Biking

Since I went to the Bike Park of Lac Blanc last weekend it's been haunting me... the drop off's that I cannot convince myself just to try.

No, it cannot be that I haven't even found the courage to attempt a smaller one. Why is the gap luring at me? The steep landing screaming "break hard or die!" and my knees buckling like someone took a swing at them with a baseball bat?

I know my bike can do it - it's a matter of giving it a little momenum rolling over the edge and hanging onto the handlebars (without gripping the brakes). So I try to think of it as a roller coaster. The bike is a cab and I'm just hanging on to it... I know once I tried it I will love it. It's just that first big step...

So I'm heading out tomorrow and Friday with a clear goal: to master two of those drops on the route "La Fat". The second one in this picture is one of them. If you can muster up some courage send it my way and scream "Drop it, scarycat!" as loud as you can - I sure could need a holler over in France tomorrow.

All Winter you get on that saddle for one reason. You pull yourself up off the couch and drag yourself into the gym because D-Day is looming. That one big season's goal you are heading for. You count down the days. You fall on your nose trying to learn the last skills you are lacking. You wonder how it will be and how you will do. And then the big day finally rolls around.

AND IT POURS DOWN RAIN! - Oh well, you say, what the heck. Let's do some sliding. - But the weather gods fogged up the mountain so that the race was cancelled (because the emergency chopper couldn't see s*).... there I was...

So instead of racing I ended up with a wet weekend camping and hoping for the skies to clear up. On Sunday 9 o'clock the race was dead. I had done 4 practice runs and was ready geared up and hot for the seeding run twice. But no reason to be frustrated: there are many more races around, it was just a matter of setting the eyes on something new. The Red Bull Trailfox has fascinated me ever since I shot pictures of it in 2008. So here we go: a new season goal. I'm signed up and ready to go! In the next 7 weeks all will be set out for the Trailfox and the mission "Riding the Trailfox with a Trailfox".

Stay tuned for the next episodes of "Linda learns to jump", "Linda learns to pump (track)" and many more.

This blog will go on a break - I have to get these training wheels off this week.

I'll only come back when I can do a halfway decent Wheelie. And in the end, my next downhill race awaits me...

But first some of this:

(Yes, that's a riding style...)

My first downhill race has come and gone. It was a great weekend which taught me not only a lot about riding, but also a lot about myself, the "competition" and racing in general.

What at first seemed like a hassle turned out to be a gift for me: downhill races take a minimum of 2 days. Half a day for practice, half for qualifying and then the last day for a practice and two timed runs. So unlike Cross Country races you travel to the race Saturday early morning, not evening and so I was on the track by 9.30am. which helped me a lot. I needed 3-4 runs to get into the track and the riding. It was only until run 5 and 6 that I was able to hit the one jump I had to...

Yeah, most of the jumps I just passed without thinking about them. But I didn't need to use them - only two ladies were brave enough to hit them anyway and some of the jumps even slow you down.

By the afternoon qualifying run I was well warmed up to the track and ready to roll - I banked the 4th (later to be 5th) qualifying time and was stoked! I wasn't even near my limits in the corners or while pedaling - so I thought it looked very good for an improvement of the time and maybe ranking during the race...

But my brain doesn't work like a simple on/off button, there is no full throttle/no throttle switch. So unfortunately I didn't manage to repeat the good qualifying time, but in turn added 1s to it in the timed run. The run itself was great - except for a bump at the wrong time which set me up completely messy for a drop with one foot off the pedal so that I had to go around. Then two turns later I hooked my front wheel into a root and came to a complete stop. I had to rearrange my bike and set off again. Oh well, the time showed it would've been an awesome run without the two mess-ups.

For the second run in the afternoon I decided I still had some room to improve. And just to have a smooth ride without mistakes might still kick one or two seconds off the clock. Well, that was before the rain set in...

