Little did I know…

November 18, 2007 on 6:04 am | In Abstractions | No Comments

I have always had an inner pull towards the dirty side of cycling…that was apparent when I was 13, out on my 1983 Nishiki 12 speed’s maiden voyage and I hucked a woopdy-do resulting in a bent rear rim…ooops!!!

Three years ago I was introduced to what has grown to a slight obsession. (OK OK…for anyone who has tried to have a conversation with me about ANYTHING besides mtbikng knows d@mn well I am COMPLETELY obsessed!!…but let’s move on about why!!!)

I was getting my life back in order (after what I would like to call one of life’s unfortunate detours)…I joined a gym, hired a trainer, started running & lifting weights. I had heard many stories about this place called Oleta. It had dirt, little hills, roots, rocks and something known as “singletrack”. Everyone who had been there always had a huge smile when they talked about it. A client of mine would come in for pedicures with her mtbike shoes on…the one with clips on them so she would tip-tip-tip all the way to my chair. She had mud on her shins, spots on her face, her hair was mussed, and stories of escape! I wanted to experience that freedom…I would in time. So I took my 1994 Diamond Back rigid mtb (a little boys model) in for a tune up…I was gonna be a “mountainbiker” !!!

…little did I know that escape was going to become a passion!

Somewhere between breakfast and dinner my good karma cashed in (with a little help from a friend) and I met “him”. He borrowed a bike, some of those clippie shoes and told me to follow…and follow I did. We rode as fast as we could (ok…so I had some fitness to work on) but I think I impressed him a bit! Apparently I passed the pavement ride with gold stars so off to that “singletrack” I had yearned to see.

This ride started off slow…I think I actually closed my eyes a few times. Somehow I made it over the first drop (not very gracefully I am sure) but failed the little climb littered with roots. My guide would holler out “PEDAL HARDER” in hopes I would make the next little hill….whew!!! Barely, but I did! He would stop and give me tips, yell out words of encouragement, constantly ask “are you having fun?” as if the grin on my face was not explicit enough!!! As the ride developed the speed accelerated…the risked increased…and the ego bloated! I was a mountain biker…hehe

He tried to warn me…”after the next little hill you have to swerve blah left blah blah then blah blah blah” I thought I was invincible, a natural, this trail is MINE!!! Hahahahaha…splat!!! I flew to the right…the bike to the left…and boulder (yeah! Boulder as in rock) in between. My guide, shocked and scared, ran to see if I was OK. HA! Of course! What is a little scrape? I popped up and swung my leg over the bike and wanted nothing more than to pedal farther down this “singletrack” to see what else it had in store for me!!! I think it was that very moment I had truly won that guides heart…

That night, tired, bruised, in pain and still grinning, I knew I would be visiting that “singletrack” again and again and again! A new passion was sparked in me…I found a sense of escape, freedom and challenge. Something that no matter how long I pounded away at it I wanted more, something that would bring me to tears but I couldn’t stop, something causes suffering and pain but I longed to endure…I wanted to pedal farther and farther and farther!!!

And pedal I do…I get cranky (pun not intended but made me giggle) when I can’t ride. I ride a roadie now too…have a commute/touring bike, as well as a unicycle (I hope to actually ride one day). I have had many hobbies and “things I like to do” but nothing seems to keep me as happy as simply riding my bike.

Thank you my Love for guiding me and continuing to ride along with me on this wonderful adventure…

Laurie