When you have to eat a piece of humble pie to learn and grow.

I have done a lot of mountain biking in the last few months. When it comes to challenging myself on my bike, I am finding that I am having to eat a bit of humble pie. More than I would like to eat, but here is what it has taught me.

For the last month, I have been taking downhill mountain biking lessons. I have learned a significant amount of new information. There is always a lot to think about on the way down the trail. Stay centred, get off your brakes, only the back brake in the berms, turn your head and look at the exit; the list goes on and on. I am grateful to learn all of this, and I have been trying to put it into my everyday riding. It has been a process.

Sometimes when I ride, I talk to myself. Who am I fooling? It’s not sometimes; it’s all the time, let’s be honest. Some of the things I hear myself say are, Karen, you’re riding in the bushes, the trail is over there! Get it together, Karen! You can do this, just roll over it! I’m sure if anyone can hear me, they think I’m special.

I have found that I forget to give myself credit. Hey, you did that berm without the brakes; good job! Or, you cleared that jump and hit the downslope, smooth! Learning to acknowledge what I did instead of what I didn’t do, makes for a more enjoyable ride. Not just riding, in everyday life, you can incorporate this and it makes for a more enjoyable day.

Here’s the thing with my riding, I sometimes get ahead of myself. My inner athlete does not match my outer athlete.

Would you like Cherry, Raspberry or Apple?

That’s when I start to eat humble pie.

Sometimes you have to fail at something to be better at it than you were before. I feel like the other day; I failed a lot! I have the bruises to prove it. Kevin asked me that day what was wrong with me! I explained that I was showing him what not to do with a solid demonstration. I thought I was ready to try a few different things because I had done them once under instruction from my coach. I thought I was a pro now. That makes sense, right? No, not a pro by any sense of the word. Hand me a plate of humble pie as I pull myself out of the bushes and dust off the dirt.

At times like these, I use to get really down on myself.

What am I thinking, trying to do this type of riding at my age? Then I look around and see all the people older than me doing this type of riding and killing it, and I say that’s why Mr. Ego! I have to stop and realize that with every new learned component of biking, it takes time to incorporate it into everyday riding. The instructors are yelling at me to slow down for a reason.

Slow Down, take it all in and proceed.

Take the time to go slow and understand what your body and bike are doing to incorporate it easier and add more fluidity into your riding. Basically, walk before you run!

Taking time to slow down and understand applies to so many aspects of life. Not just in sport, but for me, I notice it most in sport. I should know from teaching skiing that there is a process to understanding motor learning.

Some skills can take longer than others before you can finally put 2 and 2 together to get to the next level.

As I am going down the trail, I feel like right now that 2+2=, well, it can be answered a lot of different ways at the moment. Like I said earlier, sometimes I check out the vegetation. I just really hope there isn’t a big furry bear in there eating berries!

If the bears are, maybe I should see if they will share their berries for my humble pie!

Even if I have to eat a piece of humble pie every now and then, I still believe that it is essential to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to learn and grow. I learn something every time I get on my bike. It gives me lots of feedback, and sometimes I can find a really sweet berry in that humble pie as I make a jump and land it correctly. My point is, humble pie makes you better! Get out there and keep learning and growing!