Sunday is my first downhill race of the season (ehem, make that a "first almost ever"). I did some research and found a video of the course. It runs for 2:36mins... Luckily the race line doesn't appear to have a double or a gap to jump without a chicken way around it - otherwise (being the untalented chicken and newbie I am) I would be totally screwed and probably wouldn't ride it. Still I found two tricky sections:

Keep in mind: it always looks less steep in the pictures than in real life. *gulp*

The final road gap: 

Yeah, I'm a big chicken. I know. - Well, if I can convince myself that it is not that bad to land in a flat I might try. Eventhough the highest dropping height I reached in training so far is 75cm (2.7 feet)... Maybe the guys will let me hang on their tail for judging the entry speed correctly the first time...

Remember when you learned to ride your bike? At first you had to conciously think about balancing on the two wheels. And then suddenly it worked by itself. It made "click!" and you had it. Or when you suddenly "get it". - The logic of a game for example. That's "click!".

Today I had a "click!" day in the evening practice session on the BMX track. As I went over the first doubles and triples it just felt different then last week. Smoother. Faster. More natural. I felt like I was one with the bike - not fighting against it and trying to force it about. Wooohooo!

Then I tried to jump the first tabletop - the whole weekend I had tried another pair of tabletops and couldn't clear them... So I tried this one for mere fun. On the 5th or 6th try I sucked it up (a.k.a. I pulled the bike up to clear it into the landing) and landed perfectly.

If you ever cleared a jump smoothly (landing in the excact same spot with first the front, then the hind wheel) you know that you can't feel the landing. So I felt nothing as I went over it. Then I felt everything - like jumping for joy all over again - woohooo!

I'm sure it didn't have style (see below) or looked anything close to natural and easy. But I cleared it. I couldn't repeat it the same evening - but somehow I know I will next time.

Then we had another starting gate practice. My second try at the gates. The "Click!" continued and I found myself not falling over the gates more than 15% of the time. And when I started I was not one turn behind the others - but leaving the ramp in the mid of the pack. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement.

Now I'll try to carry this newly gained confidence into the first downhill race of the season - next weekend.

The rays of sunlight send a tingling sensation down your spine.

Your head is spinning.

Your index fingers itch for the brakes instead of the "f" and "j" keys.

Even in your office chair you can feel the wind, hear the rustling of the trees, the tire imprinting the forrest road, the swirring of your wheels and the significant "umph, umph" your fork makes as it swallows the bumps... - Thinking about it you could jump for joy. Laugh. Shout.

And you just can't wipe that gigantic grin off your face.

=> YES! Summer's here and the bike bug has bitten you like it was the first time. Damn, I can't imagine any better fix in the whole wide world!

Go out and ride your bike. It's better than you've imagined in your wildest dreams!

My motto for the equipment check was this. And the results are:

1. Frames don't last forever.


2. If you're already in full gear, why not just switch bikes?
   


3. Sometimes 10°C is warm enough.
   


4. If you wear the collar correctly, you will even be able to turn your head.
   


5. A princess needs a maid and I need someone to help me get dressed for the races. Or I'm taking a full-body mirror.
   


6. My mechanic wins the price for the worst gear setup ever (the top gear is "empty", the biggest ring is never touched by the chain).


7. I can get a derailleur unstuck between three spokes bare-handed if the alternative is a walk home.


8. Practice will get you everywhere if you give it enough time.

The Roque de los Muchachos is the highest peak on the island of La Palma. 2426m high it is known around the world for a gigantic astrological observatory. The bikers know it as the longest downhill of the island. You can ride along the ridge all the way to sealevel. (See picture: from the peak to the left)

 It's one of the top rides so it was clear that in our 2 weeks on the island we were riding it. We got a shuttle all the way to the top and were astonished about the high temperatures. Once we stood there properly dressed (in shorts and short sleeve) we enjoyed the view. You could see the surrounding islands El Hierro, Gomera and Tenerifa (with it's snow covered peak, the Teide)! It's not often that you get such a view in La Palma. See the picture below: top right and left corner are the surrounding islands.

The trail itself starts pretty rough with some hike-a-bike passages until it finally decides to slope downhill and opens to more flowy trail. Unfortunately I found myself having a really exceptionally bad riding day. Like I have mentioned in an old post 3 years ago, I get these days sometimes as I get the "bloody maniac"-days.

