It was the first time in months that I felt like I could just stand up and pedal. And that’s exactly what I did. The rhythm of my legs coursing up and down, mashing (let’s not make any grand dreams that any circles were involved), as I propelled my bike up toward the top of Zen, put me there. In that place that I hadn’t been in a while. And for the first time in months, I found my Zen.
Maybe it was the sunrise that greeted me at the bottom. Maybe it was the fact that Brother Meinkey showed up for the first time in, well, we won’t go there, he’s been busy. Maybe it was the humidity that kept me feeling cool as long as I was in motion. Or maybe it was just the fact that it was a new day, a new morning and a new No Dabs Contest. Mostly I think I know what it was and it makes certain recent decisions seem even that much more poor.
And then I dabbed on SOB Hill.
The Alliance has been hosting No Dabs Contests on Zen every Saturday for the past few months. About 6 weeks ago I decided it was time to pull the old double boinger out of the shed. Mostly because I completely rebuilt it this past winter and then never rode it. Needless to say, after bouncing around on the full stiffy since October, it felt like a dream. This led me to dreaming of owning a new one with all the fancy new stuff that they do to make you think you need one and by the end of the day I had a bike a should’ve never purchased. Not because it’s a bad bike, the thing rides like nothing I’ve ever experienced, but because it was more money than I wanted to spend.
Of course, buying a new bike is great motivation to ride it. So I did, exclusively. I can confirm the obvious that a 26 pound 6 inch travel bike rides pretty fucking amazingly. It pedals uphill almost effortlessly and made me feel like a could go downhill faster than my old ass probably should. It was pretty much like cheating. And that’s what I did, I cheated. I’m not going to tell you it wasn’t fun or that I don’t want to do it again, but it was cheating. It was easy and it made me soft.
Of course, as every teenager eventually has to learn, you can only run from bad financial decisions for so long, so that bike is up for sale and I’m back to riding the full stiffy.
Making the switch from full squish to full stiff is never quick or easy. I had forgotten what it felt like for a bike to compensate for my mistakes and then I proceeded to quickly forgot what it felt like when it doesn’t.
I was reminded as I stood up and stomped on the pedals. The bike went forward and I was forced to actually navigate the rocks instead of just bouncing over them. I had to remind myself to keep the hands loose, elbows bent and knees working up and down to keep the bike underneath me. As I made my way up that first climb, I became lost in my thoughts. The only thing that mattered was pedaling, Zen.
If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it would be filed under Making Cycling Difficult. Which we all know is kinda my forte. With all this constant weekly practice of the Zen, I had reached a point that I could almost default to muscle memory to get me through the many moves.
Of course, switching the bike change the way each move was done. For example, SOB Hill. On the rigid bike this is done by charging through the middle to the steep section and hoping you can get your bike above the foot ledge. Once there, it takes a few hopes to get back on level ground and boom, hit the pedals. It’s way more simple on a squishy bike, find a gear that’s not too easy and not too hard. Point the bike directly at the line and don’t vary from your picked line. Use the suspension to smooth out the bumps and allow you to keep some momentum allowing you to stand up at the steep spot and pedal right through it.
Switching from rigid to squishy, I never missed a beat. Switching back… Well let’s say that I’ve had the two worst rides on Zen in ages with this past Saturday’s contest being my all time highest dabs ride on the Zen in No Dabs Contest recorded history.
I guess we’ll try again this weekend.
- Meet at the bottom of Zen at 6:30 AM.
- Bring your game face.
- We are usually done by 8.
Rigid bikes for life!
