Not much...

Not much to post up today.  I'm making an effort to write every day, so sometimes my content might be a bit boring, but DEAL WITH IT! :)

Heading up to ride some of my favorite trails today with a couple friends.  Trails really are what you make of them.  A year ago, I would have thought these particular trails were crazy.  Too techy, too slow, and not enough flow.  I still don't think there's much flow, but for what they lack in that, they more than make up for in technical challenges.  I always think of the rides I do there as "skill work", getting me out of my comfort zone and allowing me to get my bag of tricks up to snuff.

There's all types of riding in mountain biking.  There's fast and flawy, smooth and groomed, rugged and rocky, etc.   None is really better than the other, but knowing to ride all of them is important if you want to be a complete rider.  I hate when people get carried away with how "techy" the stuff is they ride, and put down others for riding smooth and groomed trails.  The truth of the matter is that no matter what you ride, you can make it more or less difficult by the lines you choose and the speeds you travel.

My local trails are probably what would be considered easy by most "hardcore" east coast riders.  There aren't many rocks, not too many crazy roots, and generally, they're hard packed and fast.  But, that's not to say that they can't be ridden hard and taken at speeds that will make you hurt if you come off the bike.  I've had gnarlier crashes on the local stuff than I've ever had on the "crazy"rocky and technical stuff.

What I'm getting at is that riding is what you make of it.  You can always challenge yourself no matter where you are as long as you're creative and use your imagination to inspire your riding.  The longer I've been at this, the more I look off  the trail at what I can jump, ride, huck, or whatever.  Recently I've been known to just tear through the woods, going through low lying brush, thorn bushes, and branches to take a line that no one sees but me.  Sure it's given me some flats, crashes, and bangs, but more importantly, it's given me a smile from ear to ear.

Again, not much to say on the day here, but this was something that has been on my mind.  If you ride mountain bikes, don't forget about the purpose of what exactly they were created.  It wasn't to get from point A to point B as quick as possible (though that's certainly fun); and it wasn't to put others down because they didn't ride what you rode; the purpose of the mountain bike was to ride whatever, wherever you want.  The mountain bike broke the limits set fourth by the modern road bike, and shattered the perceptions of where you could go with two wheels and pedals.  Don't let your thinking be limited to the thought that you have to ride somewhere in any such matter.  Shred what you want and don't apologize to anyone.