Conocer-ing CA's Oak Groves

No Dabs, 8/1/23

California’s oak groves and forests were entirely new to me when I moved here and got out on the trails a little over a decade ago. I guess I had seen them in previous trips to the Golden State, but never really noticed/got to know them, kind of like in the way of the verb conocer in Spanish. Today I am still conocer-ing these magnificent trees/groves/forests.

One of the joys of mountain biking, and probably the top one for me, is getting out and seeing new landscapes, discovering the magic and beauty of the natural world. Of course, it’s not done without the recognition that I have been traveling through it on what can be argued as being a little on the unnatural side of things — a bike composed of metals and rubber and things, etc.

Nevertheless, when I am in the oaks, I nearly always stop and allow wonder and awe to enter the time space. Silence dissipates to bird songs and buzzing insects and gurgling water. Sandpapery sounding scratching leaves, rustling in the breezes and sliding against each other, softens the late morning.

Humans, us, we struggle with our understanding of our place on the planet. I should back up, actually, and say that modern humans do, as far as I can tell, or what my intellect is capable of. I can’t possibly know what humans of yesterday felt/thought/emoted, other than what has been provided through written word, art, dance, song, etc.

What about us? Should we, as mountain bikers, speak more to how we feel in nature? Is what we do only about FKT, KOM, shredding, and all the gnarls? Are we missing something by not expressing how we feel while biking in oak groves? Across meadows? Above the tree line? Under the tree canopy? Along a rocky ridge?

We planted 3 coast live oaks in our back yard, an attempt to cultivate what we feel when out there so that we might experience it here at home. I can only hope that I live long enough to see the glorious trees in 40 years or more, when I can sit under them and feel their majesty and glory.