I'm back safe and sound from a GREAT weekend and have SO much to tell!!
Saturday morning Tim (my hubby) and I and his sis and bro-in-law (Kelley and Ryan) and some friends packed up bright and early to go riding at Hollister. Spent most of the day tooling around trails and being mellow. It was just one of those fun days where you all just cruise around and enjoy yourselves. At the end of one of the trails, we popped out at the bottom of Comp Hill (Competition Hill between the MX and TT tracks) and stopped for a bit to watch the people charging it which is always fun. Let me tell you about why this hill is kind of a rite of passage to me for those not in the area:
1) It's long
2) It's steep, slippery and rutted out in spots
3) Only maybe 60% of the people who try it actually make it
4) It's right in front of the main road so everyone watches you
5) Everyone except Tim tells me I should never try it because it's crazy to come back down the hill if you bail since I'm a beginner....and none of the other girls in our group are interested to try it
So with all that said, what do you think happened?! Everyone except for Tim and I and our friend Kris went back to camp, but we stayed to watch a few more people try it. Tim looks over at me and says, "So you wanna try it?" OK now he knows that I want to try it, but it looks so sketchy and beyond my ability level - never thought I would think about doing it 2 months after learning to ride and getting my TTR. Ryan (his bro-in-law) totally thinks I would get hurt trying it and if I did I better go up in first gear. Well I just decided to go for it so I knocked it into first and took off with my heart pounding in my chest. Got about halfway up and BOO-YA bike got squirrely and I dropped it! OK now this doesn't sound so bad until I look down and see a vertical drop - not only do I have to pick up my 180 pound bike and turn it around while on a steep, sliding dirt hill, but then I have to ride it DOWN the steep hill!!! YIKES Thank goodness Tim and Chris came up to help me turn it around and get down because I was freaked out!!!! They were so cool, supportive and impressed that I had charged it so I felt great for even attempting it!
I was tired after that so we went back to camp to chill for a little bit - Tim told everyone I had charged Comp Hill and they were all like NO WAY!! This 16 year old kid we had with us decided if I girl would try it, then he had to too! WHATEVER girls can kick butt just as much as guys - get over it while you're young! Anyhow, so our whole group trucked back over to the hill so I could give it one more go and Stephen could try it too. He tried 3 times and everytime bailed before he got halfway and someone had to hike up to help him get his bike down.
I sat forever looking at the hill trying to psych myself up to try it one more time. Which is extra hard when you keep seeing people bail and crash going up and then falling coming back down. No one in our group even knew if I was actually gonna go again - least of all me. Finally I just decided to go for it and grabbed a fistful of throttle and charged it in second gear this time! It was SO bumpy and crazy and my bike's front tire was off the ground and the back end was getting a little squirrely but I just held on, kept the throttle pinned AND ...
I MADE IT!!!!!!!!! :)
I can't even explain how incredible it felt when I made it to the top!!! I was shaking from the excitement and adrenaline and I felt SO great!! Tim rode up after me and met me at the top and couldn't stop screaming how great I was - he was so excited and proud of me and it felt great! Like I was on top of the world.
After we rode the back way to get down the hill and back to our group, Tim's sister who had no interest in trying it before decided to try it. She gave it a few good tries, but just couldn't make it. OH WELL there's always next time. Anyhow I'm still in the BEST mood from it!! All the guys were so impressed! It's extra exciting that I was the only one of us beginners that even wanted to try it and I was the first and only to make it!! Now I feel like a real dirt bike rider and I love it!!!!!!
Ok back to real life...thanks for listening!
Saturday morning Tim (my hubby) and I and his sis and bro-in-law (Kelley and Ryan) and some friends packed up bright and early to go riding at Hollister. Spent most of the day tooling around trails and being mellow. It was just one of those fun days where you all just cruise around and enjoy yourselves. At the end of one of the trails, we popped out at the bottom of Comp Hill (Competition Hill between the MX and TT tracks) and stopped for a bit to watch the people charging it which is always fun. Let me tell you about why this hill is kind of a rite of passage to me for those not in the area:
1) It's long
2) It's steep, slippery and rutted out in spots
3) Only maybe 60% of the people who try it actually make it
4) It's right in front of the main road so everyone watches you
5) Everyone except Tim tells me I should never try it because it's crazy to come back down the hill if you bail since I'm a beginner....and none of the other girls in our group are interested to try it
So with all that said, what do you think happened?! Everyone except for Tim and I and our friend Kris went back to camp, but we stayed to watch a few more people try it. Tim looks over at me and says, "So you wanna try it?" OK now he knows that I want to try it, but it looks so sketchy and beyond my ability level - never thought I would think about doing it 2 months after learning to ride and getting my TTR. Ryan (his bro-in-law) totally thinks I would get hurt trying it and if I did I better go up in first gear. Well I just decided to go for it so I knocked it into first and took off with my heart pounding in my chest. Got about halfway up and BOO-YA bike got squirrely and I dropped it! OK now this doesn't sound so bad until I look down and see a vertical drop - not only do I have to pick up my 180 pound bike and turn it around while on a steep, sliding dirt hill, but then I have to ride it DOWN the steep hill!!! YIKES Thank goodness Tim and Chris came up to help me turn it around and get down because I was freaked out!!!! They were so cool, supportive and impressed that I had charged it so I felt great for even attempting it!
I was tired after that so we went back to camp to chill for a little bit - Tim told everyone I had charged Comp Hill and they were all like NO WAY!! This 16 year old kid we had with us decided if I girl would try it, then he had to too! WHATEVER girls can kick butt just as much as guys - get over it while you're young! Anyhow, so our whole group trucked back over to the hill so I could give it one more go and Stephen could try it too. He tried 3 times and everytime bailed before he got halfway and someone had to hike up to help him get his bike down.
I sat forever looking at the hill trying to psych myself up to try it one more time. Which is extra hard when you keep seeing people bail and crash going up and then falling coming back down. No one in our group even knew if I was actually gonna go again - least of all me. Finally I just decided to go for it and grabbed a fistful of throttle and charged it in second gear this time! It was SO bumpy and crazy and my bike's front tire was off the ground and the back end was getting a little squirrely but I just held on, kept the throttle pinned AND ...
I MADE IT!!!!!!!!! :)
I can't even explain how incredible it felt when I made it to the top!!! I was shaking from the excitement and adrenaline and I felt SO great!! Tim rode up after me and met me at the top and couldn't stop screaming how great I was - he was so excited and proud of me and it felt great! Like I was on top of the world.
After we rode the back way to get down the hill and back to our group, Tim's sister who had no interest in trying it before decided to try it. She gave it a few good tries, but just couldn't make it. OH WELL there's always next time. Anyhow I'm still in the BEST mood from it!! All the guys were so impressed! It's extra exciting that I was the only one of us beginners that even wanted to try it and I was the first and only to make it!! Now I feel like a real dirt bike rider and I love it!!!!!!
Ok back to real life...thanks for listening!
