a good ride or a bad ride

Needed to get a long race/sim type mtn bike ride in. But also have lots of skills stuff going through my head from the clinic I just did. It turned out just too difficult to push myself hard because of all the stuff going through my head.

Concentrated on keeping my head level. Looking past obstacles. Was able to ride several rock gardens w/o even looking at the rocks. Just an amazing voodoo trick.

Also working on climbing technique. Climbed several hills with palms resting on top of bar. Elbows very bent. Can't pull back like this. Tried to focus on smooth pedal stroke and the scraping motion. Scrape forward at the top, scrape back at the bottom.
Much more energy efficient because no upper body pulling but it was exhausting me because my legs aren't used to it. The inside of my knee was hurting and it was getting pretty hard to do only after a short time.

But at the same time I was screwing up lots of stuff I normally do. Overturning, duffing on small logs, etc.

1.5hrs into it and I was exhausted. Not sure if it was the uber focus of the skills or trying to change pedal strokes or because I haven't been riding that much lately. It usually takes me a few days to get back into the groove of things. Or if it was the heat and I was just getting dehydrated. It worries me a little because I should be recovered and supercompensated from the MOM century so I should be flying effortlessly. But just gotta be patient.

Dunno, but in some ways it felt like a slow ride and that I wasn't riding well. In other ways it was a breakthrough because I was able to implement some of the things learned in the class and prove to myself that they can work. Looking far ahead plays with your mind. It slows everything way way down, especially when climbing. So I might have been going faster but felt slower.

If history is any indicator it is going to take about 3 weeks for new skills to be assimilated and for riding to improve from a perception POV. These first few rides always feel very awkward.

It's also going to take constant reinforcement of the techniques to keep things
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17:28 up OF. Off PR by 1 minute but wasn't pushing too hard. Keeping head up on some ledges REALLY works well to drive through and not stall out

6:20 down OF (left Y at start to the Sign kiosk). Tried to look ahead and brake before corners and not drag brakes through corners.