Getmetoca, I have fear but I refuse to let the dirt win! Okay, maybe I'm just stubborn!
Michelle, I got the pictures and they are :think: entertaining. I scanned them but haven't had time to upload them, hopefully by this weekend.
Pat is one of the tallest kids in his class and he is the youngest in his class - with a late birthday he was supposed to wait a year to start school but I wanted him to start early as long as he could handle it. I'm glad I did because school is very easy for him and he already gets bored (quite like I was) plus, he isn't the BIGGEST kid in class this way. The new friend is a smaller kid and he won't be one of the tall guys anytime in the future but, he's a good rider and handled the fullsize CR80R pretty well. Another 2 inches in height & he'll be perfect on the trails. He and Pat traded bikes, he was trying to talk his dad into putting the smaller rims on his but, his dad wants him to get used to riding with the taller bike since that's what he has to deal with and the kid probably will too. (He did mention something about getting his YZ250 shortened a bit though because it makes it tough in the trails.)
The Hill is getting to be less of a challenge. Now that I'm getting used to lofting the front end, I let it bounce up off the rocks and just go with the flow. Much easier than fighting it or paddling up the hill.
We made it out to the bank last night. We took a little loop with the kids, my daughter getting used to the clutch and shifting on the old MR50. She's cruising now!! She had one good fall, got up smiling and said she was fine (she's a tough little monster).
On the way back it was time to tackle The Bank. Karl climbed it and waited for me. I lined up and my gut started bubbling up - I was so nervous. Karl shouted instructions, mainly to get my speed up and let it carry me over the top instead of gassing it on the face. Yeah, yeah, yeah but I'm ascared!!! :scream: So I went for it, too slow :eek: up went the front tire just to the very top of the bank and eerrrchhhhhh we rolled back down and flopped over! :think: Now I'm mad!
Picked the bike up, Karl hopped down and said to watch him do it. He climbs it like a pro and brings the bike back down for me. I'm sitting there, on my bike with my gut in a knot & my head spinning. "Gotta do it, gotta do it........"
So I'm thinking, "okay, too slow is worse than too fast. I've done this soo many times, there is no problem well, except for the stumps and huge logs on the top if you go too fast. Oh, don't think about those, you've never even hit them. Worse thing that's happened is gassing it at the top and superwomaning, well and going too slow and falling over. Oh no, life insurance is paid up, medical is in force, I can type with one hand, I'm gonna die........."
I threw it into first, gassed it (probably shut my eyes) and popped up & over with just a little bump at the top, my butt came off the seat about a foot, along with my feet off the pegs but I stayed on the bike with the rubber side down. Not a smooth climb like I used to do but, I made it. Karl did mention that my body positioning was TERRIBLE!! Something about I wasn't riding a sofa! :think: So, next time I have to work on standing UP but, at least I survived and the Bank didn't win this time!
As far as the preconceived idea of other rider's talents, I know what you are talking about. Doesn't matter who I ride with or if they are telling me how great I'm doing, I still always feel like the slow poke spode in the group, even on the kid's rides! I think it's just because we are new to the sport or it could be because I fall over still.