Patience Is A Virtue...

 Earlier this season my 2009 Nitro Swindle ran into a bit of a mishap. It was a warmer day, so things were turning into slush. I came up to a flatter spot in Snow Summit's Westridge park and speed was crucial, but lo and behold two kids doing heelside falling leaf between features.

One of the kids veered left leaving the down rail open... or so it seemed. As I entered the ramp and crouched to ollie, the kid changed directions and managed to clip my tail. I fell back and my trusty Swindle took the front of the rail head on, possibly sparing me some serious pain.

SNAP!

There I sat, staring at the insides of my board spewing over the topsheet, with only one thing going through my mind: Why did I go?

Yes, I fell because the kid clipped me, but my board broke because of my decision to hit the rail.  These kids shouldn't have been the park, they made that blatantly apparent, yet I ignored their inconsistent, unpredictable riding and assumed they would not run into me; Well, we all know what happens when you assume.

Of course mistakes like this happen so we can learn, and since then I have really slowed my roll in the terrain park.  Like those kids, once upon time I barely had control of my turns, but I'm glad the more experienced riders kept their patience with me. Everyone deserves their shot at some features, so I make sure to give less experienced riders their space on the hill these days.

And it turns out that patience can really pay off!

Most of the time the park ends up clearing out and I get all of the features all to myself; Plus, not having to worry about other riders around leaves that much more focus for tricks, which makes for a better day of riding all-around.