Peur

Everyone has their limits, and while some of those are defined by their physical abilities, much of it has to do with fear. Being afraid to get close to the wheel in front of you is a common fear amongst beginners and something I am working on with two of the rookies on the team. As you progress you limit your fear, becoming more and more comfortable with being in a pack, bumping, going fast, and just generally going past your comfort zones.

I've written about the wreck I was in awhile back, well unfortunately along with the injuries that has caused a new fear for me when it comes to the bike. Being from Bloomington we may not have mountains, but we do have our fair share of hills, a few of which are over a mile long, or have a grade over 14%. Historically I have been fairly comfortable descending in a group. Not any more, it could be the most experienced rider, or someone I have ridden with for almost four years, and yet I still find myself wanting to clench the breaks going down hills. This is not because the wreck was the fault of anyone in front of me, because there was nothing that anyone could have done, but rather because I saw them go down in front of me.

It has been getting better, and I am slowly getting more comfortable descending hills, particularly when I am with people who I have ridden with for a long time, but it still bugs me. Something to work on I suppose.

Needless to say I have had fear in my thoughts a lot lately, not only because of the wreck, but also because my team recently did a Full Moon Forest ride (up BeanBlossom). Ten PM at night, 7 girls (including two rookies), 14 lights and a 33 mile loop. Needless to say there was a fair amount of fear all around. For me it was the worry that something would happen to the girls and I would feel very much responsible, because it was mine and Lyndi's (the other third year rider on our L5 team) idea.

Fortunately the ride ended well. We had one dog incident and then there was a huge snake in the road, but other than that it was a great experience for the team. Overall the girls really came together, learning very quickly how important communication and trust is for a team. Plus we had all the drunk people cheering us on as we came back through campus. Anyways that's all for now, I'll keep working on descending, got to be ready for it by the time we go to TN for fall break.

Arianna and I halfway through the ride.

The entire team safely back at our apartment complex.