I've so far kept up my aim of 1 hr practice each day this week. I'd been getting slack and pretty much only riding when the guys come up on Friday arvos. In the 1 hr, this is kind of my routine: * Balance on the concrete for a couple of minutes. I go left/ right and only hold it for 20 secs max as I can't see that standing there for ages achieves much. * Balance from a roll ... With motor off, I gradually make my way down the gentle slope - push off, then try to come to a stop and balance. This is FRICKEN hard and frustrating!!! I try to stop with the wheel turned left, then next time to the right. I get the left OK 2/3 times, but the right ... maybe 1/5 times!!! I think I've got it and as I brake to a stop I just lose balance. I'm glad I have no neighbours close by as they'd wonder why I'm making sounds of extreme exasperation!! This takes a good 10 minutes or so. * Start up and practice balancing with engine running for a couple of minutes to warm it up. * A few slow wheelie attempts, rear hop attempts. * To the back of the dam wall for pivot turns. Getting a bit better. Maybe a few minutes. * Front wheel hop practice on the flat. AAaargghh!!! I'm definitely making some progress but it's slow and I get hugely exhausted. * Figure 8's in a couple of spots. I have a tight one marked out with cones over an area of lumpy fig tree roots. That's tricky. The other one is in a small gully with rocks and lumps. Both of these are so hard that I can't yet do them reliably. * Then go and ride tracks and lines here and there. Find something a bit hard and try till I get it. Pick slippery uphill/ downhill turns. Follow section lines that we've regularly done on Friday arvos. * RSG practice on a few steps, big tyre, etc. I don't always do El Capitan - it's a bit of a mind game that one. * Rocky zigzag trials section - ride it e.g. 3 times in each direction. I rarely clean it so it's sort of a yardstick for progress. When I start to clean it I shift or add some rocks to lift the difficulty. * Ride up & along logs ... have a crack at various isolated obstacles and stuff here and there. * Usually that's more than enough for an hour but I'll try some slow wheelies, rear wheel hops and finally some front wheel hops (they're like sprints, I get exhausted) again as I head back to the shed. I'm pretty much drenched with sweat as I put the bike away, and glad that I did it.

Posted by Andrew von Berky at 2021-10-20 22:52:56 UTC