In January of 2022, I conversed simultaneously with three doppelgangers of my friend JacAttack, fell down on the trail we were on, and ruptured my right Achilles tendon. I mean, not necessarily in that exact order. I’ve written about the whole process a couple of times – Travelling In Good Company & Part 2.
Then, I was also hit by a car {‘luckily’ it was traveling slowly} about a year later, in December of 2022. That combined to stack a bunch of back pain onto my weak leading leg. In terms of pedaling, I forfeited half of ’22 and spent the rest of that year and most of ’23 extra-sucking at mountain biking. Uphill and downhill. Shout out to Dorothy Berwick for helping me build back from both.
I’ve been to Cumberland, BC, a few times since the series of pain. Cumberlandworx with my family in the summers. Easter JacVentures, where we put in 5-6 proper rides over a long weekend, in ’23 and ’24. Proper miles there; proper miles at home on the North Shore.
I would have said that sometime last year was the point that I’d recovered the majority of my power and fitness climbing, and the majority of my control, processing, and will on descents. Enough, at least, that mountain biking always felt like fun again instead of often feeling like working hard at something I do.
Somewhere in there, I managed to recover from actively focusing on meeting myself {“Patience, Mandrew”} where I was on a given day, to happily trying to push myself to ride harder up climbs and to challenge myself to move faster, smoother, and stronger down and across technical terrain.
{Above photo: Hardtail.Life}
I can’t say exactly when, but at some point this weekend, grinding my #1FG up one steep technical climb or another, choosing a line and committing on a technical DH section, whenever. My riding finally hit the full tank. Cautious still, especially aware of how fast the ground rises to meet a rigid fork, but also centered.
I didn’t lament forfeiting the extra control, confidence, and comfort that my W(x)W V2 frame provided thanks to the extra 40-plus millimeters of chain stay length. Rather, I embraced the joy of rallying* my Freeride BMX up, down, and around with the whispered-then-shouted promise of growing more fun together.
*{All terms relative to a world of cautiously cruising my novice skills and pro-level dad-bod around trying to keep my friends in sight.}
Yeah, so. It’s been a process. But whether it’s coming back from a (surmountable – read, ‘relatively minor’) injury, or coming back to mountain biking from some other hiatus, this is a friendly reminder to meet yourself, rather than beat yourself.
It may take years to come back to where you were. In all honesty, I was fairly certain I’d hit my new normal when I plateaued a year ago. Now I’m buoyed with a confidence that I’m going to be faster and stronger in every direction by this time next year.
Want a slice of that? Help yourself.
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