Quote Originally Posted by bike4ever View Post
singletrackmind - Castlewood, water bars on Grotpeter down hill before the nasty tree root. She cleared the first water bar and toasted the second. She actually landed at the third.
Oooh, one of my favorite spots ever! The loose rocks! The drop-offs! The hairy bend at the end with the tree!
Totally understandable why you'd get some heebies after seeing a crash there as it's one of those spots you hit at speed to nail it yet are never totally in control. It's worth it to get your mojo back for that, ok, it's essential to regain your mojo for that stretch. A few good unthinking runs of it will get you back on track, if you can get your noggin to knock off the thinking part.

That nasty root is one of my demons. I ride it, but I don't like it. A little speed (why can't it be a straightaway) and thinking of something else helps. That and a little bit of adrenaline from that downhill.

Don't miss out. You've ridden it without trouble before, you can do it again.
If it takes baby steps so what? Ride one, get some confidence, ride two, get those down and fly, baby!

For what it's worth concerning your friend (not much) I've had one of those blank spot accidents. Ten years later and I still don't remember a thing. Woke up after 5 minutes (I'm told) with a broken collarbone and nasty concussion but other than a mild balance problem for a few years after my biking psyche was unaffected. Like you, I've been more influenced by the crashes I remember and sometimes it takes a bit but so far minus those darned steps the bit has come back along and once the trouble maker was cleared successfully a time or few I'm gotten back on track.
Kudos to you for riding it in the first place, it's a tough spot. A very sweet tasty but still, tough spot.

(ramble ramble ramble)