50 laps at 50

 2024 has been full of great rides. I started the year with a bike trip to Arkansas . Filled the summer with some great sessions at Valmont. And then got to do another trip with my CB buds. I knew I was creeping up on a big birthday, but more importantly 2024 marks my 30th anniversary with mountain biking. Yes, in 1994 in Lakewood, Colorado I wandered into a Bicycle Village with a wad of cash hard earned from changing oil at the Texaco Express Lube. One thing I remember about the purchase is that there was actually a Trek 810 made of mild steel, and I got the Trek 820 which had a chromoly frame. So I didn't get the cheapest bike.

My bike was red, but this was the only one I found with correct brakes

Anyway, I've done a lot of riding since that beauty kicked it all off. Sometimes more riding than I remember. This was clear a few weeks ago when I happened to notice that Starva keeps track of your, 'attempts' down a segment. So I looked and saw that I had 32 attempts down my favorite trail Indiana Jones. I did a little math and thought, I bet I could hit 50 times before I turn 50. 

Indiana Jones is one of the original trails of Left Hand Canyon. Indy and Bon Scott were trails dug by the motocross riders. When I started riding here, it was basically a fall line trail scratched down the center of the gulley. Thanks to the sweat and vision of hardworking diggers, the trail has transformed into the unholy marriage of a bobsled track and a slopestyle course. 

The center line has been abandoned and the trail sweeps back and forth along both walls arcing into fast tight berms. When I'm feeling good I like to nose wheelie across the tops of the corners. The rest of the trail is made up of one feature after another. Most of the features are mandatory air drops, some with significant gaps. But there are also several lippy little jumps. Due to the back and forth nature of the trail many of the jumps are into hips or force a quick turn right after landing.

The ride down Indy takes less than two minutes. Once you get started there really isn't any good place to stop because each feature requires the speed built up from the last one. Incidentally the trail starts off with three distinct drops, each can be launched a few feet. I used to hit all of them, but the first two have developed deep compressions in the landings. This has the effect of punishing the rider for sending the drop. I don't like to be punished so I just roll the first two, sometimes I get a little clank from my chain ring. 

After the second, I line up on this big boulder and straight send it. When my wheels hit the ground it's on from there. I know I don't ride it fast, people often get stuck behind me. Once a friend who was following me said, "why do you go so high on the berms? The inside line is so much faster."

It was then I realized that I ride the trail different from most other people. I ride the trail as if it's a slopestyle course and I will be judged on style. So I ride each berm as high as I can and I pop each feature with as much style as I can muster. Sometimes I even try to throw tricks.

So I new I would never be the fastest down Indy. In fact I happened to record my fastest run down Indy and I wasn't even trying. I think this is a true example of the saying, Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. See, I was riding with my friend Jesse and I wore a backwards facing gopro. I was totally focused on leading him off all the hits with as much style as possible. I knew he was a stylish rider and wanted to show him the most fun lines. We skidded to the bottom and I was excited with the footage I got of him, then I noticed it was my PR. Still, I'm not even on the leader board for a run down Indy.

I will never even be top 50th down Indy. But I knew I could get 50 laps down it. So I started my pursuit. Usually I climb The Grind to Start the Party to Brown Town to Indy. That's my standard jam. But I had to simplify if I was gonna crank out Indy laps. The first time I tried three laps I discovered I had the 6th place time for that. I tried to focus and I got 2nd with 4 minutes, then second with 1 minute. Then for laps 48,49, and 50 I really tried to hammer down. I never modified my runs down Indy, I still took my same lines with the same speed. I knew that it wasn't the 2 minutes of downhill that needed improvement, it was the 5 minutes of flat and 20 minutes of climbing.

I'm proud to say it paid off. This is a reflection on my high school running career. I sucked at sprinting, sucked at mid distance, but gosh darn it, I could crank out 12 laps around the track or 5k of xc trail.

Now, this KOM is like a candle in the wind, because most of the people I ride with wait for me on every climb. I know they can easily snatch this away, so I'll enjoy it like a candle on my 50th birthday cake