Strange trail experience

Out this week in the evening and met a young lad up the woods (far less dodgy than it sounds) on a bike who asked me "do you do jumps and stuff?". I was very confused - I was wearing lycra shorts, an early 90s road jersey and riding a bike with rigid forks and a ridiculously long seatpost. Then I glanced down and saw that my skewers had 'Kore' written on them - did this explain his query?

About 10 minutes later I was gingerly negotiating a lovely, only slightly downhill section that I can ride no problem when confident but crawl down when not (it was a 'not' day) and two middle aged guys cheerily flew past as if on continental tarmac - had they not noticed that it was off camber, dusty and covered in roots?

I'm not sure there's any relevance or point here but I frequently ride in the same spot and see no one week on week so this was unusual to say the least. Were these actually apparations that illustrated to me what I am no longer (youthful) nor now (skilled)? But, perhaps crucially, why do I so frequently ride downhill like a priest in a cassock?

I met a lad in the woods once while riding down the trail, he was on his knees, pants around the ankles, and he was.....you know.

I wished he had been an apparition.

Pinguwin

pinguwin":276es6sn said:

I met a lad in the woods once while riding down the trail, he was on his knees, pants around the ankles, and he was.....you know.

I wished he had been an apparition.

Pinguwin

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:shock:

Dude I have ommitted some words and used a little poetice license..hopefully you'l take it in good humour


"Out this week in the evening and met a young lad up the woods who asked me "do you do stuff?". I was very confused - I was wearing lycra shorts, an early 90s road jersey and riding rigid with a ridiculously long post. Then I glanced down and saw that my skewer,- did this explain his query?

About 10 minutes later I was gingerly negotiating a lovely, that I can ride no problem. It was a hot day, and two middle aged guys cheerily minced past as if on one - had they not noticed that it was off limits, and covered in warts?"

Gonzalez, that made me smile

No Confidence?!

I'd say your bike ain't right for you, must feel Sketchy too big/ small, Dodgy tyres/Wrong bar stem combo? Nowt to do with miles on your clock! What U riding?

Re: No Confidence?!

Wold Ranger":tvrr20rf said:

I'd say your bike ain't right for you, must feel Sketchy too big/ small, Dodgy tyres/Wrong bar stem combo? Nowt to do with miles on your clock! What U riding?

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You could well be right about bike size, stem length, tyres etc. although I'm like this on all my bikes and on the road (I was always a nervous descender and have never really recovered from a shimmy at 35mph on the road a couple of years ago - at it's worst I brake down smooth hills with a clear run out and no traffic and end up going slower than on the flat! Not rational but then when you're gripped by the fear rationality doesn't come into it).

To answer what am I riding: P7 ss, Yo x 2, XLM, Vit T, Inbred ss and I'm no 'better' on one than the other as I've tried to narrow it down to bike, conditions, tyres etc. without success, even going so far as to ride the same trails. Some days I feel a little more confident and so relax wheras others I've got the bars in a death grip. Still, even on the death grip days I come home with a sense of achievement so at least I'm still a few years away from smooth fireroads with a slight uphill gradient.