While the winter has been pretty mild, it did leave some snow on the ground for a couple weeks, meaning that trials riding options were pretty limited. After the snow had melted away, we were able to ride some rocks again. Just to make sure we didn’t encounter snow in the shaded parts of the woods, we selected a nice open area to ride at one of our favorite locations.
As usual, we started the ride on the rocks adjacent to the parking area. There are tons of lines to ride here, but typically this is the warmup area. We did some of the usual lines here – like plenty of rollups – as well as some time doing some challenge lines. Tony and Jim nailed Tony’s challenge line in short order. I, on the other hand, required a few more attempts to finally get it. I might end up making another short video about just that line, actually, because I think it’s interesting to see the progression and failed attempts versus only the successes.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I need to get better at riding skinnies, so I practice them whenever I have the opportunity. I was hoping to be able gap from one skinny pole to a skinny beam, but could not quite get it. And later I found a cool skinny line across a narrow outcropping on a big rock ledge. I still have a ways to go before skinnies are second nature, but I can definitely see improvement.
During this ride as well as some recent other rides, I’ve also been trying something a little different. For some lines, I try doing them in an abnormal way using techniques I’d never use in a competition or an edit to show off trials riding, but for just goofing around it adds a level of challenge, it’s goofy fun, and I’m pretty sure it does help build some fundamental riding skills like balance and kinesthetic awareness. Who else does this?
This past year I’ve watched Scott really start stepping up his game. It’s been pretty cool to see him working on bigger, harder, and scarier moves. He did a pretty big side drop in this ride, and has been working on his rear wheel moves. I’m looking forward to seeing him unlock those pedal kicks!
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