As much as we love to ride, we shouldn’t do it day in and day out. Our bodies need to rest. Of late, I’ve been embracing days off the bike as much as days on it. On two getaways this spring, one for work and one for pleasure, I had such an enjoyable time slowing down that I told myself that I need to walk in the woods more than I have been for the past few decades.
Vancouver’s local mountains were covered in snow. Not having a bike and knowing that trail riding, other than snow biking, wasn’t much of an option, we went for walks around the city (urban hiking) and Stanley Park. Slowing down and seeing what flashes by in the periphery when mountain biking was like meditation, or was/is it medication?
In Kernville, one of my favorite places on planet Earth, the river and surrounding southern Sierra, and having no bike racked to the car, was what I needed, though I had no idea of such need. One foot in front of the other …
Step by step … and then … strip down and take the plunge …
Glasses of wine as the setting sun cast pale light across the sky, rafters and kayakers bobbing down the river, and not feeling the ache that sometimes comes with long days in the saddle, I had several thoughts:
Am I getting old?
Do I need a break from mountain biking?
Is there more hiking/backpacking in my future?
Who knows? Who cares? Somewhere between then and now and whatever lies ahead, I haven’t and won’t figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll celebrate the rest days, the ones when I am not mountain biking.
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I feel this. Every once in a while I remove the bike rack from the car and go take a hike with my camera, sometimes in the same preserve where some MTB trails are. I saw carnivorous sundew plants, and helped a molting northern water snake to a safe spot off the trails to finish shedding its skin. I try to use my bike to help me get to places where I can slow down, but it's not the same. I want to be riding. So I have to leave the bike home.
Good stuff. Liked this passage, in particular: "Who knows? Who cares? Somewhere between then and now and whatever lies ahead, I haven’t and won’t figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll celebrate the rest days, the ones when I am not mountain biking."
I agree there are rest days, and lately I've come to learn there are rest seasons, too. I'm finding myself in a season of rest from cycling in general. I long for long, hard days in the saddle, but short ones here and there will do for the time being. Thanks for the thought-provoking post.