Fear

False evidence appearing real. Or fear. It’s one of those emotions that rules us completely if we let it. If allowed to creep in, fear can turn a great day into your worst nightmare and a seasoned rider into a crybaby in baggies. Without a firm grip, you will most certainly slip into your own head. The only way to battle fear is with confidence.

In my limited experience I have had a lot of confidence with my bike skills. When fear creeps in, all I have to do is pull it out and munch on it like a leftover confidence burrito. But lately fear seems to be a battle I could not overcome. How it crept in, I do not know. But it left a scar on my memory that was near impossible to heal. It was long jagged and was shaped like the road gap at Snowshoe. That gap had eluded me for going on 3 years this summer. Every chance I was given to heal that wound, was met with a fresh pink scar even bigger than the last. My mental block was growing and I had no idea how to stop it. I layed in bed many nights thinking about how it would go down. In my dream, cheers, ticker tape and friends lifting me on their shoulders concluded my successful landing on the dirt. Standing on the lip and looking down on the lander made me laugh as I thought back on that silly dream. Where had my confidence gone? The burrito wasn’t helping, it was giving me heartburn. I am usually the guy that guinea pig's this type of stuff. Every trip down the mountain took me past that jump. And every time I planned on hitting it, only to chicken out at the last second.

My breakthrough came when I was following some friends down the mountain. Three riders that had not ever been to Snowshoe. And before that day had never been on a DH bike. How could I let myself be defeated that easy. How did they master the fear? Then it hit me like a Dio song at the karaoke bar. They were having fun. I had been focused on it, sweating it. I needed to loosen up and relax. “False evidence appearing real”. What is the worst thing that could happen? I was on my TAKA, a bike designed for this. It had carried me down the mountain all day with not a single fail yet. I have the skills, I have done bigger features than this. And most importantly I am here to have fun, not worry about one jump on a trail I have rode 100 times. I just need to break that burrito out of the tin foil wrapper take a big bite and get my confidence back.

On the next trip down the mountain I sent it off the big road gap. The fear was shed. My mental block was gone, and the wound was healed. New skin grew over the spot where once my mind was ripped wide open. I don’t think my three fellow riders, knew what they did for me. But they did it in a big way. I have since tried to look at why fear grips me with some things and not others. It almost always starts with doubt in myself. If I didn’t say that then I would be lying. And if you have not felt it, then you are lying to yourself. I think this is something that comes natural to all us 2 wheeled freaks. Road, XC,DH it does not matter. Fear is a battle we will face from time to time. But a battle we must win if we want to grow. So fill up your confidence tanks. It may be a ride with friends, finally cleaning that climb you have been working on, or simply adding a new part. Save it up for those days fear comes calling, Take a bite and move on.