from BMOC to small child

Got a great mtb ride in. Slight drizzle, warm, tacky soil, wet roots, good friends. Doesn't get much better.

Met up with John and did a nice loop. Took 10 seconds off my sidewinder downhill time even with the wet roots. For the firs time in a long while my legs were turning well. Climbing went really well and was riding at the threshold point with some small forays into the red at the tops of climbs.

Just like the training intervals I've been doing. And for a little while I was feeling like BMOC.

Then we met up with Chris on the way down Old Farm and I turned around with him for another loop. He's spinning these small gears but moving really fast. It just took me over the edge and the legs just exploded in a supernova.

We then went to Beauty and flew down. The wet roots at the bottom would pick up the rear tire and move it about 2 feet in either direction. Chris is a really good bike handler and just throws his upper body around corners. It was a little disconcerting to follow.

I'm so concerned right now with keeping my vision to the horizon that it threw me for a loop to have someone infront. I wasn't sure where I should be looking. At his back or his wheel or trying to look past him like when riding in a paceline. I'd find myself dropping my gaze to his back wheel which was a bad thing. Trying to look past seemed to work the best, but just keeping my eyes on his back worked ok too. He's such a good rider that if I just mimiced his motions I'd be ok.

Except for the time he did a quick chicane around the sapling that has mysteriously appeared in the middle of the trail.

Of course the really awesome thing is that I'm actually going fast enough for this to be an issue. Cause if he's going fast and he's blocking my view that must mean I'm going fast.

We climbed the Beast and cleaned the bottom section only to be stopped dead by the tiniest of pebbles. From there out I was reduced to small child riding. The legs were just so dead and couldn't hold much power. The muscles in my left leg are still messed up but at least my knee isn't hurting or anything. I started to think about the new Qrings John had bought and if they would be helping my legs right about this time.

One last rocket run to the parking lot. Once again perception is so flawed. I felt off and cornering didn't feel right, but at the bottom the stop watch said 20seconds faster than my PR. And this was with some slightly wet conditions. It's definitely faster to try and keep someone in sight than to let them out of your site even if you feel more comfortable with an open view ahead of you.

It felt like my saddle was getting in the way in cornering. I'm going to try dropping my saddle 3-4" before the next long downhill to see how much of a difference it makes in time. I know it will help I'm just curious to see how much it helps. If it makes a significant difference I might be considering one of those telescoping saddles. Gravity Dropper, All Mountain Post

The big issue is weight of course. Being an XC Geek with weight weenie issues makes a change like this significant. The two other issues are if any movement in the telescoping post is going to bug me during pedaling. The main issue is that I'm much more a set/forget kind of person and things like fork lockout or shock lockout jsut do not work for me, especially at redline racing.