Confidence Builder

I've mostly kept it to myself but ever since my nasty endo back in April at Reiter Pit, I haven't felt very comfortable on my mountain bike. I was attempting to roll a 2-3ft drop and went over the bars pretty bad. In fact, I thought I may have rebroken my collar bone and did break my brake lever and crack the assembly. I've ridden quite a few times since then, but mostly on local trails and only once on something that was very technical or edgy.

And although it's been three months since that crash, I just still couldn't get my confidence back on the bike. I wasn't playing with the bike on the trail anymore, but rather holding on and timidly letting the trail put me where it wished. So last night I did what I should have done back in May -- I went back to local stomping grounds at Tolt MacDonald Park and rode 9 or so miles of fun, familliar, singletrack with the guys I rode with throughout the late winter and spring.

The humidity was suffocating to me last night, and I finished the climb up the IAB trail (stands for "It's A Bitch" thanks to the 0.95 mile, 400-foot climb leading straight out of the parking lot) a lot more winded than normal, but I tried blaming it on lingering side-effects from the Mountains to Sound race. Anyway, after another 30 minutes or so, I was ride back where I was pre-crash. I didn't wipeout last night, I felt fast and confident on the bike, and zigzagged through the narrow gaps between the trees with Jedi precision. I think I even managed to go the whole night with only a single dab or two that wasn't due to congestion on the trail.

My summer/fall work crush is in full swing right now, and I'm scheduled to lead a campout with the BBTC on the weekend of July 22nd to a little-known area east of Mt. Rainier. I dropped from the 8-hour epic I was scheduled to be on this coming Saturday in hopes of getting enough work done to actually be able to lead that trip the following weekend, but my sudden regaining of confidence and boost of excitement about mountain biking (I was starting to burn out from it, to be hones) has me wanting to at least sneak in a shorter ride this weekend. Maybe I'll head back down to the Greenwater area and explore those other trails in the Palisades area. Maybe this time, I can ease myself off the white-knuckle grip and let it fly. Maybe I'll have time. No, maybe I'll make the time.