I was getting p*ed off at myself for riding like a beginner - knowing that I could do much better. The bike was sliding away under me and exhibiting a strange will of it's own, throwing me off every chance it got. After reaching 2000m it was time to stop and rethink. We took a big break and I tried to rewind the day to start over mentally. Yes, imagine me sprawled out in the sun in a yoga-like tantrum state "I will forget how I rode until now. I will forget how I rode until now. I will get on my bike like it's the first ride of the day and ride like I know I can ride". I adjusted the free stroke on my brakes - which I hoped was one of the main problems. I had a snack. And then I tried again...

This week I had my first encounter with the starting gate. (Yeah, the one you saw at the Olympics 2 years ago, or at local Fourcross/BMX races) Standing in the midst of our Fourcross team on Monday night's practice I swallowed as the coach raised the gates and called us to line up. I had read about how to shoot out the gates as they dropped but I had never tried or seen it done before. I got one look at the boys in the first batch and there I was, trying to balance with my front wheel pushed up to the gate... wondering how I would pull this off without flying over the gate...

"Riders ready. Watch the Gate. BOOM!" and you should be off like this:

Start 3 - MyVideo Schweiz

I managed the first lot but found myself at the end of the group shooting out. At least I hadn't tripped headfirst over the bars... So on the next tries I could work on how to do it... The first trouble was to balance while waiting. Until our coach let me in on the secret of not trying to balance with my knees or my weight, but only with small steering movements on the handlebar. It took me about 8 go's until I was balancing enough to look up into the lights (after I even realized there where lights, not only sound. *G*).

Second trouble is getting the weight in the right place before you start. Watch his wrists in the video, how straight up they are. It felt like a very unnatural position to me. You also need to lock up your elbows. And then when you got that dialed comes the timing. As the lights turn from red to yellow you need to explode your weight forward over the bars while at the meantime pushing down hard on the front foot. The front wheel shouldn't rise.

That's the theory. In practice - I need a lot more practice than those dozen starts. AND, you should be careful getting into traffic light after starting gate training... or you gonna run someone over.

So for this easter weekend I will go and practice some on my own. Still got a lot to learn to keep up with the BMX-boys. The practice with them is supposed to make me fit for the upcoming downhill races. I can't believe the first one is 2 weeks from now... Still got a lot to learn until then.

This video gives you a good impression of the diversity of the terrain. At 2mins we were waiting to see Hobbits and fairies scattering away in front of us as we rocked down the trails. I've also included my best pictures. Hope you like it! - Thank you Andrea, Reto and Christian for joining the trail festivities!

La Palma - Trails Part 2 - Cumbre Nueva & Bonny's Trail from lindamorgi on Vimeo.

La Palma - Trails Part 1 from lindamorgi on Vimeo.

So I hope you enjoyed the "remote posting" during the last days. I'm back from my 2 week vacation on the Canarian island. It was fantastic. Warm, sun, great trails, one or two awesome picture shootings, good food, yummy drinks and nice people....

And all of that is caught not only in the pictures you can see here but also on a 38min video - already in final cut and ready to show. A video is also what is going through my mind at the time. One magnificent picture after the other I'm still soaking in the holiday sun. Zurich tried hard to smack us down into the reality of 15°C and rain... but I'm having nothing of that. Still have some pictures to sort through this week. The eager models are eager to see the results!

But for now I'm happy to have unpacked my bags and re-assembled my bike already. One thing after the other!

Today it's back home for us. Two weeks full of sun, fun, trails and pictures... Not only did we sometimes ride above the clouds (see pic) it also felt like it!

I can't wait to tell you what else happened. I hope you enjoyed the daily pics and posts! Thanks for reading and -

LET MEEEEEEEEE ENTERTAAIIIIIIN YOUUUUUU! (Sorry, that was an unnecessary, sponteanous vacation outburst. I apologize.) I hope you are still in the mood for some new pics and video clips. Just need the weekend to get back settled in.

Later.