The friends I used to ride with, before they became too old for it, hated to repeat a section of trail. I’ve always preferred to repeat sections so that you can keep improving your performance and that’s what I did today.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2080162862/embed/170e432463755b9e16c03d0f71ece38156a6bc21
I loved sliding around the corners and noticed how some corners were becoming more slippery the more I rode them. It’s just a case of keeping your weight forwards pushing the handlebars and hence front wheel into the mud. That way, if you do get a slide, it’s more likely to be rear wheel focussed, which is much easier to cope with.
No jumps today so I only used 3/4 of my suspension travel. I do a lap of 0.9 miles at Birkacre, which was the focus of my ride. Each lap has about 14 corners where you need to watch your speed so it’s full of action. In addition to lots of general riding around I did 2 full laps today which each took me 8 minutes. I seem to recall that I did a lap in about 5 min 15 seconds about 25 years ago! Could I get close this summer? Is racing your younger self an interesting activity or the unhealthy obsession of a middle aged man?
Mountainbiker 