Getting an education while not getting schooled.

I had a great ride last night. After the 24 hours of Big Bear race last weekend, I was going to take a day off. With temps in the low 70s and hardly a cloud in the sky, I just couldn't keep the bike in the basement.

At 6:20 I found myself rolling into the Wakefield parking lot for JoeP's monday night rides. Joe's great on these rides. He does a neat mix of pushing the pace for the group while being laid back and relaxed about what we all need out of the ride.

Last week I did everything wrong before this ride. This week, I was a little better. My eating was right. I had prepared in the morning so I wasn't rushing around like an idiot. Though I wasn't recovered from the race over the weekend, I felt pretty darn good for a Monday.

Joe, David, Mark, Walt (dang I hope that is the guys name.... I've ridden with him 100 times and I still forget his name -- He's got a HUGE red truck and he's a fireman.) and I headed out at a pretty good clip. That's when my education began.

Mark was riding his Ironhorse Sunday downhill rig. He'd raised the saddle and put a slightly smaller chianring on it, but it was still a 40 pound DH bike. He rode it like it was an XC bike. That is a testament to two things... Mark's abilities on a bike, and the pedaling platform on the Ironhorse. I pedaled it around the parking lot and it felt AWESOME! It was, however, truly amazing that Mark rode it with such agility and speed. He lofted it up stairs and over logs as though it was a 22 pound XC race bike. Amazing.

I followed him and watched his lines. I loved watching him pre-load the suspension and then launch up a short flight of 4 steps at the base of the switchback in Accotink. He didn't touch a single stair. He floated the bike over 18" log stacks as though they weren't even there.

Here's what I learned in Mark's riding class last night. He gets the front wheel over a log at speed, then pushes it down as he's lifting the rear wheel over the log. It is a many-step process that, when done right, becomes one fluid motion. The cool thing is that it is FAST FAST FAST. It insures that the back wheel gets up enough that you don't end up riding a front wheel unicycle for 10 feet off the back of the log.

After following Mark for a while, it was time for my next class. I got on to JoeP's wheel and noticed that he was hopping logs much the same way. That was cool to see. I started messing with it, and though I certainly am not as smooth as either of those guys, I've got the technique down for smaller logs. We'll slowly build up the size of the log stacks over the next few weeks/months.

What I really picked up from Joe is how smooth he is. My transitions from seated to standing climbing always feel labored. I always feel like I'm hesitating a split second. Joe has none of that. After following him for 30 minutes or so, I think I figured out how he does it. First off, he's off the saddle earlier than I am. It is hard to tell because he's running different gearing than I am. I'm pushing a smaller gear. But he's out of the saddle before his cadence drops too much. I let my cadence get down pretty low before I get may butt up off the saddle. Part of that is that my legs can put out pretty good power even when seated (not that Joe can't). I tried getting out earlier and it felt a little smoother. I think I need to find a point somewhere between where Joe gets out of the saddle and where I normally do.

The other thing I noticed about Joe's riding is his position on the bike. His back is usually relatively flat when he's out of the saddle. He's using his whole body to climb and doing it smoothly. When the going gets rough, I tend to go a bit more upright and torque like hell. It isn't pretty and it probably isn't near as efficient. I have to work more to keep my hips back to keep traction on the rear wheel. I found that bending my elbows used more bicep than tricep for climbing, which is a good thing for me. It kept my center of gravity low for better and faster reactions to stuff on the trail, and it shifted my hips back to weight the back tire while keeping my head forward to weight the front tire.

You kind-of have to see what I'm talking about to understand it. As me the next time we ride and I'll show you what I'm talking about.

Here's the cool part about this... I've been riding these silly mountain bike contraptions for a long freaking time. It'll be 20 years this fall. I learn something from people EVERY ride.

Thanks guys! I can't wait till next Monday.

Pete