Dirt Treaders :: View topic - Under the skin

Glad to read you beat your nemesis - the bigger jump after the smaller one off the rock ledge toward the top of the jump line trail, correct?

Maybe someday I will find a pair of balls on the side of the trail and fasten them to myself or at least the bike and ride through it as a rider should.

I'm a old fat big chicken, so I have nemeses everywhere -- stuff most of you glide over with ease that freaks me out.

Mr Avid: that's a scary drop. I've seen plenty of people get slayed on it. Congrats on getting it handled!

My Nemesis... If you drop the furthest south trail off the volcano there is a split about 1/4 the way down. Trail turn right into a loose right hand shoot. Well if you stay straight at that right handed it puts you into the nastiest rock garden I have EVER ridden. I'll be honest, I ride it once a month (reluctantly) and it still gives me a knot in my stomach. :/

Awesome topic!

Author:	avidtest [ Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:06 am ]
Post subject:	Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
You've been there. You may even be there right now. That gnawing feeling. And it grows over time. You think about it every time you hit “that” trail. The one with the shitty bastard of a feature you’ve started obsessing about. That hairy rock garden. The large jump that’s bigger than your normal pay-grade. That big boulder roller with the big pucker-factor. That insanely technical section. Or, that fucking drop… You know you can do it. Welllll….you’re pretty damned sure you can do it. But the Yang part of your brain is saying “No Ying! We’re not doing it! We could get hurt!”. Ying responds, “Pfffffffft. You’re a pussy Yang. Shut the fuck up. We’re doing this shit!” The internal debate rages. And over time, there is no resolution. Ride after ride. Month after month. Sometimes….year after year… My Nemesis under the skin was a particular drop jump. I’d hit it more than once in the past. It’s nothing special. I see riders hit it on the regular. Hell, I see kids hit it. Albeit – talented kids. It’s been two years….. Two years! Two years ago, I got out of sorts mid-air and did not stick the landing. The result was a knee that looked a little like raw burger and a strained hip flexor. And now a permanently grindy hip. Not serious, but enough to leave an imprint. And enough to activate the self-preservation part of the brain. So for two years, that shitty puke of a feature had started to pick at me. Slowly growing in intensity. I knew I’d try it again one day. Or at least that’s what I told myself as I approached the launch with the correct speed, only to veer over to the P-line at the last moment – every damned time. My Nemesis. Damn you to hell! I finally resorted to regularly wearing knee pads on my rides, thinking they’d give me that extra bit of confidence. Two months after purchasing said kneepads, and wearing them on each ride, my Nemesis still taunted and haunted me. That fucker. I even started mentioning it to a few riding buddies. Nonchalantly of course, but still, they could see it was pick pick picking at me. I reasoned that if I made my fear public, it may spur me to just get over it. Last week, I was solo riding and came ever so close, but nope. With visions of laying trailside with a busted femur, and no one around to help haul my ass out, I pussed out again. Damnit. Allright. Enough is enough. I spotted a local crew at the spot yesterday and decided to follow them down the trail, knowing my decision for Christ was nearly upon me. 30 feet from the approach, I was uncommitted. 20 feet. Not sure. 10 feet …... “Just do it motherfucker!”, I screamed to myself. Pop. It was done. A non-event if there ever was one. No drama. No fuss. No muss. Almost disappointing in it’s spectacular un-spectacularness. Had anyone else seen it, they would have had the same reaction. Yawn. But by God, I finally did it. The satisfaction ran deep. I’d finally punched my fuckin Nemesis right in the beak and regained that lost confidence. “Suck it drop jump! I got you!" I’ll be out looking for my next Nemesis soon….. What's your Nemesis?

Author:	gabriel keating [ Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"

Author:	Kimba [ Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:15 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Glad to read you beat your nemesis - the bigger jump after the smaller one off the rock ledge toward the top of the jump line trail, correct? 1. The left-hander, off camber steep chute off the east side volcano trail. I roll up that thing every time thinking this is the time, but I stop and walk it. Then a bit further down the narrow right hander in the small canyon gets me off the bike every time. I've seen lots of people ride these sections easily but for some reason my brain says "no." I think it is the look of exposure in those sections that has my animal brain's name. The rock section at the bottom of green shed right before the creek had been my nemesis for a while as I had repeatedly endo-ed there, but thankfully I got over that. Riding it clean for the first time in about a year felt real good. Now it seems relatively easy again, although my awareness remains heightened for sure. You know how when you go on a ride, and you think about a section before you get there, sometimes even the night before - oh yeah that is what this thread is all about.

