Things are about to slow down soon! This past weekend I took the last weekend course of the semester which was Mountain Biking. It was very intense. I had only been mountain biking once, in our principles class during one of our outing class periods.

So the first day of Mountain biking we biked down the highway in our little bike gang and we went what is locally known as "south-park," near the cascades. On the day that our principles class went mountain biking, we went to basically the same area. Except when we went there with the mountain biking class we took a different trail. Throughout the weekend there was always a couple of options of what we wanted to take, basically the more scary one, and the less scary one. hah. The less challenging one usually involved more climbing, and was less steep and less technical. I usually took that one because I am very new at it! Anyways Friday, my group took the trail called 5 peaks. We would climb up and bike down five peaks, it was pretty cool because once you got to the top of each peak you have a great view, and then you got to bike down! The last peak was monument peak. The last time I went up this peak with my principles class, it was so much harder. I think it was easier because not only did I know more of what to expect, but I was physically more prepared for it. (plus the bike I was using this time was much lighter) Anywho, both the groups met up there and we got to ride down together. Riding down was of course amazingly fun. Obviously, I did not go as fast as the more experienced people were going, but still every time I rode down, I gained more experience and confidence making it more and more fun each time. No one fell that day, it was just a good ol' day of biking.

The second day we went to Mount Hough. There was a little bit more of falling this day.... I fell twice. So basically, there was two reallly steep parts of the trail all day. The first steep part, it was not a bad fall at all, I just kind of jumped off my bike, and the second part, I pulled my front brake too hard and flew over my handlebars. It was a pretty bad fall but I just jumped right back up. I think a few other people fell that day, but nothing too bad. The climbing was MUCH harder that day cause we were so sore and tired from the day before. We ate lunch on this rock overlooking where we biked the day before and Quincy. I gained a lot of confidence going fast down hill today, and I learned not to slam my front brakes! hah. Probably my favorite part of that day, were these dirt mounds/piles. It was after a downhill slope, so you had a lot of speed; it was a series of maybe 4 hills, and on each I got a little air. It was really fun to "catch some air." haha.

Oh good golly, now where do we start on the third day. The third day was pretty bomb to say the least; it was definitely most momentous for me. We shuttled to the top and did the "Downieville downhill." We started the day off at the top fixing flats and adjusting our bikes. We had a lot of bike problems that day, in total I believe we had like 6 flat tires, 2 broken derailleurs, and some brake problems. The less experienced group started earlier on the first run called "Sunrise." The day before, I gained so much confidence, and for some reason on this trail, all that confidence was gone. At first, every switchback I had to get off my bike and walk. I was taking it so slow and getting really frustrated. Luckily, Rick was behind me, giving me tips and helping me through it. He was telling me to stand up, which brake to use and when, how to take turns... yadi-yadi-yada... By the end of sunrise (pretty short) I started to have fun, gain confidence, and even better - started to ride the switchbacks! We followed a gravel road for a while that brought us to our next trail. This trail for a large portion of the day was made of what they call "dead baby heads," aka huge rocks. It was super scary cause you need to be standing up all the way, with loose hips and knees, keeping on your back brake, and these huge rocks would move your entire bike tire over. It was crazzzzzzzzzy. But it just took time, and experience like most things do. The dead baby heads lasted a while, and then we got to some nice smooth single track with awesome views. Where we were riding, was following some river, in a shady, forest. Amazingly beautiful. Biking on that single track, was one of those moments you realize how lucky you are to be doing what you are doing. The picture below was taken by Rick, who climbed on top of this big rock to take pictures of a few of us. The picture is me, biking down this actually pretty steep, rocky, technical part. Hah, of course you can't tell from the picture. But I swearrr!
This class, was a class that I got more out of, then I anticipated. Of course I learned a whole lot about which brake to use, how to take turns, when to stand up, blah blah blah. I also learned A LOT about fixing flats, and adjusting seats/bikes in general. But I learned a whole darn lot about myself. I learned that a lot of times when I can't do something, its not that "I can't do it," its just that I am holding myself back from doing it. I always freak myself out; like on the sunrise run, all my troubles were cause I was thinking about things too much, and stressing myself out. Once Rick reminded me that I was totally capable of riding the trail, and told me to stop thinking about it so much, I was wayyy more confident. In all skill developing classes I have ever taken, I have always gotten so frustrated with myself, because I expect myself to be amazing at everything I do. This class really put things into a good perspective for me. I don't know if it was the class itself, or I was just ready to see it, but the class definitely helped. Anyways, by the end of Sunday, I was so proud of myself in how much I improved not only that weekend but especially that day. Rick was also pretty proud of me which made me feel pretty special. haha.
The Picture above is of the whole group on a bridge over this beautiful waterfall-rocky-thing. This was taken on Sunday, at Downieville, right when we started some really good single track. Of course, everyone who was experienced was extremely helpful to all the people who needed help. Ahh. I love these classes. I am really sad that this is the last one. But there is next semester! I still have classes to write about and things to catch ya'll up on. So ya'll aren't off the hook yet. Happy Trails!