BLOG: Fear Of The Fall – Learning From The Best

I confess, I haven’t ridden my MTB on a ‘proper’ trail in a long time. In my defence, I’m a full-time working mom of two so getting a morning off to hit the trails is a rare occurrence. On Sunday, being Mother’s Day and all, I took the opportunity to claim the day. We packed the car with 1 x MTB for me, 1 X bike for the 4-year-old and 1 x pram for the baby, along with countless snacks to keep hubby and kids happy while mom enjoyed putting tyre to trail.
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The new-ish Lower Bloemendal trail in Durbanville was the destination of choice. I’d heard loads about it from the night rides there every Thursday so thought I’d give it a bash. There’s also a mini 400m trail for kids (aptly named ‘The Incubator’) which my lightie was hankering to tear up. I waved goodbye to the troops and pointed my wheel in the direction of the trail’s green start arrow. Just me, my MTB and the wind through the vents in my helmet.

Bliss.

Until I hit the first drop-off. I came to a sudden halt, back brake firmly clasped and to my bewilderment, I realised what had brought me to this sudden stop. I was nervous. What if I mis-judged the exit and careened into the bushes? What if I pulled the wrong brake and tumbled head-first over the bars? What if I couldn’t control the steering and pitched into a tree?

The trail starts out with a pump track and, if you’re ‘out of the zone’ like I was, can be rather tricky. But it’s a great opportunity to hone those skills, which in my case, were clearly severely lacking.  I continued along the trail but the same pattern prevailed; I would pull on the brakes far too often, and so momentum was definitely not my friend. My “flow” was erratic at best.

At one point, I stopped to watch a father and son tackling the trail behind me. What an eye-opener. The kid was going balls-to-the-walls , flying over the jumps, and tearing around the berms. Sure, he face-planted a few times but the thing is, he had absolutely no fear. At every fall, he would pick himself up, dust himself off and set off again. I realised I could learn a lot from this kid – who was probably around nine.

So I decided to shove that nonsensical “fear of falling” to the back crevices of my brain and just let myself go. It was ride-changing. It didn’t take long before I began to find my groove again; I dropped, swooped, pumped, hopped, and whatever other verbs you can use when it comes to describing mountain biking – it was exhilarating!

The ride was over all too soon and I can report the trail is in excellent nick. Offering a bit of everything for beginners to the more experienced, it’s well-maintained with superb views at every turn. The restaurant, “incubator” trail, playground and bike shop for those last minute supplies (and post-ride recovery drinks) makes it your one-stop MTB destination for the entire family.

Bad news for husband, I’m booking him for babysitting a lot more often from now on!

Kirsten is Bicycling’s Online Editor and spends her time juggling work, being a mom and finding the time to ride her bike.

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