A frosty ride and a final farewell

 Frost covered the hills. I had a day off, and I was reluctant to leave my bundle of rags aka bed, but there was that nagging at the back of my head. I had been sick for a long time, and my bike again stood neglected in my doorway. And I thought to myself, okay, you have to ride... go out, and train, it will do you good, or it will do you no good, but you should ride no less, because life sucks anyway. Why not do something that does not suck? Then my mind went going wild with ambitious plans, doing a singletrail epic and stuff, and then closing down like "it´s too late already, pour yourself another tea and read a book, it makes no sense at all, stay inside, why bother". Maybe you know this line of argumentation. There is a crucial message in it, and I told my brain "f*** off. So no singletrail epic, but we are not in that training condition in the first, so what? So f***** what?. And before I knew it, I had made a flask of tea and packed a blanket and some food, put on some warm clothes and was off pedaling to the hills. And I was taking it real slow, feeling every week of the flu in my lungs... but the air was crisp and cold and it was like a white wine for me. I had to stop frequently, and took a small rest near a little creek, relishing in frost-flowers blossom.

 It is funny, but in winter the creek sings a different song, clearer and like little bells of crystal. Silence covered the woods, and I bathed in solitude.

 It was a bit as if these ice-crystal thorns kept out the feeble and meek... the few people I met were approximately decent... ;-)

It is no longer my favourite season, winter, that is, but there is no denying the fact that its alien beauty touches something inside my heart of hearts...

 Few singletrails, just some plain and ordinary fireroad cruising was what I did. Now you see a lot of radical stuff going on on youtube and facebook and instagram, and you might get the impression that most riders are from a different star altogether. And you meet them in the woods, with the latest enduro bike and helmet and dressed in the latest fashion, no matter how absurd it is to take a 300€ pyjama-style shirt into the woods, with a go-pro on their helmet looking like some alien snorkel protuding from their head. They have no time for greetings, and whizz by with a stern and business-like look on their face. They have no time to listen to a creek or watch a pair of raven fly. They need to best the next guy´s STRAVA time, and they do not have time for stuff like "skids are for kids". In a real race they would not gain a flower pot, but they feel like worldcup racers... and that technical singletrail takes too long, because the lines are blocked? Just remove the rocks from the line. Sanitize the woods!

So some of the technical trails, which, to be honest, have deteriorated much by the weather and have become more difficult to ride, are sanitized in a such a way that they are little better than fireroads.

If I, personally, have my doubts about whether it´s a good day for that off-camber, do-or-die trail, I have a simple solution.

Stick to the fireroads. Do not move rocks or "invent" new shortcuts that make you seem faster-on paper or instagram. It´s the woods, and they are in a balance. Instead, go to the forest bureau and offer your help in trailcare. That´s an altogether different matter. So, rant over and out. I am a chickenshit, and I know. I don´t jump on that radical bandwagon. And I don´t want to better than anyone. I want to be better than I was last season. That´s a difference. 

 That all said and done, I really enjoyed my bike. No, really, I did. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have it. I have ridden it hard for a good year now... and it comes begging for more. It takes me places, and even if it´s just some fireroad cruising, it is a vehicle for my soul. It´s not that easy to explain, but riding is some kind of meditation for me.

 The sun came out of the freezing mists, gilding the hills with warming colours...

 And while ice covered the puddles and ponds, riding was still easy and well enough.

 To the hills of my childhood and youth I came and relished in the rays of the cold winter sun and the reminiscence that radiated from every tree and every brush and every rock and root.

 Often I have sat upon that hilltop, alone and with friends. Often we had a beer after an epic ride and some cool outings, and we laughed, and we talked, and sometimes we just waited in silence until the stars came out. This time is irreversibly over now, some friends are dead, and most friends don´t care anymore... but the hills are there, as are the memories, and they are fond, and I am grateful to have them. And even if I now sit there alone, I also love that solitude.

 On I rode, and chance is, you know that place all too well, and chance is, you cannot bear it anymore, but it´s a place that matters a lot to me.

 And on the crags, beside the technical trail, I sat down...

 To have a cuppa tea, snug as a bug in my blanket.

 Despite the cold weather, there were a lot of bluetits flying about the birchwood grove.

 And I took some deep breaths, and half-closed my eyes, and let my mind drift here and there.

