Difficult people - Difficult trail...

Whether it is in the workplace, at home or with one of your friends, you'll always have to deal with difficult people. And, everyone has their secret to getting past the situation.

Do you ignore the situation (stand-offish)? What about fight it head-on (headstrong-ish)? Do you blame (blamer)? Are you passive-aggressive (freak)? I imagine that most people go through a variety of responses when dealing with situations with difficult people. It all depends on the type of day it is. If you're day has been happy; you might be the most wonderful person to deal with. If your day has been crap; then WATCH OUT!

Funny, how difficult people/situations and your responses can be translated to the trail. Think of the last time you had a really poopy day. Did you hammer out your best trail ride later that afternoon? Was it the fastest ever? What about that one section of trail that YOU ALWAYS "get", but this time stumps you? Doesn't make you want to throw your bike?

Of course some might answer, yes; it was the best day AFTER I rode my bike. However, I'd bet a shiny buffalo nickel that you didn't have the best ride DURING your trail session.

My secret is to truly ride how I feel. If I'm in the dumps, I pull it back or don't ride at all. The last thing I want to do is run (or ride) from my problems. I also take "being down" as overtrained, too. This is something to watch out for, because your next "down" might be on the couch.