Letting it Go in Crestridge
No Dabs, 2/28/21
We all have ‘em, those people in our lives who do not entirely understand why we ride our bikes so damn often on dirt trails. Sometimes they even comment that we like riding our bikes in the woods more than we like spending time with them. Nah, that ain’t true, we say, but then there we are heading out the door to pass an afternoon on the dirt paths.
We all have ‘em, those people in our lives who do entirely understand why we ride our bikes so damn often on dirt trails. Sometimes they even comment that we like riding our bikes in the desert more than we like spending time, well, doing pretty much anything else. Yep, it’s pretty much true, we say, but then while we’re out there riding away a glorious morning on dirt paths we think of our loved ones and the want and need to share life with them.
We all have ‘em, those people in our lives who are the majority, actually, who do not entirely understand, and don’t want to, what this mountain biking thing is all about, and for all they care, as long as we come back alive and are still smiling and without broken bones, then so be it. They even comment that they like it when we’re gone because, you know, there’s a bit of truth to the whole “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” or something like that.
We all have ‘em, each and every one of those people in our lives, plus the big wide spectrum of everyone else that falls somewhere in there and out there, when thinking of the three above-mentioned categories of people in our fat-tire-feigned lives. It might even be that as we move through time, we change in our riding lives and they change in their non-riding lives. It could even be that in those changes, the understandings evolve and chart a new course. Let’s keep it positive at this point by understanding that compromise can be a winner.
These were thoughts I had while riding Crestridge Ecological Reserve in east county San Diego the other week. It has some strenuous punchy trail segments that twist through the chaparral, offering spectacular views along the way. The oak grove there exudes peace and tranquility every time I roll through. Another thing about Crest that I like is the unmarked trails.
(Hmm? That looks like a trail. How about if I take it and see where it goes?)
A little adventure, of sort, is the surprise feeling I get at Crest. What I came to realize is that maybe that is what mountain biking is about more so than the fun and exercise and being in nature: a little adventure amidst the seeming mundane. Perhaps it, even on trails we’ve ridden over and over again, is about the possibility of the unknown adventure that sits in the back of our minds somewhere and propels us to go: a mechanical, a flat, not cleaning that rock garden we’ve cleaned a hundred times, coming in too hot on a turn and eating dirt, a rattlesnake on the trail, a mountain lion, you name it.
These were other thoughts I had while riding Crest the other week. I quickly deduced: nah, that’s not quite it, either. I then told myself to stop thinking and trying to figure it out.
And those categories of people I mentioned at the outset? Yeah, they don’t really spend much time trying to figure it out either. Most of the time, us and our mountain biking is a passing thought. They often have more important things to think about, e.g. food on the table. What’s more, us thinking about ourselves and our mountain biking lifestyle and how we think other people perceive it likely has more to do with our egos and insecurities than anything else.
That was the final thought I had while riding Crest the other week. At that moment, I was enjoying mountain biking.
