Practice vs Racing, Young vs Old

[Jeff Gilbert]

Don't know what it is, other than just the excitement of a race, but it seems the older I get the slower I am in practice. I am talking about mx.
It's been a wet summer here in central TX so between that & a work schedule that sucks, my plans for riding a couple times a week this summer were blown out the window. Nevertheless I have been able to get some seat time in.
I've been riding pretty well in the few races I've done this summer but each time I just go to practice I find myself tiring after just a couple of laps. Also I seem to lack the "nads" to do in practice things I usually do in a race.
Bike has been down all week waiting for real wheel bearing seals and I finally got it together Friday night. I headed out to the track Saturday after a brief rain expecting a somewhat muddy track but it was dry as a bone. There weren't too many people there and the track is somewhat under maintenance but there was enough open to give a good workout. Shortly after I got there one of the local "hot shot" 15 year old kids came out to break in his new 125. He's a good kid and an even better rider, he’s the kind that is serious about it and his riding style shows, he's very smooth.
Since there weren't many people there it seemed that I was going to be the only one there to even come close to giving this kid someone to ride with. That's pretty much a joke in itself. This kid wins almost every race he enters. At any rate I did my best. He would wait on me to catch up and the two of us would practice cornering, whoops & hitting jumps at the same time. He's a very clean rider so I wasn't worried about the fact that our bike all but touched in every obstacle we hit. I don't know if it helped him as much as it did me but it's always better to ride with someone better than you are and I was definitely being pushed to ride harder.
I got there about 4:00 and left at 7:00, by 9:30 soreness was already setting in. Today I fell like I've been massaged with a ball peen hammer. I'm used to feeling soreness after a race but usually it doesn't set in good until a couple of days so I don't want to think about what I'll feel like tomorrow. The main problem for me is as I get older it seems that I lose all the coordination between days that I get to ride and feels like I have to learn all over. He on the other hand looks like he was born with a bike on his rear so it's an extension of his body while me on my bike looks like I have polyps. What it would be like to be young again :worship:

 

[showtime586]

Practice before a race is the most scary time for me. There are always a few out there who are racing in practice. I have been put on the ground more in practice than at any other time. I have actually got to the point that I enjoy an open practice session way more than racing. I even worked a race last night instead of racing in it. Didn't bother me a bit. I actually enjoyed helping to run a race.
For me, I think I got to the point that the pressure I put on myself to perform was actually taking the fun out of competing. I'm gonna back out of doing sooooo much racing for a bit and see if I can find that lost "fun feeling" that I used to enjoy so much.

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I hear ya, I've been in more accidents in practice than in a race too. Not sure why that is except the practices before a race often times involve a wide variety of skills levels whereas a race you are grouped in with people more your own ability.

 

[truespode]

If it is a track I am familiar with I will skip practice a lot of times.

Ivan

 

[Detonator]

I find that in practice I lack the "edge" or aggressiveness that comes during a race. Whether it's hesitancy or lazy technique, I'm more likely to do something dumb during practice. And Jeff, our 125's respond better when we're pushing them a bit...the momentum and smoothness translate to fewer mistakes and hiccups. There's also a distraction factor during practice that isn't there during a race...looking for those lines, taking little breaks between sections...it's a form of mental inertia.

I'm a Vet rider, but I feel that I am faster than when I was 20. It just takes 2-3 days to recover from a race no matter how I eat/hydrate/exercise. Our top local rider actually made me feel better about this...he said he can hardly negociate stairs for 2 days after a big race (our Harescrambles last 2 1/2 hours and can be quite punishing.)

 

[dante]

Recently I started riding in the dirt again... No racing or anything, however I can't believe how sore I am from riding... I did 2 two hour rides on saturday and I literally was in bed pretty much all day sunday or in front of the TV... I rode in the desert (beyond hot) and drank almost a whole camel back or 64oz of water each ride... Water is key for sure it keeps the energy up or the body from shutting down... My wife is a massage theirpest and said the soreness peaks on day two and I am feeling it today already... She worked on me some and I actually felt worse after... I have so much more respect for the pros and the sport as a whole... I'm 33 and do other sports and stuff but riding a 125 completely works me... I was hoping the muscles would get used to it and maybe I wouldn't always be sore... seems like from this thread however soreness from riding is just part of it...

 

[Tony Eeds]

What it would be like to be young again :worship:

Naw, You would not have Tigger.

 

[a454elk]

I practice NOT to crash, hence, that makes me faster, I think.

 

[linusb]

I can definitely relate Jeff. Practice scares me generally for fear of some fast guy jumping on top of me as I'm rolling something. Racing definitely has made me a faster rider though. I've only done a few races, but the competition gave me some extra nads to do things I wouldn't have normally done. Soreness sucks, not sure if I will ever be able to ride without being sore because I usually go 2-3 weeks or more between riding and don't have a very aggressive workout regimen.

 

[mxer842]

I find that in practice I lack the "edge" or aggressiveness that comes during a race. Whether it's hesitancy or lazy technique, I'm more likely to do something dumb during practice.

I am the exact opposite of you, in practice I can pass mid-pack pros from and sometimes even top 10 pros in good "practice races," yet in a race I lack all timing, flow, and can never hit the corners with near the same speed I do in a weekday practice. I have had many guys come up to me and ask what I am doing in the novice class and to all I have the same reply " I'm a bad racer."

It's very disheartening. :ugg:

 

[Detonator]

Well, MXer, the good news is that you've obviously got the technique and skill to go fast. That's the hard part.

The raceday jitters or lack of "flow" isn't anything unusual. People get it during public speaking, before interviews, first dates, music recitals...just about all areas of life. It's a very subtle performance anxiety or self doubt. Pros get it after recovering from injuries. Other athletes develop little rituals before stepping up to the plate or leaving the dressing room. You'll overcome this in your own way and then wonder what the big deal was in the first place. It might require entering a race in a different organization, sort of a race with no pressure or consequences, or if you have friends/family present at the race, maybe they could take a walk during your heat so you don't feel a sense of being observed. I'm not worried about you; you sound like a human being to me!