun.
Yes, I know one is supposed to naturally enjoy biking and have fun, but I didn't realize how much I had to deal with and clean out of the way in order to get there. But we got there. With a lot of help and patience. Read more here about how the races went.
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