momentum. Or why to lay off the brakes

Juli Furtado once said that braking will get you into more trouble than speed ever will.

This is something I knew, but it really hit home the last two rides I did at Brandywine State Park: Momentum is your friend…maybe your best friend, when riding off-road.

First example, or lesson. Night ride. I was in a group, maybe 4th or 5th in line. Social pace. Leader and #2 were chatting and moving at a snails pace. Excellent for practicing track-stands. In the dark, this slow-motion crawl through the woods was painful…shit I normally had no trouble cleaning was giving me fits. I wasn't riding my own style, forced to do a pseudo trials ride. It was like each and every rock was it's own obstacle. If it wasn't good company, and I was happy to out after what seemed like weeks off the bike, I would have been tempted to bail.
I soon started braking to almost a stop, to allow space in front of me, then charging through rocks, over logs, etc. This seemed to baffle the riders behind me, but made it a lot easier to deal with.

Next ride at BW. Different group. Not the regulars who ride there every week, which means I get to lead, since I am more familiar with the trails. At the front, I hit all of the rock gardens with momentum. Completely different ball game. One particularly challenging rock garden, for the hell of it, I hit balls out, carrying more speed than I ever have previously. I wouldn't dare say it was 'easy', but I don't ever recall cleaning it was as little effort as that. Amazing.