Training...Body and Mind
Not much going on lately. Just training and working on my nutrition (weight) for the impending cx season. I've lost some more lbs and I'm feeling good overall. The cx bikes (sans the tubulars) are built and I've even had one of them out to Castlewood for a shakedown ride. All in all, things are showing promise and pointing in the right direction.
Unfortunately, I'm still having some negative mental thoughts about racing off-road in the dirt crits (or any mountain bike races.) After January's crash (and a couple of subsequent, less damaging dismounts) I've had a difficult time pressing hard enough through the technical sections. If I'm riding by myself it's not so bad, but when I get into a group I get tentative and begin to question my skills which creates those momentary second thoughts. To me, the ability to ride a technical section of trail requires confidence and focus to push through in spite of what might not be the best line. Too much negativity leads to unfortunate outcomes.
I may or may not race a mtb for a while and I'm getting more comfortable with that. However, at times, it's still a difficult pill to swallow. As my good friend and teammate, Kent, told me recently "you'll race when you're ready to race." I guess I will race when I'm ready to race. Until then, I'll be training my body and my mind for more to come.
Dead chickens
A friend of mine has a farm where they raise chickens for food. He has demonstrated to me the fact that a chicken with its head cut off can in fact run around.
Much the way that brainless body can walk on two feet, you can still negotiate technical sections. Your case is different from the chicken though in that your brain is attached AND it is working *against* you.
Forget about "focus"...you want to be like that brainless chicken that knows nothing as muscle memory takes over the task at hand...just do not let your ride end like the chicken's run.
All kidding aside, I would suggest trying some races with the self understanding that you are not going to pin it through the tech sections. With this excuse on your side, you will be forced to ride much harder in non-technical sections to make up for the deficit (great trianing). You may develop other areas of your game, and still enjoy racing...and since you held back in some areas you need not be concerned with your posted results (the REAL results will be within).
Miracle Mike, the chicken who lived 18 months without his head
Great analogy, Unit. And it reminded me of the story of Miracle Mike, a chicken famous for continuing to live for 18 months -- without its head -- after a botched beheading.
Read about Miracle Mike
be the ball
I could never clean a techincal section - at speed or otherwise - if I was thinking about it at all. If I had a thought in my head it was all over for me. The best I could hope for was a dab. The worst... well you know how bad the worst can get.
Chevy Chase said it best in Caddy Shack: "Be the ball." I don't know how you go about actually doing that, but that's what it takes. You gotta get in that frame of mind where you're not thinking about position or wheel placement or pedaling technique or weighting or unweighting or ... whatever.
Negotiating technical sections at speed requires you to process a staggering amount of data all at once. You have to make ten thousand little decisions every second. Nearly every one of those decisions is based on the previous second's decisions. You can't do that consciously. As soon as your mind focuses on any single little detail, you're done, thanks for coming, hope you enjoyed the show.
They call it "the flow" for a very good reason.