I rode Tamarancho yesterday. I didn't turn on Strava until half way through, but I still managed to rack up a bunch of PRs. It's funny, because I felt like I rode pretty badly. Overall I felt rusty. I managed to make a lot of mistakes. I fumbled with the dropper post control a few times. Instead of dropping the seat while going into an obstacle, I switched gears by accident and rode with the seat up high. Oops. On a few ascents and descents, I had to jump off a few times to avoid crashing. And I went back and tried to clean some features that I wasn't able to clear the first time. All in all, I felt like I could have ridden a LOT better. But the numbers said that I had actually improved on my old times.
I think there has been a good amount of trailwork since I was last there. The main trail was in good shape, and it seemed like it was harder than before. Some rock gardens were rougher, some challenging obstacles seemed to have materialized from no where.
I haven't been riding as much as I would have liked, and this was a good reality check. It was challenging in a way that tells me that I have room to grow. I've been reading too many biking message boards and watching too many biking youtube videos. To become a better mountain biker, I don't need a nicer bike, or different trails, or coaching. Most of all I just need to practice.
Happy Holidays!
p.s. I'm not doing much skiing right now, because Tahoe is going through a dry spell.