 Then something weird happened. I had drunk my tea, and mounted my bike, donned my gear and helmet, and, standing at the trailhead, I noticed something awkward: Fear. Don´t take me wrong, noone takes a trail like this lightly. And a certain amount of respect will save your life. But what happened was that this fear was of a different quality. It was sort of numbing, and it washed over me for no obvious reason. It was something dark and sublime. Now I have faced a lot of adversaries recently, and a lot of really unpleasant experiences over the years, and yup, I am no stranger to being depressed, as you might have noticed... ;-).

But then I have ridden down this trail for some 25 years now. I shredded down it, raced it with my buddies, I rode it in deep snow, in frost and blazing summer heat. And I politely asked this numbing fear to bugger off, and kicked my arse and dropped in. The fuckers that want to bring me down don´t know what it is that drives me... they cannot know me. And they would laugh their arse off if I would let some numbing fear spoil my trailriding. Not with uncle Fimbulmyrk... ;-)

This was a triumphant feeling. For the fun and the skill simply blasted that fear into oblivion.

 I will remember this experience, I will cherish it, and keep it in my heart for further use.

 Then I came down to the lake I grew up... and passed by the old house, where my childhood took place. It was an odd childhood, wild and adventurous and full of grave dangers and experiences. I come from an altogether different world, a worlsd where a word was a word, work was work and fun and games were fun and games, a knife was a valuable tool as well as axe and spade and shovel and gun. It was a youth of hard work and pride into being capable to do this hard work; of homegrown fruit and greens and good food and dirt and playing in the mud and building treehouses and even forts, some of which still stand to date. This house, however, will soon be gone forever. The corporation, BTW a branch of Vattenfall corporation currently ruining Swedish national resorts for to provide Germany with even more energy to put to waste, drove us out for reasons of accounting depreciation, then let it rot for twelve years. Now it will be ripe for the bulldozer, finally, and they will have their gain. But I know something they will never know. I own something they will never be able to take from me.

It is all those moments, all these times. And maybe I do not have direct access to them all anymore. But they are a part of my character, my personality. They make me blast my numbing fears away, and they will always give me strength.

Most people these days are literally weak of body and character. At this place I learned a lot that gave me strength, and I always wanted to share.  But they did not want it and haunted my days and nights instead with mobbing and bashing and shaming. I did not strike back, for you do not strike at the invalid or the weak.

But I also learned to be hunter and a warrior as well as a farmer there, if this pathetical speaking be allowed for once. I just cannot find any other words.
 

 So, farewell, my real and only home. They will destroy you, and the place will be void and empty. But they cannot take this, my true home, from my heart.

And, by taking the actual house from this place, they will just succeed to make my strength and my wildness even more unfathomable and indomitable.

DeNOOBing ourselves-Technical training in the rock garden

 On Monday evening it was that time of the week again... a rookie and even some experienced riders came together beneath the legendary sculpture of the whirlwind brides and the sun in the "Felsengarten" Hagen (the rock garden). We exchanged some friendly talk, and then it was "shred mode on". We did some static and dynamic off-bike muscular exercises to warm up, and then we did some riding exercises.

 The defined surrounding of the location is ideal for beginners to slowly and controlledly try out bigger tasks. I had shown Andrea to ride a staircase and stopping on it, balancing on the staircase, beforehand, and she did it very well. I had made a schedule for the training, but only Andrea showed up who needed tutoring, and she already was farther than I intended the program, so we did something else: I tutored her how to lift front and rear wheel, which  ultimately led to her first bunny hop.

 Andrea also rode the stair up and learned how to lift the rear wheel out of harm´s way.

 Soon the formal training part was over, and we simply did some shredding, having fun with the unusual architecture. By the way, it was Hartwig, the father of my ex - girl - friend and all-time-best friend Anna, who designed part of it all as an ARRRchitect.;-) Thanks, Hartwig, those rollers are greatly appreciated!;-)

 This is Bear Lee catching some air. We were actually quite finished, even if riding on one spot only, but the exercises fatigue you out quite soon, especially the jumping, turning in the air, hopping and the like wear you out fast, for there´s a big amount of body tension involved. Bear Lee had been sick the whole week, and this was his first time riding. He did extremely well for that!

