Quote Originally Posted by gnat23 View Post
How would my life be different if I had less fear?

This counter-intuitive logic drives me mental. When off-roading, it's momentum that carries you, floats you over top of dangers instead of dropping into them. When anticipating an obstacle, it helps to actually speed up in approach. My instinct of self-preservation, from deep in lizard brain, trumps this knowledge, my practice, and logic. If I could convince myself to take the chance, to not hesitate, to gun it with only the best intentions: it would probably be ok.

I'm not sure how to ease my way out of this. How do you turn off the fear gene, especially when in unknown territory? How do I try things even though there might be a high chance of failure? Especially when it comes to physical pain, how to you override the instinct of concluding the worst outcome?
Awesome race report, gnat. Sounds like you had a terrific time despite those few negatives.

While I don't race or ride with anywhere near race intensity, I have similar handling issues on the bike. What annoys me is that I know the exact same things you do and have experience with them from driving my car on country roads. I have little to no fear in the car and will fling it around curves because I know how it handles. I'm still so far from forging that same relationship with the bike, though, probably because I know that there's less between my flesh and the ground if I miscalculate. Hopefully, one day, it'll click.

And congrats on your finish. Every result is a learning experience that moves you forward, no matter what number is attached to it.