Author:	bankerboy [ Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:34 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Congrats! My brain is my weakest riding part of my body. It is a big pussy. My nemesis is on Miner's Ridge at Black Mountain. I can sometimes make it up the switchbacks and the stairs at the top don't slow me down. It is the stupid 16" rock-step up followed by a narrow gap in a split boulder about half way down the trail. Everyone knows it is there and, I am sure, most don't give it a second thought. The step-up on its own is nothing, the crack/gap ride is not bad. Add them together and mix in the 10 foot drop off on the side and my body/mind goes into HELL NO mode every time. I have made this in the past but reverted to chicken-shit mentality ever since. Maybe someday I will find a pair of balls on the side of the trail and fasten them to myself or at least the bike and ride through it as a rider should. Thanks for giving me a place to vent brain stupidity.

Author:	Dirt Pedaller [ Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:07 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Glad to know that I am not the only one out there with things on the trail that still own me...

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Author:	avidtest [ Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Kimba wrote: Glad to read you beat your nemesis - the bigger jump after the smaller one off the rock ledge toward the top of the jump line trail, correct? No; the drop that comes up right after the tree gap. I figure it's 7-8 foot of height between take-off and landing but it's about as smooth of a landing as you could hope for, and hardly any horizontal distance. It's very small potatoes considering what's being ridden these days. And the crew ahead of me (including Luke and Skylar), didn't even seem to notice that they'd left the ground for a moment. It's a feature that probably shouldn't have caused so much angst. But if I had hurt myself on a pebble, I'd probably be forever wary of that pebble. bankerboy wrote: Maybe someday I will find a pair of balls on the side of the trail and fasten them to myself or at least the bike and ride through it as a rider should. I found some smaller ones, but I'm afraid the rightful owner is going to find out and demand them back!

Author:	n10sive [ Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
I heard these accessories help, or at least bring all the ladies to the yard. http://nightcyclingsafety.com/product/bike-night-cycling-heart-shaped-tail-light/ Easiest way for me to get over some feature is getting towed in too. And being followed, your forced to do it

Author:	The Cala Reaper [ Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Mr Avid: that's a scary drop. I've seen plenty of people get slayed on it. Congrats on getting it handled! My Nemesis... If you drop the furthest south trail off the volcano there is a split about 1/4 the way down. Trail turn right into a loose right hand shoot. Well if you stay straight at that right handed it puts you into the nastiest rock garden I have EVER ridden. I'll be honest, I ride it once a month (reluctantly) and it still gives me a knot in my stomach. :/ Awesome topic!

Author:	avidtest [ Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Ha! I've walked down that rock garden several times investigating; looking for the right line. My nuts stayed safely tucked away up in my stomach though, so I never braved it. Now I gotta go check it again. I usually feel better about rocky technical stuff like that than I do about tires leaving the earth, so maybe I can talk myself into it. Even at once a month or so, I bet it doesn't get any less frightening! ....On second thought, I think I'll wait till after our upcoming vacation near Downieville. It would suck to break something right before a trip.

Author:	Ld00d [ Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
I'm a big chicken, so I have nemeses everywhere -- stuff most of you glide over with ease that freaks me out.

Author:	Dirtrider [ Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:46 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
Ld00d wrote: I'm a old fat big chicken, so I have nemeses everywhere -- stuff most of you glide over with ease that freaks me out. Fixed it for me

Author:	evdog [ Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
A couple of features at ATT were my nemesis for a long time. Eventually I sacked up and hit them, and got to the point where I was riding there weekly I would hit them without hesitation. After some time away I am back to most of them being my nemesis again. For jumps especially, I have to be hitting them regularly or I regress.

Author:	random walk [ Thu Jul 28, 2016 3:09 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"

Author:	ozzer [ Fri Jul 29, 2016 1:51 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
My nemesis is about every climb I have to get up to. And fireroads... Green DVOs.

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Author:	avidtest [ Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:38 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Under the skin – aka "Nemesis"
The Cala Reaper wrote: Mr Avid: that's a scary drop. I've seen plenty of people get slayed on it. Congrats on getting it handled! My Nemesis... If you drop the furthest south trail off the volcano there is a split about 1/4 the way down. Trail turn right into a loose right hand shoot. Well if you stay straight at that right handed it puts you into the nastiest rock garden I have EVER ridden. I'll be honest, I ride it once a month (reluctantly) and it still gives me a knot in my stomach. :/ Awesome topic! Done and done. Talk about finessing your brakes! There's a bit of a cheater line starting to develop on the upper right side. Did not succumb to it's temptation though. One more nemesis checked off the long list.