At the risk of sounding all touchy-feely-west-coasty, if you don't
"feel" it, that's a huge warning sign.
For example, there's this little widget section on the nearby
singletrack where things got rooty and rocky with last winter's rains.
I've ridden and cleared that section year after year on a wide variety
of bikes. But this spring after a long time off that trail, I was
tootling around on the Quickbeam (running fixed )and made the corner
and things just felt off - didn't feel settled on the bike, felt off
line and was looking at the problems rather than the line.
I pulled up, braked and walked. And since then I've hoofed it over
that section. Been riding too many road miles and just not feeling
that settled. That is making me overthink things and until my brain
just shuts up on the approach, I'll probably continue to hoof it.
I think my point is that the flow - whether on a trail or road is
something you have to feel. If you are looking forward to the next
turn or drop or tricky bit, and you can relax enough to let your
technique kick in, you are much, much better off than tightening up,
fighting the bike, the road surface and your fight/flight response.
Around here, there are always climbs and descents. Today was
reasonably flat circuit, but somewhere in there, my gadget tells me I
hit 37 mph (and just to be clear, I lack the engine to do that on the
flats). But, on the Hlsen, on the pavement, on the Jack Browns, on a
bike that is dusty but mechanically happy, it never felt like I was
pushing it.
In my experience, that moment when you feel out of sorts is a very
tricky time. The real risk is overcorrecting - grabbing a handful of
brake or stiffening up can make a whole bunch of bad things happen
very, very quickly. Your experience and your momentum will actually
get you through most "problems", but you need to be processing things
with no delay.
Hope that makes some sense.
- Jim / Cyclofiend.com / [email protected]
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