The edge marks the boundary of a limitation. How can we push past it?

This episode dives into the topic of limits—both physical and mental. We discuss our personal experiences of hitting edges while mountain biking, how it manifests differently for everyone, and how to recognize and work with your edge.

Themes and topics:

• Identifying physical and mental limits through breath loss and other physiological indicators

• Backing off from the edge to recruit skills, breathwork, and other resources

• Playing at the edge mindfully to stretch limits and enter a flow state for enhanced learning

• Recognizing edges manifest differently for everyone based on personality and situation

• Supporting others who are at their limit without being overbearing

• Managing emotions like fear, anger, and vulnerability when hitting a limit

• Finding edges in various areas of life like work, relationships, health and wellness

• Expanding the "window of tolerance" through challenging comfort zones in a safe way

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

SkiErg

Ellie Herman’s Pilates Reformer

Episode 47 with Melissa Gill

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A listener's beautiful take on the changing nature of flow.

Happy Friday, y'all! The weather is finally cooperating this weekend in Utah. So I hope you all are going to get out and ride, I know I am.

I completed an interview yesterday with Dr. Eric Brymer. This interview will air on Tuesday, May 21st, but we got to talking about the existential or mystical facet—the spiritual facet—of adventure, and adventure in nature, in particular.

And it was interesting that I conducted this interview right after I had received the most beautiful message from one of our listeners, Scott (Scott, if you’re here, say hi in the comments so people can respond to you directly!), who lives in Utah. He responded to the form I put out this week asking for feedback about the podcast, (thank you to everybody who filled out that form, btw. I really appreciate it.), and he suggested we talk about some of the differences in how flow feels between cross country and downhill.

So I reached out to him saying that I loved his point about cross country flow vs. downhill flow, and I asked him which one he tended to prefer. And Scott had the most beautiful response that spoke directly to what Dr. Eric Brymer was speaking of in that interview. It was so beautiful that I asked him if I could share his message with you all.

I get these messages from time to time from riders that just blow me away at who is listening to the show. If you see yourself in Scotts message, just know that there are so many of us out in nature, on a bike, finding these deep, meaningful, impactful life changing experiences out there. And I wanted to share this one.

If you have a message you’d like to share with the AOMTB audience, message me directly on Substack or send it to theartofmountainbikingpodcast@gmail.com.