Off Road Trails – Choose Difficulty Carefully
One of the thrills of learning new skills is to find conditions that mesh your current competency with just the right amount of new challenge so that you are not bored, but not so much that you are paralyzed with fear.
When beginning with new equipment most of the initial learning is with operation of the machine until it becomes familiar and second-nature. Changing equipment brings new effects on response and balance. Fit and comfort is important so that your body is not affected negatively with movement and pain.
Terrain also starts off being one of finding easy conditions in which to become familiar with performance of machine and body, with time and distance.
After reviewing your reaction to familiar trails you can start to explore more difficult situations both in technical and physical terms. Technical skills can be learned separately in controlled environments, and with repetition until the skill is reinforced and mastered. Physical ability takes time and persistence, is easily lost when not maintained frequently, but can be overdone to the point of injury.
As with many physical sports, training the body should be done gradually and with a lot of baseline low exertion, slowly increasing resistance or speed until the body can adapt to the new, higher level of performance. Recovery from exertion is essential in order to gain maximum benefit.
Once the baseline fitness and strength is established, increasing difficulty in skills is then not hindered by lack of physical capability. Exhaustion can be detrimental to learning new skills, degrades existing skills, and risks injury, even survival if conditions change for the worse.
With these points in mind, choosing new off road trails becomes a critical factor in learning and improvement. There is probably no trail that contains the exact components that meet your desires on any given day. Not only does your own performance change day to day, but also parts of a trail vary from beginning to end. Partners or groups of trail riders add more complexity to the balance of difficulty and ease.
Most enthusiasts who are amateurs spend several days a week preparing for larger goals in the future. We start off a season with easy trails on weekends, then build up to a more ambitious trail or special event towards the end of the season. Remember not to overestimate your current expertise early in the year just because you were confident at the end of the prior year. There is no need to prove anything and then get injured right out of the start.
Whenever you hear of new trails that you have not tried be sure to enquire what the typical conditions are like before tackling it. Compare your own trail knowledge and expertise with the person giving you the recommendation. One person’s great trail can be another’s nightmare.
Do you compare in terms of experience, fitness, strength, equipment, endurance, reputation, attitude, expectations, and companions?
If you don’t know what you don’t know how can you determine if a trail is suitable? One way is be sure you have a plan B. What can you do if you need to change your trail plan? What’s the worst that can happen? What if a group member is not up to the challenge? What if a daredevil overextends the others?
One part of learning new things is learning about yourself. Don’t let your ego get in the way of pleasure and safety. Don’t let bravado and peer pressure push you beyond your limits. Over-reaching can be disastrous not only to yourself but also can endanger others. Learn at your own pace.
Variety is the spice of life and new experiences encourage new thoughts and actions. Just remember that trail exploring and off-roading is an enjoyable recreation to be spread out over time and to remembered for its fun, not accidents or injuries.
If you have a limited number of choices in your area, either locally or where you visit, you can mix things up by changing the direction or combination of trails. Where there are a number of choices you can string different trails together in various loops or out and back expeditions.
Some trails are popular with many off-roaders because of a combination of challenge and pleasure. Pick the type of trails you prefer for your self. You may be looking for immersion in the natural spaces, or for intense focus on technical prowess. To each his own. There is a big difference between professionals performing in an arena or controlled competition, and amateurs enjoying a comfortable group ride away from the stress of urban living.
Whatever kind of trailing you prefer, look for trails that increase your excitement, strength, and flow experience instead of starting out on a trail and finding that the terrain brings out your fear, weaknesses and pain.
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