After today’s cross country meet, I’m sitting here putting together a playlist for tomorrow’s shenanigans on the mountain bike. The mountain bike rides are usually an hour or two total with 4 to 6 minutes sections of possible doom followed by relaxed riding.
I usually have one earbud in for some of my favorite music. My music hasn’t changed much since high school, neither have I.
I don’t do the really crazy stuff on the trails as I have a high enough probability of busting myself up without any dukes of Hazzard recreations. Mostly just high-speed downhill and close-to-the-trees action. Having my favorite music helps when I ride or lift weights. Otherwise, I think too much, and it goes poorly when I do that.
I use Strava to help me with PR’s in the sections I’m used to riding. One of my favorites is Spider Berm over at Balm Boyette Park in Riverview.
This section of mayhem and possible demise is about 5 minutes of all-out riding if I do it right. By the end of it, my HR will be around 180bpm, and hopefully, I’m still wearing all my own skin. Trust me when I say pine trees have absolutely zero give if you hit them. Tomorrow’s setlist includes, Queen, Quiet Riot, Johhny Cash, and a lot of Metallica.
I choose the song for Spider Berm carefully. The section comes about 30 minutes into the ride. It’s just about when I’m warmed up and can tell how well the rest of the ride will go. For that section, I choose a song assuming that I’m going to do something exceptional. I usually go for a PR every time I start it.
I haven’t shot a lot of video riding, this guy did an incredibly slow version of it but it does give you and idea of how dangerous it could be.
That is an 8 minute video of what I hope will be less than 5 for me. For those of you that think that mountain bike riding in Florida is funny, well there you go. It can get serious in a heartbeat.
For that section, tomorrow, I’m going with the classic “Hit the Lights.” Metallica’s debut song on their debut album “Kill ‘Em All.” The song was first performed in 1982 and written by a 16-year-old James Hetfield in his bedroom. I’ve heard the song 1,443,665 times. It never fails to motivate. I’ll include a video of the song. If you have never heard it, we can’t be friends.
Just when I think I’m all cool listening to this, I have to remember that 40 years ago, a skinny teenager wrote this, and today it still gets my adrenaline going. If he can do it at 50-something, so can I.
Go get your heart rate up because everyone eventually dies, very few really live.