During and after my Peace Corps (PC) years, with fellow PC friends during those days and who still are through-to-now, we’ll sometimes comment on the understanding of us having won the birth lottery, meaning we were/are fortunate to have been born in los Estuches. In my work and travels since the Honduras days, that understanding was further solidified, so much so that people around the world have literally reminded me of that fact—birth lotto. It’s never lost on me that I won.
The other day, though, I had a new revelation along the lines of that thinking: those of us who are mountain bikers won the birth lottery. I mean, what if we were golfers?! Or, and thank goodness not, what if we were pickle ball players?!
I say that in jest, of course. If golfing or pickle ball is your thing, great (I guess!).
Now of course, any discussion around the great fortune of being a mountain biker isn’t going to be without some kind of debate amongst us, ain’t it?!
Like in the village in the Olanchano mountains where I lived and had only a telegraph machine to communicate with the outside world, I’m grateful that I learned to mountain bike on a rigid bike. I’m certain my bike handling skills are better for it.
I’m thankful I got to experience the rad days of mountain biking, when it was more punk rockish/fringe and magazines like Dirt Rag documented all that radness and weirdness.
If you’re only now getting into mountain biking, you, too, won the MTB birth lotto. You now have endless choices in what bike to ride, even having bikes with a “motor” to consider. Everything is dialed in way better than before, so much so that you can now get a bike that is best for “gravel” conditions. Or, for hucking off cliffs. You can even purchase one for getting “rowdy” on “down-country trails.”
Another reason I won the MTB birth lotto: trails were uncrowded and riding some of them had a “civil disobedience” factor to it. Another reason you, newcomer, won the MTB birth lotto: more events and festivals and trails designed specifically for mountain biking.
I won the MTB birth lotto because I got to ride when mountain biking wasn’t cool and there were no TV commercials that made what I did look cool. You won the MTB birth lotto, grom, because mountain biking is cool and ads tell you so.
Perhaps last but certainly not least, I won the MTB birth lotto because before/during/after a ride, I got to drink a beer and nobody cared and there wasn’t “near beer” or “gut healthy” fermented alcoholic beverages in sight. You, dear fledgling mountain biker, lost the MTB birth lotto in this regard because now a lot more mountain bikers will let you know that they don’t think you should drink a beer before/during/after a ride, nor, as they say, should beer be so prevalent in the world of mountain biking, and what’s more, some people actually have the gall to ask you if you want a cherry lime kombeltzer. If that happens/happened to you/us, you/we lost the MTB birth lotto BIG TIME!