Aww Yeah! I Feel Good Again!

A trip to LakeLake today. Perfect weather. Felt great to be on the dirt again! Gosh, I can't imagine how I ever got through life without biking sometimes. Nice to get out of the city, out of the traffic, and in the sun.



I rode the first lap very slow. Intentionally. The dirty little secret of mountain biking is the faster you go the easier it gets. Coming from a car racing background, the first thing you learn to do is be smooth - smoothness maximizes traction. Same with a mountain bike on a loose trail. I have a nasty habit of sawing at the handlebars. Weaving and over-correcting. It killed me at Bar-H.

Thus, the focus for the first lap was to be smooth. Everytime I caught myslef sawing back-and-fro on the bar I told myself "STOP IT". I focused on hitting good lines, and nailing apexes in the turns. All stuff I do on auto-pilot in a car, but am still learning on the bike. It helped! By the end of the first lap I was feeling looser, smoother, and wanting to go faster.

Fast was saved for the second lap. I'm pretty sure it was a PR for me at LakeLake. Not sure because I didn't hit the "Lap" button on the GPS. Regardless, it felt quick.

The other thing I did on the ride today was to try out a pair of Kenda Smallblock 8's.



I've been running Kenda Nevegals on the trails. Good tires in really loose stuff, but for the most part - they are too much tire for most places in Texas. Certainly were at Bar-H. The SB8's have the same exact tread pattern as the Nevgals, except the knobs are much smaller.

I likey! They are very progressive in transition from grip-to-drifting. No surprises. They are VEERRRY fast rollers! The only thing they lack is braking traction. I found myself locking up the wheels on several occasions. Nothing I can't get used to.

Reveiw of some recent physio-testing results tomorrow!