How I met Master Yoda

This weekend while on a ride, one of my friends pointed out the swamp to the left of the trail. The swamp scene was reminiscent of the Dagobah swamp System (I swear I am not a Star Wars fanatic but Star Wars and bikes were part of my youth) This is where Yoda spoke to me....his words of wisdom were simple and as we climbed they resonated with me "pain leads to indecision" (The pain being the burning in my legs and the indecision being whether or not I would continue this loose steep climb) "indecision leads to fear and fear leads to the Dark Side" (I don't think of the Dark Side as taking EPO or some other performance enhancing drug...although that is pretty bleak I think of the dark side as not getting out to ride or fear getting in the way of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone) The other side of the climb was the downhill and we were at Stewart State Park in Newburg NY this place is all about flow the trail creates speed with its depressions, bermed turns, and smattering of small jumps that provide plenty of backside speed Staying with the Yoda theme I will now show a Quote from Brain Lopes Book Mastering Mountain Bike Skills: "Don’t pay attention to yourself. As soon as you realize you’re ripping, the ripping pretty much stops. Remember that scene in Empire Strikes Back when Luke stood on one hand with his eyes closed, with Yoda and a bunch of stuff balanced on his feet, and he started to levitate his X-wing fighter? He was definitely ripping. As soon as he opened his eyes and thought, “Yes! I’m a Jedi Master!” it all came crashing down. Don’t be self-conscious like Luke. Be confident like Han."
So in summary be one with your suffering, Rip and Flow but don't think about it, and above all DON'T come Crashing Down.

Submit to: