Most of you guys know Alexander, also known as the Singletrack Sampler on youtube.
Not too long ago, Alex lost confidence on his mountain bike and became fearful of things
well within his abilities.
It all started with a crash in Grand Junction on a big sketchy rock roll.
Alex chipped his front tooth and jacked up his neck.
When Alex finally did get back on his bike, he dislocated his shoulder on a pretty small
rock ledge.
He spent the entire winter doing physical therapy, and not riding his bike.
Eventually, Alexander was well enough to at least do some road riding, so we decided to
ride 200 miles to key west.
Even on the road, his bad luck continued.
Feeling defeated, Alexander limped back on to his bike in the spring.
He started riding again, and even improved some of his skills, but he was holding back.
He was still bummed out about those crashes.
It was here on the Ribbon Trail in Grand Junction, where Alex fell off that scary rock roll face
first.
The purpose of today’s ride was for Alex to return to the scene of the accident, and
clean the rock roll once and for all.
And here it is.
And here’s me ignoring everyone’s disclaimers.
It probably looks like a speed bump from my helmet cam, but I assure you it’s sketchy.
After the roll is a sharp off camber right turn.
Ride too fast and you’ll fly off this ledge.
Ride too slow, and you’ll just go over your handlebars on the rock roll.
Either way you’re gonna be super bummed out.
Alexander is all too aware of these outcomes, and it’s getting the best of him.
You don’t need to be a mountain biker to identify with Alexander.
Maybe you’re thinking of switching jobs, or making a huge investment.
Maybe you’ve failed at these things in the past and lost confidence in yourself.
But maybe you made the decision to try again anyway.
Only you can make that call.
But once you have, if you have, even at your own peril—you can use these tips to execute
the task at hand with a clear head.
The first step is to make a final decision and commit to it.
Decide whether you’re going do said scary thing, or not.
You need to make a decision, commit to it, and move on.
Now, you need to focus all of your energy on the task at hand.
You need to allocate every ounce of your mental energy to emotionlessly and shrewdly planning
this maneuver.
Think about that, and only that.
Now that you’ve planned your attack, you need to do a run up.
The purpose of a run up is to familiarize yourself with the approach so that you can
take the right line.
It’s okay to do this a few times, but don’t get caught in a cycle of endless run ups.
Decide how many you’re going to do, and stick to it.
It’s time to execute.
Execution is putting your plan in motion.
If you really made your decision, planned it out, and familiarized yourself with the
approach, then you’re ready.
If you still find
And with that, Alexander got his Mojo back.
After that day, I saw him do things he never has, like this tight dolphin tail at Valmont
bike park.
He was composed, confident, and focused on the task at hand.
On the topic of doing scary lines, here are some pro tips.
First of all it’s almost always better to be with friends.
Not only can friends help you think it through, but they can also help you if things go wrong.
Better yet, you may have a friend who’s done the line you’re thinking about.
See if they want to tow you into it.
This will help you get the line exactly right, and modulate your speed properly.
On the other hand if your friends are pressuring you to do something that they themselves won’t,
it’s time to find some new riding buddies.
You need to make the final call, because it’s your bike and your balls on the line.
If you liked this video or found it entertaining, subscribe to Seth’s Bike Hacks for content
like this every week.
If you want to see me contemplating scary lines, check out my scariest ride ever in
the link below.
I also want to hear from you guys.
What was the scariest thing you’ve ever done, and did you follow a similar thought
process as the one I outlined above?
Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.