Dusty taking time off Dual Slalom lap timesWell, I think I am really realizing the benefit of an "off season". I know the team, myself included, struggled with the idea of letting go of racing in August when it seemed we were just starting to hit stride. But, now a few month into resting from that scene, I've renewed my drive to ride and train. It is important to allow the body and mind time to rest during the year, especially for the amateur racer, and restore its strength.
Zach and I perfectly timed racing the pump section of the 4x course!
The boys practicing. Me toward the end of the Dual Slalom on the red course, Zach a turn back on blue, Dusty three turns backLast weekend we all went out, excepting a few members of the team, and cut our teeth on the course at Sand Hill. 4x, dual slalom, rhythm and pump sections, jumps. It felt like a little miniature boot camp to shake off the cobwebs, loosen up and cheer on our friends. I think we all left feeling energized and better riders for it.
Stacy and Dusty loving the pump course!Personally, the time on course there provided me an invaluable opportunity to learn. Repeated runs over short sections of technical terrain allow your mind to work through the details you might not otherwise see on longer courses. In piano lessons, my teacher requires me to break up pieces of music and work them one or two bars at a time, even a few notes at a time, over and over until those feel like second nature. Then the rest of the piece flows into and out of that section. The same was the case with sections of the track there, where we teamed up and ran numerous laps working through bike pump, speed, jumping, etc. From there, that work will flow into our season of riding in a big. way. Over three runs Dusty improved his DS time by 2 seconds each run! That's a major increase in time on a DS course!
I am thankful in this season of thankfulness for the team that has gathered around Zach, Dusty and my original enthusiasm for riding. They reflect back to me my love of this sport, which has been with me my entire life.
2 comments:
...And we are thankful for you and your enthusiasm! This off-season has been such a great chance to work on bike skills, and I super-appreciate all your feedback and excellent pointers for learning to do these jumps!
Looking forward to '09, and with it the growth and change that will make us all stronger people, and stronger riders.
S
I wish we were doing a shuttle session and I was on a new SX right now.
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