July Trials Event
This one was in Lake Fork Canyon, near Fenton Lake in the Jemez. The NMTA holds at least a couple of event there each year. The first Trials event I ever attended was at this location. The stars at night are just STUNNING up there, since there is very little light pollution. The more I’m at trials events, the more I really love the people. I still can’t believe that you can have one of the more experienced riders, go with to every section, walk it with you, have them explain the best ways to approach each of the elements, what to focus on with your techniques, and explain the nuances of the more difficult elements and if they know you well enough, tell you where you need to be more careful. It’s just so awesome to have that kind of help. I went up early Friday so I could get some riding in I had a ball just riding around on some single track in the area. Later in the afternoon, I went out with a few others, we practiced going over logs and other obstacles. Had a blast.
I’ve had three different riders help me as my minder. All of them have been incredibility helpful and supportive, most of the riders with the club are that way. Even more so than when I started road racing with Chris and Stuart helping out so much. Matt and Jessica have been so generous, helping me at events, with a minder, with helping me find a bike, and the time spent working with me. I’ve been to their place to ride, gotten some coaching, and have had Matt offer to help with any bike issues. It still surprises me that they are so open to people they don’t know well. Instantly makes you feel welcome.
This was a two-day event instead of just on Sunday. I would like to say I’m getting better, but my performance on Saturday proves that’s really not the case. LOL. Sigh. Before this, I had never worked so hard to get 3s and 5s on all the sections. I really should have quite while I was ahead, but I’m just too stubborn for that. I thought they were really hard, but then again, I can’t turn. Even though I’ve been working on it. Not that anyone could tell from how I was riding. I ended up with the highest score of the day… for the record that isn’t a good thing… but. It did get me a free tire, so maybe it was worth the embarrassment?
Sunday morning held such promise, but I had a new lesson to learn. Don’t adjust your front brake and clutch before you are going to compete, unless you no choice in doing so. The Beta has such bad clutch drag when it’s cold that it’s really hard to tell if the changes are good or bad. The changes that we made didn’t really work out so well for me. Of course, I didn’t know it until I had to ride down a ledge, and the clutch didn’t disengage when I pulled in the lever. I ended up launching off the ledge instead of just rolling down it like I wanted. If I had been trail riding it wouldn’t have been an issue, but since this was a trials event, it put me where I didn’t want to be and I fell over trying to get the bike turned to avoid a gate. Par for the course, that was my first section of the morning. I’d really like to say the next section was better, but remember I made two changes. This is when the second one bite me, I was used to a certain brake feel and I was coming down a short steep, loose section, and I over did the brake pressure, so the front wheel tucked. Two 5 for the first two sections of the day… Yippeee. It did get much better after that. I really have to break my habit of putting a foot down just because, I might need it, but when you ride a really tall bike, you get into the habit of doing that so you don’t fall over. It’s not really problem I have the Beta, but I still do it without really thinking about it. There’s just something that short-circuits my brain when it comes to ribbon and the gates. I know I can ride better than I do at these events! I really just need more time on the bike, unfortunately, I’ve over committed myself for too many things this summer. I’m lucky if I can get out on it 2x a month. I’ve been riding in my driveway more; I will continue to do so over the next few months so I can get better with my turns. After I got those great sections out of the way things got much better for me. I only had onw section that caused me issue all three times. Of course, I didn’t have my aha moment about why until after I had ridden it for the third time. Figures. LOL.
Both days I worked scoring for the upper sections. I really enjoy it, but finding the sections had been just horrific every time. The directions I was given were all wrong and I got lost… Thankfully, each time, someone came along to show me were I should be. I don’t usually get to take many pictures, but these from my secion on Sunday almost show you how steep it was.
