I knew it was coming; I’d ridden this trail before. This rock garden always messes with my confidence and causes me to start stressin’ about it mildly even a mile before. Funny how the internal battle rages and sets up the outcome of the events to come. I rolled along talking to my self about not being psyched out or being too occupied with this thing… ”just ride like you know”. I roll along; dodging cactus and flicking amongst other rocks and obstacles and even jumping of this and that. Feeling pretty calm about the approaching moves, I add another element to my internal debate; ”you know, there is that line jumping in from the right”… Oh great; now I’m supposed to be all stressed about that pressure? I’m only a few hundred yards away at this point and I didn’t really need that challenge, who is this A-Hole speaking in my head? I start down the descent that leads me to my foe. Trying not to be occupied with the thought I try to just ride what’s there and enjoy it. As I’m getting close to my rocks I have one more thought; ”you know that berm to jump after the rocks, that’s a cool move”… next thing I know, I’m staying right, I jump off my rock and into my line and rail the berm and jump back into the trail, maybe for the first time ever I linked all those moves into one even flow. I asked myself why and I made a not to write this BLOG.
It might be even more relevant to mention all the obstacles we ride as a mountain biker, or don’t, that we have never even seen before. We are rolling down some new trail, usually giggling and lookin’ for jumps, when all the sudden (I’m envisioning Sedona AZ right now) there is a jumple in front of you and you arent really sure what to do. When things are right on; you dont stop, you dont step off and you dont panic. You slow a little, get a good look and you see your way through and you just go! See it and go! what a great moment for all of us when your confidence is in little more than your confidence, your judgement and your own vision! You put yourself in the best line you can see, you position yoursle fon the bike just like you know to do and you commit to the success of this venture.. the bike slides a bit to the side on the rock – but you don’t panic… there’s a bit of a wheel stopper ahead and you gently lift the wheel over it… you see that the big boulder at the end is large enough that you could actually ride on it rather than around it and once there you seem to naturaly just loft the bike off the other side in some grandeous crecendo to this magical moment… you ride it, clean and you feel AWESOME!
I cannot help but see time and time again the parallels between life and it’sd challenges and those of the bike. Not only are the metaphors abundant but the answers line up exactly. It is so often in our lives that we are hounted by challenges that we have let get ahold of our confidence for years. Or we are surprised by a circumstance or a set back that seems like it could upset our entire balance. Just like these rocks in the trail or the challenges of any obstacle they can get inside our head and freeze up our confidence and stiffen our balance. The very fear of them can cause us to forget the things we know we can do. Truth is; we can really do about anything we can see ourselves getting through. But that can be the challenge, seeing our way through.
See a way through it – comitt to your descision – ride it
Even in the biggest rock piles when you get down close and look; there’s a path, sometimes quite hidden and sometimes quite unlikely and small. But in Mountain Biking I say when teaching; you only need 3 inches to get the front wheel through, once thats done, just ride it! Even more than the practicality of the line or the path through. What impressed me and caused me to want to talk about this is the fact that as SOON as you decide that you CAN do something. Your line is already being charted by parts of your deeper being than you even understand. You know how to ride it and you know you can get through life in parts of you even greater than your own mind. Once you believe that you free youself to do all the things that you are capable of doing and let me tell ya; that’s a great deal of capable and a lot you can do. It’s the doubt that slows our speed and the fear that causes us to see the obstacles as the only thng in view. It’s our own restriction of ourselves that takes away the skills we really posess and replaces them with a hand full of brakes and a desire to escape the situation. See your way through it and give yourself a chance to impress yourself.
Let yourself run! Your more able than you think much of the time
See it – see a way through it – commit to your descision – believe in your success and take action towards it!
See your way through it… and if you can’t? There’s no shame in walkin’