Brain farts

I don’t have a medical term for brain farts, or a whole day of brain flatulence, but that’s basically what happened.

It was sunny. Why didn’t I plan a bike ride?

After walking my dog, I sit down at my desk, ready to work, but that listless, restlessness overwhelms me, and before long, I’ve vacuumed the house and answered a lot of emails and emptied the dishwasher, and maybe done about fifteen minutes of productive work. I also took a 25 minute nap.
I don’t entirely know where the rest of the day went, only that I should have taken advantage of the warm weather and been OUTSIDE, instead of staring at my computer, aimlessly, being an idiot.

So. After dinner at the gas station (I’ve told you about this gas station before, no? It’s like, fine dining at a gas station. Don’t judge.), I get a quick lap in with a friend.

It’s a trail called Danimal that a few years ago, was the biggest challenge ever. (The trailbuilder, Dan, is this lovely guy who has managed to convince me that a Sasquatch probably exists.)
It was, at the time, a brutal climb, and a tricky descent. One lap would be all we could muster, and it would take us nearly two hours. There’d be one rock roll that everyone would hum and haw over, and no one would be able to ride the curvy bridge to get to the top of it.
Well.
It has now become the best bang for buck if you’re short on time and low on energy. It’s also low down in elevation enough that the snow clears off it fairly early season.
We decided to see how fast we could ride it.
With my brain working half speed today, it took a while to get to the trail because I forgot my gloves and helmet in the car, and had to go back to get them.
I managed it in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. My legs and lungs were on fire. I’m pretty sure my friend was a minute faster than me. We lapped it twice.

Then I headed to the pump track with the dirt jumper, my legs already tired, but fully warmed up.

It’s almost sunset, and I have the place to myself. The jumps are dry, so I head down the easy rollers, aiming to get back in to it.

Only, I can’t get any air. It took me a solid seven laps before I felt like my body remembered how to jump again, and being alone, didn’t find the courage to try the gaps that I was pretty confidently jumping at the end of last season. Muscle memory, you’ve failed me.

I head back to the pump track. I’ve ridden this track so many times; in the wee early hours of the morning, in the dusky glow of sunset, in the heat of the day with the sun beating down. I know every angle and turn and bump in this track. If you ride the track in the direction it was built, there are 2 right turns and 1 left. When I have it to myself, I can practice the opposite direction, because my left turns are terrible. The angles of the 2nd turn can spit you out if you’re not careful (yes, I’ve flown off it before), and if you do it in reverse, the line on one berm is slightly different to get the most speed. It doesn’t matter though, because I’m a slow circus elephant, even with my new bike.

BUT.
I had a little epiphany. If I lean my bike far enough over that my top tube touches the inside of my calf on my inside leg on a turn, and I pump into it, I can go a lot faster. I just need to feel that little touch on my calf, and it’ll set me up just right. I kind of want someone to time me now, because it used to take me 18-20 seconds to ride that track, but I’m pretty sure it’s less now.

And, I’ve always wanted to ride a couple of the little double rollers on my back wheel, and after testing the body position on the ground a few times with a friend the other day, I actually managed it today! Once. I couldn’t reproduce it. But still, that’s progress, right?

Now, to be able to do this in front of people. I’ll get so much more sleep this summer if I can practice with people around.

Sometimes, you just have to write off the work day and ride your bike.