Rob Z(ielinski, not ombie) and I joined up with Todd Essig and Jonathan Woody from the Harpeth Bicycles Racing Team last night for a couple of laps of the 6 hour loop at Hamilton Creek. We mostly took it easy. I say mostly because Jonathan didn’t – that guy is fast off road.
Rob hadn’t been on a mountain bike for a while due to a shoulder injury, so he picked careful lines through the rocky sections and chose the bailout options on some ledges. I can’t blame him since Hamilton Creek is a hematoma waiting to happen if you ride it carelessly. The trails are rocky and rooty, with some of the lines either requiring a pachinko-ball maneuver in between narrow slots, or a hop up onto a foot high ledge in order to clear. I was riding “heavy” since I’ve been off the mountain bike for several weeks and could hear my chain slapping the chainstay over the roots and rocks. On technical trails like Hamilton Creek, it helps to ride “light” and absorb the larger hits with your body instead of banging into them and letting the bike take it all – especially on a hardtail. The sound of the chain on the chainstay is a pretty good indicator of lightness, and mine wasn’t sounding light.
Once we had covered a few miles of trial I started to get my Hammy groove back. I picked a few tougher lines requiring more pop up onto the ledges instead of rolling around them, and worked a bit on flat landing some of the shallower drops. Photo Op Drop still requires a last minute chicken out move. I have yet to take the main line on this 2-3 foot ledge, always opting for the step down to the left (not the full bailout line, mind you). One of these days I will go out and just practice this drop until it’s second nature, but not tonight.
After a full lap of the race loop, Jonathan and I split off from Todd and Rob and headed back in for another partial lap. I made it to the far side and was riding smoothly, but missed a line through a slot between two boulders and got thrown sideways into the rock pile. A few choice words uttered (therapeutic cursing. Mythbusters proved that this lessens pain) and I made sure that no permanent damage was done to the bike. I was fine too, but could feel a deep bruise in the palm of my hand and a few on my hip. Pretty light losses for a still inexperienced mountain biker at the most technical trail in the area.
Jonathan wanted to finish out the lap, so I turned around and headed back to the trailhead. I sessioned a few of the ledges several times in each direction (drop off, climb up, drop off, climb up) to work out the post-dirt-nerves. Line selection is key to this trail, as is technique. If you hit the wrong rock at the wrong angle, speed, or body position, you lose. Tonight I lost, but since I hadn’t wagered much my losses were minimal. By the end of summer I should have enough time out there that I turn the house odds in my favor. The trail is only a few miles from work, and the race loop is short enough to make a lap and still be home early. It’s still a rigged game, but I say bring on the rocks.
