Hrdy got me an ADA Dual Purpose intermediate course for my birthday. I was a bit nervous about the 'intermediate' part of the course and made him take me out on some single track in the 'Southf' the Saturday before the course - just to get comfortable with take-offs and landings. The outing started like this:
Get on bike, Ride 100 meters till stop street and stop.
Stall bike.
Check and change gears and start bike.
Stall bike again.
Check gears and start bike,
Stall bike again.
Over Siri (our intercom system): "Hey Sweetheart ... is first gear all the way up, or all the way down?"
In the end we did manage to ride some singletrack ... and fell off only once.
So the training weekend arrived. It was a pleasant ride to the training centre in Hartbeeshoek ... luggage all on Hardy's bike to encourage the TW to go just a tad faster.
Over the two days there were lots of 'look-ma-no-feet' riding, tight circles, emergency stops, clutch-control, slow rides, cones, up and down short steep hills. By the time we got to do some singletrack the balance on the bike was almost natural and the feeling almost as fun as on a mountain bike.
Singletrack. Weight on the outside peg! Look up and through the corner! Elbows out!
Night ride! I'm comfortable mountain biking at night - but my nightlight is helmet-mounted and shine where I look. It was strange to have the light shine where the handlebars are pointing rather than to where I'm looking.
Get on bike, Ride 100 meters till stop street and stop.
Stall bike.
Check and change gears and start bike.
Stall bike again.
Check gears and start bike,
Stall bike again.
Over Siri (our intercom system): "Hey Sweetheart ... is first gear all the way up, or all the way down?"
In the end we did manage to ride some singletrack ... and fell off only once.
So the training weekend arrived. It was a pleasant ride to the training centre in Hartbeeshoek ... luggage all on Hardy's bike to encourage the TW to go just a tad faster.
Over the two days there were lots of 'look-ma-no-feet' riding, tight circles, emergency stops, clutch-control, slow rides, cones, up and down short steep hills. By the time we got to do some singletrack the balance on the bike was almost natural and the feeling almost as fun as on a mountain bike.
Singletrack. Weight on the outside peg! Look up and through the corner! Elbows out!
Morning exercises on day 2
I always felt slightly out of my comfort zone with the exercises we did, but in the end the order in which the different exercises were presented made a huge difference so that by the end of the course when we got to the sand-riding, the short jumpies and the bunny-hops I was confident enough to attempt it and get some air (What? I can't even bunny hop my mountain bike on demand!).
And now I guess I'm not a noob anymore :)
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