 I was most pleased to meet Toto again. Toto´s a really laidback and friendly guy, a competition pistol shooter, and I learned he broke the German record with the ordonnance pistol. Congratulations on that! he has a calm and friendly air about him and is always ready to help weaker riders. He knows quite a bit on pharmaceutics, medicine and anatomy, too, and his knowledge of the martial arts is frightening!;-)

Being older and having seen his share of events, both good and extremely bad in his life, he has always offered me valuable counsil, and I value his opinion above many others. Thanks, Toto!

 And, if you keep in mind, he misses half  a biceps on one side and a shoulder blade on the other which he somehow lost ;-) in a frightening crash at a downhill race, and his body is mincemeat due to ...wait.. is that twenty years???... of hardcore riding, it is a right miracle that guy rides the way he does!

We had a lot of fun, the weather kept stable for a change, we had some great chats and the right balance of jokes, mischief and serious and interesting conversation, and, last but in no way least, we did some serious shredding and gained much more self-confidence and riding skills.

Thank you, folks, it was a great evening!

DeNOOBing ourselves-and riding on the AOUEIn´s wings: A technique training tutorial

 On Wednesday, traditionally the weekly ride of my mountainbike club takes place. This week I contributed a bit by offering a tutorial, for beginners and rookies and trail riders alike. Wasn´t exactly crowded, but the quality of company certainly made up for it. BärLee, who agreed to assist me in guiding the training, Andrea, who is a very nice person with a deep personality, Seppel, and last but in no way least, Jandark. We met at the Felsengarten, which might be known to readers of my blog;-), and had a chat beforehand. It seems that not all is grand in the wonderland of our club, and we discussed about that, Jandark being the web designer and Andrea being the press consultant, Seppel and Bär some of the most active members, and myself, having started this whole mess;-). And I feel the urge to loose some words on the subject:

In the beginning, Zee Aylienz were more than just any other club. It was an idea. It was not only about buying the latest paraphernalia and having a shiny bike and tech talk and training. There were times when I had taken this whole thing way to serious, but even if  I do not do this anymore and have simplified my attitude a bit, some aspects still remain:

It is about getting out on your bike, having fun, for sure, but also taking responsibility, for freedom isn´t free. First and foremostly, the woods we ride through are not only great for the fact that they provide us with a sporting area. They are great, because they are woods, with all the animals and plants involved. We get out there for adventure, for freedom, to get out of the madness of our world, and we want to preserve this possibility, and so we have to work for the woods. We have to fight for them, for trees, while they can hate, they cannot move. We have to love the trees and animals for what they are, not what they should be. Oh, and we did it and still do that. And our team became bigger, and we started to take the madness of the outside world with us on our rides. People started to compete on the rides, and that´s not bad in itself. But they forgot they were kins and brethren in a fight for a moment of freedom and peace. They valued their ego so much their smile first became wry, when they shook hands after battling each other up or down the hill. Then the whispering started and the gossip. Then the woods became irrelevant, and the material you rode ever so much more important. More whispering started, bragging and mobbing.

Recently, this had become better again, and this is the reason I agreed to do something for the club again. Mountainbike riding has given me so much more than just getting dirty or about performance;-). It has taken me places in the woods and mountains I would have never experienced without a bike, but more important, it has taken me places in my soul I would never have discovered. I could rant on endlessly about the concept of flow, and I have done so on other occasions and other blogs. If you want to understand what drives me, look here. I have experienced flow myself, not only in mountainbiking, but also in ex - tempore poetry and musical sessions, and I looked at myself in awe, wonder and gratefulness at being alive. And while I have no right to lecture or even tutor anyone on that topic, I want to give something back to the world. The fact that flow is not limited to sports and not even to an activity, gives me hope to bring back a tiny bit of magic into this deranged world, for the concept of flow shares many characteristics with the feelings described by adepts of most any religious concept. That said, and keeping in mind I do not want to lecture anyone or create a dogma, this concept best speaks for itself when experienced, and that´s not easy. Mountainbiking is not "the" way to experience it, but it is one way. But just as Satori is not being experienced while you struggle and concentrate on techniques, but only after a period of constant practice, when the moves involved have become second nature, it´s just about the same with flow, which in my book, IS the same.

