Went out after work tonight. Fair enough I was in a good mood and the trails were dry but I could literally do no wrong….twice as fast as normal into a berm I normally need to brake for – no problem and hey it means I didn’t need to pedal for the next section so it all went smoothly and I made the double…etc etc. Oops hit a root which would normally have me off and…well actually styled the air and off we go again.

How come some days you can be a cycling god (not really), yet most of the time you are most certainly not?

A really good night’s sleep.
No other worries.
I dunno but it’s great when it all comes together like that occasionally.

1001 little things I think.

I remember one of my then fastest red loops at the local trail centre. It’s going back a lot of years now but was single and responsibility free, not very happy with the world (mid-divorce, all sort of other nonsense going on in my head) and I went at it like a charging bull. Somehow my sheer bloody mindedness and diminished sense of any kind of self-preservation meant I rode it in a way and at a speed that I’d never managed before.

Trying to replicate it the following weekend with my more assertive line choice and aggressive braking resulted in me going AOT at high speed, whacking my head, knee and shoulder quite badly. After I’d recovered I cheered up and got slower…

Less dramatically I think being well rested, the bike being right and being in the right good (or bad!) frame of mind can make a big difference.

It’s those sort of rides when you finish and you’ve still got another hour in you, when you’re almost mourning the ride as it ends.

Watch out, i find that Ying and Yang tend to rebalance! One awesome ride is often followed by utter clown based carnage……. 😆

@jekkyl and Maxtorque

Yes, mindful of both those things I noticed I was getting faster on each run so called it a day later than I was expecting but still before I was physically finished and bought a couple of expensive trendy beers on the way home to celebrate…..rather than breaking my collarbone on the last run of the day

For me I think it comes down to when my hips are moving well – when that happens everything else seems to fall into place.

It’s focus and/or mindset (eg not giving a **** that day).

I go faster if I’m being chased by someone that I’ll be pissed off at losing to.

lol. Do you often get chased by people Tom?

Ive had a few rides like that. Everything flows.

Thinking about it afterwards it was mostly down to speed, looking further ahead and moving my body / hips more. Also focus – nothing else going on in my head except that trail.

Damm hard to replica though.

Tom?

Could be all sorts of things.

Try to analyse it while you’re riding and it’s likely to all go to faeces.

Possibly best to just enjoy and savour those (for me) fairly rare rides and not worry too much about trying to recapture it – if it happens it happens.

Having said that, for me it seems to be when I don’t think too hard about what I’m doing…

I think sometimes its expectation. I don’t have much free time so when I have ‘A WHOLE DAY’ its sometimes overbuilt in my mind as time that has to be perfect so if things don’t go right from the get go then its wasted free time. Whereas if its an unexpected bonus few hours like this evening then you just saddle up going ‘yay lets go!’

I’ve had enough of the opposite recently where it doesn’t flow due to bloody Gates. Gate after Gate.

For it to really flow sometimes, one has to be pretty shite most of the time 😉

lol. Do you often get chased by people Tom?

*sigh*

no.

😆

*looks off into the distance existentially depressed*

I’ve had a couple of rides lately where I’ve felt totally on it – strong, technically capable, relaxed and confident.

Wish I knew why! But the one common thread was riding new, quite technical trails blind and with a bit of speed.

I feel like chapaking when it’s right. It can new trails, old trails, trail centre or natural. There’s no formula – it just ‘is’. That’s why it’s special.

Tom_W1987

I go faster if I’m being chased by someone that I’ll be pissed off at losing to

For me, that ^^^ generally ends up with me, in a bush/ditch/tree (*delete as appropriate), on my head, seeing stars…. 😉

Really it’s where the old “speed is your friend” comes from and to a point it’s right.

If you have enough velocity and are controlling it with smooth actions you’ll tend to speed up rather than scrubbing speed off all over. With a bit of momentum most/all trail features are easier to negotiate.

It’s all in the mind once you have basic bike control down.

I love those rides where you are feeling just . . . . strong. Where you coming to a rise and you stand on the pedals and there’s just power there, you ask for it and it’s there in spades and you just **** belt it on through. Normally after you’re warmed up a fair bit there’s a point in the ride where you don’t feel like you’re expending any energy, it’s effortless to just keep floating along at that speed.

I’ve had it skiing more than biking but not enough of either (and I’m not really high standard at either) – I get through something and can’t work out HTF I did it. I think the key for me is when I don’t (have time to) think about it at all (so riding new trails blind might well do it for me too)

For me, that ^^^ generally ends up with me, in a bush/ditch/tree (*delete as appropriate), on my head, seeing stars….

Snap.

The rides where I feel awesomez usually end up with me coming to a sudden stop…