Clearing stuff uphill

Okay, today I was feeling pretty brave, and tried a lot of stuff that would normally make me cry. I cleaned a tricky rock garden that was down a hill and around a corner that I had missed the day before. I squeezed through some menacing knee high rocks at a pretty impressive speed. I was feeling like pretty hot stuff.

Then I cleared out of the way as some guy came bailing down the hill. Then I saw what he came down. Rock, root, rock, root, root, rock ugh! I pedaled toward it and made it up a root and half, and laughed as I walked up it with the gal in front of me. We made excuses as to why we bailed to make ourselves feel better.

So I guess next time I ride, I'm gonna host my own mini skills clinic on that hill until I get it. Kinda like I was gonna do on the rock garden, until I aced it on the first try. Tuesday I'll be out there, grunting away at the hill, but in the mean time, any pointers? Other than that sometimes a good grunt will get you through amazing things (something else I discovered today).

On a side note, I survived the ride back down the hill. Just kept my weight back, and low and held on. I tried really hard to pick my line, then I realized as I got bounced all over hell and gone like a pinball that my best choice for survival was to hold firmly to my handlebars, relax, and keep my eyes on the prize. As long as I was at least looking at the goal, I'd get there, and I did. Next time I'll see if it's even possible to get a "line" down that hill. Sure was fun though!

love and cookies
-smurfers