Hiking is always in the equation. So is just sitting around drinking beer. And last year we didn’t even put on a pair of skis. I feel I am becoming rigid and detrimental to others.
Like Mo. I feel in love with her diversity. Even I was into back country skiing and snowshoeing. I skate skied and hiked in the summer. I back packed often and climbed mountains. What an awesome life.
Sure, I was as obsessed with cycling as I am now. But in years past, I kept it at bay to enjoy other flavors of life.
Now, because of my obsession, we hide from others and are never available for other of life’s offerings. We just bike. I just bike. And if I can not bike, I get depressed and make life miserable around me. I feel bad.
So guess what we did on that Saturday a couple weeks ago? Right!
We planned the day to be full of adventure and possibly epic. And it was. Even I at one point wanted to just give up. Which is exceptional? I love these moments when I find I just persevere. The toughest part was when we started the hike-a-bike climb up to a saddle on a ridge.
And it was hot, real hot. Oh, and I must not forget about the bugs and meat eating fly. Just before I turned around I left Mo in the shade of a tree and instructed her to save herself if I don’t come back. I headed up the trail.
Which went upwards even more than before. At one point I became delirious and kept telling myself to turn around and catch up with Mo.
Finally, I found a suitable turn around point. It was a prime point at an intersection. Good enough. I rode enduro style back down the ridge.
I found the genuine challenge of enduro which in races we don’t really touch upon. Being so fatigued that the extreme downhill becomes so hard. One mess up and you launch off a cliff. So you keep focused. As much as you can.
I did a drop section and put some feet on the ground. Which means I didn’t crash or jump off the bike. I just cheated a little. “Common Bill, stay focused”, I scolded myself.
I rode back to the spot I left Mo. Surely she had turned back.
“Sunggles”
Nope, she must've turned back.
10 feet down the trail, I saw her. I had the wrong clump of trees. I started skidding past her.
“I thought you left, so glad to see you. I, I …”
“Just come over her and get out of the sun”
“Sty here until you feel better, I’ll ride down and you catch up when you can”
“OK”
Gosh, mountain biking is so fun.