Progression Session

One of the things I've learned I like to do is downhill mountain bike. This is the "extreme" form of mountain biking. This isn't about being skinny and going a long distance off road. It's about jumps, stunts, gnarly terrain, speed and so on.

I am not 18. I'm not 20 or 25 or even gasp 30. I've ridden various two wheeled things my whole life but I never raced bmx as a kid or had a motocross bike when younger. So big jumps are kinda new to me and mentally intimidating. When there is a 10 foot gap you got to clear on a pedal or gravity powered bicycle let's just say that still gets in my head.

I've done steeps, loose stuff, big table tops, wooden stunts but for some reason doing doubles or gap jumps just got in my head and I rode around them. Until today.

There is a saying I believe, it comes in various forms but it basically goes like this, "Things don't get easier to do, you just get better at doing them." It's not that the nature of whatever challenge has changed, but that I have. In this case I changed by just shutting off the part of my brain, quietly but very persistently, telling me that a mistake wasn't worth the reward.

I just shut if off. I turned off my brain, focused on the task at hand and went for it.

And I made it. And I did it again. The trepidation and the fear started to fade. Then I went to a bigger jump. And made it. Success breeding confidence like a Mountain Dew fueled nuclear reactor of bicycling.

You know me, then I'm like, "let's break out the camera!" Thankfully one of my riding buddies was nice enough to put what he was doing on hold and attempt to capture my breakthrough. Thanks man!