Alright so it turns out that if you just jump into riding your bike on mountains everyday without somehow preparing yourself for it your body may complain. Unfortunately, my sprained foot/ankle hadn’t healed up fully when I started this and it’s giving me a bit of trouble which has spread to my right knee as well. Now, am I stopping? No. Am I trying to take it a bit easy? …Maybe. I don’t have much to say about day 4. I headed to Fromme and did a quick Upper Griffen ride before my knee started yelling at me and I retreated home to do some yoga and hopefully help it out.
But day 5 was some serious fun. Laura and I headed to the PNE pump track with her little dirt jumper and I got my first taste of some sweet, sweet pump track action. For those unfamiliar, a pump track is a groomed series of little hills and berms that you ride over with the goal of never pedaling. You “pump” with the bike (think like pumping on a swing to go higher) to create some speed to get through everything. If you do it right, you can go around and around and around without ever putting in a pedal stroke. Was this my experience? Of course not!
The good news is, there was significant improvement from my first try:
To my last:
We also had the good fortune to run into some other riders that will hopefully come along for some rides in the future. That’s what I love about this sport and my group of riding friends: no matter what your skill level is, you’re welcome to come ride with us. Here’s to day 6!
In case you missed the challenge.
Berms and Bras 
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