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Perceptions

I have worked in a few jobs that included marketing and you learn pretty quickly, that perception becomes reality.
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I have worked in a few jobs that included marketing and you learn pretty quickly, that perception becomes reality.

I never liked that aspect. I prefer reality to be truthful and, well, real.

Maybe that’s why I like Strava so much. The Strava app keeps track of all your riding info from past and present. It compares rides, trail times and elevation.

Whether you felt great or tanked it in your mind, the timed ride keeps it very real in the end.

Three weeks ago I rode up to the top of Forbidden Plateau. I took my XC race bike to make it as easy as possible on myself. I was well rested and well fed. It ended up being a good time. We rode at a strong pace, we pushed a bit where we could and I managed to get to the top before my buddies, all in all I felt pretty good.

At that point I rode some fast and technical DH on my XC race bike. It was hard on the body and took more energy than it should have. I bounced and slid when I should have flowed and jumped, but I didn’t mind since I had such a good climb that day.

Last Thursday, a group of us went back to Forbidden Plateau for a similar loop.

It was a long day and I ate it on the drive down to try to get at least some food in my body. On this day I had a far more aggressive bike designed for the DH side of the ride.

We left the parking lot and headed up the steep gravel road climb. Within a few minutes I was off to the side wheezing, and wondering if I was having an asthma attack. I recovered and tried to reel in my friends. Ten minutes later I was stopped again, now wondering why I was over heating and why I suck so badly at climbing. My friends were far ahead at this point and I wasn’t sure if I was going to complete the climb.

I jumped back on the bike and gave it my all to keep them in sight.

I even managed to catch two of them, but the faster riders were miles ahead of me and untouchable.

After I arrived at the top and had a good rest, I still felt horrible, but the DH was about to start, so I regained my smile quickly.

After a stellar collection of downhill trails at maximum speed and minimum control, my bruised ego had recovered somewhat.

The best part of the day was downloading my ride details on Strava. What I thought was my worst climb in years and a near death experience, turned out to be my fastest climb ever on that hill.

Despite a bigger bike, hotter temps and a sudo asthma attack, my perceptions were way off. I beat my last time by four minutes. No wonder it hurt so much.

In reality I still got crushed by my friends, but at least I’m improving.

I’m James Durand and I’m Going’ Ridin’