Monday, August 13, 2018

First ride... AHHHH!

Here goes nothing! I'm gonna hit a tree. I'm gonna hit a tree. Why is this trail so narrow? Don't let my peddle hit that root. Okay I'm moving along. Is Alex even pedaling? Oof my hands hurt from gripping so hard, I can't even flex them.

I'm pretty sure I could have walked faster than I rode on my first trail ride. It was one of the scariest things I'd ever done, but on March 11th, 2017 I biked 11 miles in the woods! Alex and I went to Harwoods Mill trail in Newport News, VA, close to where we were living at the time. There were three sections of the trail, A, B, and C, all increasing difficulty, but all very beginner friendly.

Honestly, before we rode on this trail, I didn't even really know what constituted a "mountain bike ride". In my mind, it was more like gravel or access road, wide dirt roads with lots of hills (which I know know to be a section of off-road riding all of its own nature). These tight, twisty, rooty trails were only for walking or running, I had thought. Where was my wide open road where I could just lay down the power and only worry about avoiding the occasional pothole?

My mind was quickly overwhelmed by all the obstacles I now had to avoid. I thought my pedal were going to hit every root I bounced over. I was proud of myself for realizing to keep my pedal flat when going over bumpy parts and I kept yelling "pedal avoidance!" every time I did it. Also I didn't believe that my handle bars could fit between any of the trees lining the trail, and at the speed (or lack there of) I was going, I don't think I would have made a difference if I had nicked one. But somehow my handlebars fit, and somehow I kept going.

Until I got to a section of the trail that we later named Regular Sized Rooty (Bob's Burgers anyone?) in Part C. There was a tiny uphill to semi-sharp left turn into a semi-steep short downhill with several, what seemed at the time, huge roots. Obviously this part terrified me. How was I supposed to maintain speed and balance while turning into a downhill covered in roots? I thought for sure I'd fall off my bike if I went over this section (the thought that terrified me the most). It must have taken me at least 50 run-ups to somehow muster the courage to not grab my brakes right before the downhill... but I did it! On my first ride ever I made it through a scary section of trail and it felt amazing to conquer my fears! What a rush! I was so excited that we did Part C again, and though it took more convincing, I rode through Regular Sized Rooty again!

Though this kid is riding a way more awesome trail, my exclamations throughout my first ride were pretty similar.  

Back at the car, my hands were cramped in the shape of my bars, my mouth was dry as the desert, and my face had a giant doofy grin plastered on it. I did it! I did it! I did it! My first successful mountain bike ride. There were so many parts of the trail I had to walk through, but I couldn't wait to do it again. I was hooked. There was so much to improve on, so much to learn. It was just like when I first started doing triathlons, I wanted to know and perfect everything. But having gotten a bit burned out on tris lately, mountain biking was a great new way to fill that exercise and adrenaline void. Yay!

Here's my first ride on Strava:

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