Since this experience not only has made me very happy, but is also crucial to the transcendent experience of forest environments, and since this experience is at least beneficial to the understanding of the original idea of the club, "zee aylienz", I currently feel the urge to pass it on. Of course, there is also a bit of wishing to be understood involved, but first and foremostly, I believe that many of the current challenges in the club or even in society might be won if we had something to believe in. In that, our club is a mirror of society in the whole, and, hey, I cannot save the world. But maybe I can try to do my friends a favor, eh?;-)

Flow is no sorcery. It´s just a phenomenon encountered after a bit of training after all, be it music or mountainbike riding. What anyone makes out of this experience, is not my business. What I can contribute, however, are plain old training and some tricks this old dog learned;-) on the trail. I must also mention that I owe a lot of the practical side of the tutorial to Elmar Keineke, with whom I once made a tutorial for kids from a poor social background together. Also, he always had some giveaways for the kids courtesy of his employer at hand, and thusly, I can´t thank him enough.

Okay, now talk is cheap, and we quit blabbering also, and made for the location. Since only Andrea was present who needed tutoring, I did not do it systematically, but simply tried to answer her questions. First we did some sort of warming up, nothing fancy, really, just riding the simpler stuff, and then we got to the point where the rubber meets the rock;-).

 Bastian analyzing a rock garden section that was not exactly smooth;-).

 After surveying the terrain, which importance can´t be emphasized enough, Jandark made up his mind to ride the bastard. It is crucial that you get the ride in your mind before you actually do it. You have to visualize yourself riding this or that line succesfully. If you cannot do that in your mind, that´s when you have to say "No". This is even more important than  actually doing it, but doing it out of control. "Those who fight and run away live to fight another day", as the old saying goes. If you feel uneasy about it, don´t do it. If your buddies yell at you or call you a coward, let them talk, it´s your spine fracture, not theirs. It´s more important to know when to say "No" than doing it under pressure. But also ask yourself if you really can´t do it. Look at it at least three times, walk the section and analyze the line. Remember that the path down the hill is always the same as the water will take. Sometimes you must modify this general rule of thumb, but most of the time it will help you.

 Jan walked it. He paused. He touched this stone or that. He looked at it intently, then breathed, and said "I will do it". And did he make it? BOY, did he!;-) Look at the picture: Jan keeps his strong foot on his front pedal. Also the cranks are level with the ground. That way he can control  the ride with his strong foot and does not risk hitting a rock with his lower pedal, which might even result in a crash with a nasty air trip over the bars and stopping on your cheekbone.;-) Clearance is crucial in this situation.

I must admit I stood there, on top, and fear swelled up in me. But I knew I had ridden this before, and even if the rain had caused some severe erosion in the past few years, it was still the same trail. So I breathed into my stomach and concentrated on my sternum. It helps to count to three when breathing in and to five when breathing out to calm down. If you cannot calm down, call it a day and walk it again.

I managed, for I knew I could do it, and I rode it myself. Bastian, however, was a bit injured still, and simply called it a day. Got the gist, that this is crucial;-)?

 Then I tutored Andrea showing her how to ride on slippery terrain, such as loose gravel. The trick is frightening at first, but works: Most people tend to use the rear brake more than the front. But roundabout 80% of braking force is applied through the front brake. If you use the rear brake exclusively on a steep slope, the rear wheel will lock up, and you end up on a sleigh ride down the hill, becoming ever faster and losing control. The trick is to use the front brake. When the rear brake locks up, and you start to skid, don´t panic. Just open the brake for a fraction of a second to allow it to make a half revolution to get new grip. Always look ahead of you, about 15 m to the front. The bike will also always follow the direction where it´s pointed, and that´s the direction of your head. You can try that out in an empty parking lot: Ride a straight line and the explosively turn your head in one direction. When you follow with your knee on that side, you will already have a half turn, aim your elbow around the bend and the bike will turn. The only limit is the wheelbase of your bike! Also remember to have all your braking done before any bend: First you slow down with your front brake, and use the rear brake only halfway through the turn.

Keeping that in mind, you can figure out to look at things and objects you´d rather avoid might end up in a desaster. So, don´t program your mind like "oh, don´t hit that rock", but go like: "steer to the right side of that rock". Look  where you are aimed. MESSAGE!;-)

That said and done, you can experiment with your mind a bit. put on two different socks, say one with pink polkadots and one with yellow. Ride a straight line on the parking lot. Then think about the pink polkadots.

