1st mountain bike ride

I am down in Dallas for a dealer meeting, and a short visit to my brothers house.

Yesterday, I got out for a 1 hour mountain bike ride.  I went out to the local trails when I got here, where the Trek demo truck was doing a demo for the local dealers.  I spoke with a bunch of riders, helped change some pedals etc…  When it was all winding down, David and I went out for a little loop ourselves.  I grabbed a Fuel EX, and switched the brakes and the pedals and we headed out.

I was a little bit nervous about the whole thing.  I have not ridden outside at all since my knee injury.  I have spent a bunch of hours on the trainer at this point, but of course there is not much risk of falling down or having to dab your foot to the ground on the trainer.  I was really tentative at first.  My timing was completely off, and I could feel my knee when I had to power the front wheel over and obstacle or when I had to put English into the bike etc… 

But, during the course of the hour I got more and more confident.  Confident enough that I was pushing around corners, wheelie dropping ledges and bunny hopping rocks/logs etc…  I pushed hard enough that I washed the front end in a turn, and had to do a major correction to avoid going down.  I still did not have to put my foot down to correct a fall, but I am much more confident now.  I even had to clip out quickly when following David up a climb that he did not make, no issues. 

My timing is still way off, and I suppose the first time I do have to dab – it will be scary.  But, I am even more confident now. 

I cannot wait to get my knee braces and get out on the motorcycle.

Joe