So, I had my first night of indoor riding at Ray's Indoor Mountain bike park for the winter season. Then, this morning, I rode to work, in preparation for tonight's "Bike winter" event at which I'll be speaking. :)

Rays is much improved, and I borrowed one of their Treck Ticket Stub bicycles. It's a dirt jump bike, which I am not used to at all. I also rode it with platform pedals, which I haven't done in probably 8 or 10 years! It was a real challenge! I felt like a beginner for sure. The dirt jump bikes are smaller and simpler than my full squish rig, and much better suited for the indoor park. However they do require you to basically stand the wrhole time and so it was a real challenge to ride things that I was used to sitting down to ride. Instead I had to stand, and the saddle wasn't as conducive to pinching between the legs. That 5th point of contact and stabilization was missing or severely limited and I didn't feel very confident at all! But after several laps around the cross country loop, I was starting to get the hang of it, and even tried a new section that had some big rollies and a little jump. I did'nt catch any air, I was too afraid, but my adrenaline was sky high anyhow! What a rush! I had a huge smile on my face most of the night, trying new obstacles and skills on a new rig. It sure does freshen things up to totally step outside my comfort zone and learn some new skills! If you're bored at all with your ride routine, try a different bike! New challenges and thrills await!