Getting after it solo

If there's anything that adds a nice little bit of fear factor to riding jumps, it would be riding by yourself. We're fortunate to have a medical center located very close to our jumping spot.  In the past, this has come in handy.  Luckily, my ride today did not conclude with dragging my broken body to the hospital.  Here are a few awful photos I took on my phone from my ride today, along with some bragging about what I did.  

You know those jumps that freak you out, that you always look at but never get around to hitting?  This jump was my nemesis for almost two years.  It's got a big lip and the run in is super weird.  Today I just sucked up the nerves, pedaled out of the corner before the lip, and sent it.  I'm so glad to get that one out the way.  With a little maintenance and a few tweaks, this jump will be money.

This jump remains one of my favorites, ever.  The take of is between the goal post trees in the middle of the photo.  It's the floatiest little lip that steps down a bunch to a tiny pocket landing.  At the top it looks scary, but that's what makes it fun.  It's like any time you send yourself towards a pile of sticks and dirt that's ten feet away.  Luckily, this one works out.

Today was my first real ride on some new stuff.  This pictures should give you a sense of how steep some of it is.  It's rowdy.  I love steeps.  

Riding by yourself is so much more challenging, because there's nobody to egg you on to do the big stuff.  At the same time, there's nobody to pull you out when you go down.   I've ridden solo for a long time, and I've noticed that learning a new jump can be more rewarding when you're by yourself.  Of course, it didn't actually happen unless someone sees it.  That's why I had to write this.