When riding around a bend at high speed, and not through rocks that might need more clearance and pedals level with the ground, your balance and speed is greatly enhanced by weighting the outside pedal. You can even experiment with all your weight on the outside pedal, taking the inside foot from the pedal. That  way you can ride out 360 degree-bends with little to no braking.

 When Andrea saw Bär Lee jumping the staircase she immediately went: "I want to do that, too!". To float down a flight of stairs, you have to unweight the front wheel, but be careful. First experiment with the balance point. Dismount your bike and set it on the rear wheel before you, holding onto the handlebar. Then push the handlebar diagonally back, down and then away from you, resulting in a push of the rear wheel away from you. You will notice that there is one point where little to no force is required to push the rear wheel  away from you. This is the much sought after balance point or manual point. Keep in mind that the curve diagonally back towards you, then down and away from you describes a dynamic curve, like a whiplash-line (MESSAGE!;-)). This curve is not only crucial to lift the handlebar in the so-called "floater drop" down a staircase, but also to the wheelie and bunnyhop. But, also keep in mind, that there are dangers, too. If you do not adjust to the manual point, you might fall off backwards, onto your spine, and this would be serious. First and foremostly, use appropriate safety gear and carry a first-aid kit. A daypack with a hydration bladder serves the purpose of spine protection quite well for lighter trail applications, but if you want to go big, always wear a motocross or freeskiing spine protector.

But there´s also one simple technique you can use when overdoing the quest for the holy manual point. Try out dismounted, with your bike before you, to push your bike over the balance point, and then pull hard on the rear brake. The front wheel, following the braking impulse, will immediately come down.

When practicing lifting the front wheel it is first crucial to lower your saddle so that you can at least sit on it while both of your feet comfortably sit on the ground. Roll at medium speed. The piece where your fork sits in the frame to meet the handlenbar is called a steerer tube, and there you can find a badge or something. Go down into a crouch, while you push your elbows out, and while doing so, lean forward, so that you can see this badge. Pull back/up, down and forward in a whiplash line motion. Imagine a whip going through your motion. The front wheel will go up, but not much. Now repeat the procedure, but this time roll at a medium speed (both pedals level with the ground and your strong foot on the front pedal) standing up as high as possible, then crouch down explosively in a whiplash line motion. KEEP! THAT! FINGER! ON! THE! REAR! BRAKE! LEVER!;-) You will be surprised at how easy the front wheel goes up. Also, practice the wheelie and dismounting off the back in a stress situation.

Now to the floater drop. Andrea rode the staircase first, at least ten times. We also practiced stopping on the stair, and riding slow, but this time we hit the stairs at ever-increasing speed, and Andrea realized the front wheel always became lighter with increasing speed, and that she had a tendency to land on the front wheel. Since it were just three steps, that was not a problem. But when hitting a larger staircase or natural rock drops at high speed, this can send you sailing over the bars. This is the reason the Gods made the floater drop;-). You use it to lift your front wheel out of trouble, and to land with your rear wheel first. This way, the impact is taken away from your weaker arms and transferred into your stronger legs, and the process of the bike dropping from the rear onto the front takes the force out of the impact additionally. But you have to take care that your front wheel is a bit higher than the rear always. This you can achieve by leaning back in the air. If the front wheel gets to high, tip on the rear wheel just enough to lower it. Diving the front wheel is a technique only applied when there´s a slope landing involved.

 It simply was a great experience, for different skill levels of riders simply rode together in a very friendly, heart-warming atmosphere, tutoring each other and simply having a ball. Bastian, in spite of his injury, did quite some dropping down himself, and must I go on endlessly about the skill level of Bär Lee?

I mean, that guy rides for but, .... wait, is that two years...?! Here, he´s airing it out in style. It´s great to hang out with those gals and guys, for it helps me improve myself also. I hope I have made clear, that we did that together. We are on a quest. It´s not only the quest for "bigger is better" and the ultimate fun. But we also seek the truth in a world of lies. I don´t know if mountainbiking is the correct means for it, but then I do not care. We are freaks, but care for each other, and we try to discover a new world, for the old one is wrecked to pulp by banksters, politicians, priests, and liars.

I also hope I have made clear that it´s not just mountainbiking for me. It´s the woods and the real world I want to discover. I have been force - fed lies all of my life, and never believed in them. Now I hope.