“It is far easier to figure out if something is fragile than to predict the occurrence of an event that may harm it.” —Nassim Taleb Hello, It was fun to get away for an overnight to Downieville last weekend and finally ride the Downieville Downhill after 25 years of mountain biking. I rented a Santa Cruz Megatower with 170 mm front travel and 160mm in the rear, basically a downhill bike you can pedal, and hopped in a shuttle with one of my TRM teammates. Even with the van taking us up to Packer Saddle, we still pedaled about 1000 feet of climbing on the XC course to Sunrise Trail, where the above pic was taken. The bike was a complete slug moving uphill, very “floppy” and long, struggling with lifting over rocks and switchbacks, but completely morphed into a high speed – rock-eating missile when the trail tipped downward. 3-foot drops, loose baby-head size rocks, loose sand, it simply rode over everything. We goofed around adjusting my buddy’s control on his Pivot a few times out there( bike fitting never really leaves your head it seems) and missed the afternoon shuttle by 10 minutes, but all in all a fun day on the bike. It’s important to take breaks in today’s hyper-connected society, that’s where the real adaptation comes from, both mentally and physically. Especially endurance athletes can push themselves so deep it’s crazy. While it’s our superpower, it’s also dangerous. We need to regenerate to give ourselves the energy to go all-in when we need to. I like the above quote from Nassim Taleb- one thing that most coaches are a little obsessed with is removing things that can go wrong. Getting an athlete biomechanically correct, their equipment perfect, their nutritional plan solid, all these things you might not need for success if everything goes perfectly, but that’s not the nature of what we do. Even the failures don’t go according to plan. Let’s get you and your equipment in the best shape possible and crush those fall goals. |
