A really beautifully written way of communicating the phenomenon of progressively changing vision.
I think learning about this change in vision that comes as you improve is something that gave me the freedom to push off riding features I was afraid of or not ready for. As a skills coach I work with frequently said, view it as "tomorrow's success, not today's failure", being able to recognize that things I see as scary now or that are over my head will look less intimidating a year from now makes me feel more comfortable putting it off until I'm ready.
I most recently encountered this at a bike park near me in WNC, there is a technical blue trail that I rode for the first time about two years ago. I ended up walking almost all of it, looking back at sections and thinking: "I'll never ride that". We rode it a few weeks ago and I cleaned the entire thing (admittedly, fairly slowly) and it felt totally natural for me, at no point did it feel like I was pushing beyond my limits, but the trail was completely the same.
I see a lot of riders getting hurt pushing themselves beyond the limits of what they should be doing, either going too fast for their skill level or vision (most frequent) or riding features they aren't prepared for. I've also been in the hospital because I pushed myself well beyond my limits. The 6 weeks of no riding, followed by 6+ months of confidence recovery, didn't exactly do much to improve my riding and I've learned to progress as it comes, as difficult as it may be to discipline myself to do so. As much as pushing yourself to improve and challenging yourself is a self discipline, so is recognizing when you aren't ready for something and telling yourself no, which I honestly find a bigger struggle than forcing myself to do something I'm not ready for.
July 31, 2019, 1:12 p.m. - Shinook
A really beautifully written way of communicating the phenomenon of progressively changing vision. I think learning about this change in vision that comes as you improve is something that gave me the freedom to push off riding features I was afraid of or not ready for. As a skills coach I work with frequently said, view it as "tomorrow's success, not today's failure", being able to recognize that things I see as scary now or that are over my head will look less intimidating a year from now makes me feel more comfortable putting it off until I'm ready. I most recently encountered this at a bike park near me in WNC, there is a technical blue trail that I rode for the first time about two years ago. I ended up walking almost all of it, looking back at sections and thinking: "I'll never ride that". We rode it a few weeks ago and I cleaned the entire thing (admittedly, fairly slowly) and it felt totally natural for me, at no point did it feel like I was pushing beyond my limits, but the trail was completely the same. I see a lot of riders getting hurt pushing themselves beyond the limits of what they should be doing, either going too fast for their skill level or vision (most frequent) or riding features they aren't prepared for. I've also been in the hospital because I pushed myself well beyond my limits. The 6 weeks of no riding, followed by 6+ months of confidence recovery, didn't exactly do much to improve my riding and I've learned to progress as it comes, as difficult as it may be to discipline myself to do so. As much as pushing yourself to improve and challenging yourself is a self discipline, so is recognizing when you aren't ready for something and telling yourself no, which I honestly find a bigger struggle than forcing myself to do something I'm not ready for.