So I've been giving a lot of thought to where my minutes are disappearing to in these enduro events.

I'm reasonably quick, and getting more competent all the time. I can keep up with the people around me (except the experts, who seem to have laws of gravity that apply only to them) and I'm reasonably confident on the bike. So where are the minutes going?

One place where they are going is what I ca;; "throttle chop". When I see something I don't like - such as a bunch of nasty roots - I get a bit panicky and I roll right off the throttle. This wastes a lot of time, and loses momentum. It takes me a minute to get over an obstacle that an expert would do in seconds. Multiply this by the number of really nasty obstacles on the course, and you have a couple of minutes at least.

The main place where they are going when I fall off. This loses at least a minute, and more if I pause to get my breath back and take a minute to lose the adrenaline rush (it's dangerous to get right back on the bike without calming down for a few seconds first). If I fall off a couple of times, combined with throttle-chopping, then I am losing nearly 10 minutes a lap. Not good.

I can resolve this problem in a couple of ways:

1. consciously stay on the throttle when I see things I don't like
   
2. don't fall off

but these seem to be mutually exclusive.

What I really need is better continuity. There is no point in taking a brilliant corner at excellent speed if I then panic at the bunch of roots waiting round it. This is a lack of continuity - I need to either attack the roots at the same speed I took the corner, or go round the corner at the speed I want to attack the roots at. It needs to flow an awful lot more.

When you are learning to play chess, you think about your moves in terms of individual pieces. As you get better, you think about your moves in terms of combinations of pieces - then it starts to flow. When you learn to drive, you think about it in terms of one control at a time (steering, clutch and the like), it's only when you combine them then it starts to flow.

A bad boxer throws single punches. A good boxer uses combinations. Ali could lay a left jab, a right hook and a left uppercut so rapidly that it was like getting hit my 3 punches at once. WHat made him a brilliant boxer was that he flowed. His had continuity.

So I need to work on my combinations, my continuity. Up to now, I have been getting round the track one obstacle at a time. It is now time to look a little further round the corner at the next obstacle and start stitching them together.

Continuity is the objective now. I will start by dealing with obstacles in pairs, then stitching a little more of them together. My lap times will start to tumble.

Continuity is what it's all about. It ihas to be at the cente of what I do if I am to succeed.

My thanks to my ageing friend for the insight and the wisdom on this one.

Download the Manic Mission Information Pack for the full story ...