Confidence is a funny thing, sometime you have it sometimes you don't.
Too much is just as bad as too little, yet its hard to find the right balance.
Our TickerTape events give members the opportunity to gain some and test what they already have.
Simon Bartlett (pictured above on the new drop on 143) has always been fast, but over the past few months he's become faster, and more precise, riding with the measured aggression needed to challenge that top spot.
He's not the only one either; Chris (Sheppard) has been quietly soaking it up and it's really beginning to show. On his only timed run Chris punctured on 'contention corner', blowing out his front tyre on a root, but fired up and hungry to set a time Chris pushed on, hitting a tree before pedalling like a man possessed to the finish. 48.91 seconds. Brilliant.
No prizes this month due to the small number of participants but plenty of beans: Tom, Nige and Burv all gave it plenty and would have made the decision pretty hard.
BBMS saw a slight change to the routing (just after the log drop) adding about 1 sec to the course length but with only second gear (snapped shifter!) I was only able to manage a 37.74 closely followed by Simon with a 37.94.
I genuinely believe that there's a sub 36 for the taking but on such a tight and short course it'd take some impressive accuracy, concentration and of course plenty of confidence.
Spoons next month; will Chris Smith be able to keep his crown or will we see Will Hardy set a new standard?
