Under-Lumped

I actually got to ride last night. It was good. I am not really stoked on the CH lot, but it is dry, warm and lit if not anything remotely close to flat and smooth. It makes some of my tricks really challenging. Hang-ten to half-packs are a real bitch. Doing them there is really gratifying. So are hydrants to switch-hand steam to mcCircle to half-bar-flip to half hiker, which I pulled three times. The last one was great, it just dropped out and BOOM, I was done.

Sarge and I sat down with brakeless pinky-squeeks, which I am starting to kind of get the hang of, though I don't know why I would want to do them that way, when they are so much more fun with brakes. Sarge was doing them, amongst talking to himself and saying "Dammit!" a few times. Yeah, not "Darnit!" but "Dammit!" I was blown away at that outburst of frustration. Seriously. We also rolled some turbined hikers, as per usual. That place sucks for those as well.

Well, you gotta take it when you can get it. Last night I got it. I should get some more riding in tomorrow, too. Twice in a week...can't remember the last time THAT happened! I wish summer would hurry up and get here!

~J

Here's to...

Learning something new every time you ride. That has been a goal for me for the last few years. Everytime I get on my bike, I learn something. It could be really small, like putting foot out further on my peg, just to see what difference that makes. It could be learning switch-footed hang-fives to switch steam and getting my foot around back to roll cross-legged.

It is really motivating to be able to come away from every session with something to think about and anticipate for the next session. I think that is a big part of why I have really stepped up the tricks I do. I never thought I would be doing some of the tricks I am starting to get now. Seriously. I have always been somewhat good (not trying to be arrogant), but I was always a few steps behind the better riders. These days, I don't really care, I just want certain tricks.

And I am getting them and more. My advice; try something different every session and then use what you experienced to ponder the possibilities until the next time you get over your pegs.

~J

P.S. Justin is my pooky-bear...

My pooky

Justin, will you be my little pooky?

~J

Session in the cold...

It was an awesome session at the courts on Sunday. I had a good time riding and trying to get used to my new bike. I think everyone was having a good time despite the freezing cold wind. Cory (?) came down from Washington to jam with us, and I got to meet Jeff. Brett and Scott showed up still representing. I hope to have a few more sessions with all you guys before I leave.

I got a new job starting in January in Seoul, Korea, so I'll be moving over there just after Christmas. I'm gonna be teaching academic writing to university students, so I'll have plenty chances to mix it up with the hotties before Paul comes visiting and steals them all away. Anyway, it's a really good job and I'll have some vacation time too, so hopefully I'll do some travelling with that. I'm taking my bike over there to represent the BBB and Salem crew in Korea. I was just getting back into it over here, too. I'll put some pictures up here when I get over there....

Taking out the trash

So I was thinking about taking off my cranks because they scare me. Seriously, they scare me. I am afraid they will hit my shins. I also am afraid of steep head-tube angles, so I think I will buy an ugly bike with alot of bends. I am tired of riding a real bike, like a man. It starts now!

~J

Valleys of Trust

Here is what I feel in my riding:

Momentum creates valleys of resistance to balance, which will either keep you on or fling you off. When you're deep in these valleys, your bike will behave as though it were upright to an extent, allowing you to ride as though it were, but you have to trust it. That is the hard part, trusting it, trusting yourself. Brakes take you out of the valley in a heartbeat. That is why there are some tricks that are simply impossible with brakes, but all tricks are possible without. It all amounts to your trust. That makes me think of Paul's pinky-squeaks.

The bike's motion will try to bully through a g-turn or switch and the best thing to do is allow it to do so, but you have to get there BEFORE the momentum does and be gone when it arrives. You will only meet your momentum at that point where you g-turn and in that instant, you are as stable as though you were not moving at all. But you have to be waiting when momentum arrives with your lasso, ready to wrangle it and force it to do what you want. Well, not force, more like nudge. But it takes trust, once again.

That is the single biggest thing that allows me to progress. Trust. If I am angry at myself or my bike, I can't lead my momentum, can't trust it. It's all a headgame.

This what I have learned since I started riding with Paul. I think my time away from riding allowed me some perspective or growth, so I am glad I stopped for that time. Now, when I watch videos, I feel what they are feeling and the ONLY thing that keeps me from the tricks that the pros do is trust. Period.

Once you allow yourself to trust, allow yourself to simply do those tricks, your mind will be blown as mine is. Seriously. I am shaking as I write this because it is such a big deal to me. The trust I have for myself because of my riding has made me who I am. Not only that, it has made me love who I am. That love comes out in my riding more than just about anything.

It is the equivalent of what the surfer faces when he is charging a wave; the hunter feels sighting the charging bear; the scholar feels conceiving the neoteric theory. It is the trust, the accomplishment, the cresting of the hill and glimpsing the next challenge.

That is what I feel when I ride.

~J

I did it!

I ate something that wasn't a pizza or a hamburger and I LIVED!
~J