where ha*braaaap*ve you been all my life?
July 14th, 2008 | Published in general | 3 Comments
It’s all too easy to forget how satisfying something you really love to do is when you’ve been away from it for a while. This can cover many things, but in my life, it more specifically refers to music and trail riding. I do play music a little at home; it’s not the same as playing with 2-3 friends in front of a fucking loud amp, but it’s good enough to exercise the muscle memory and satisfy the urge to learn a new song occasionally.
Mountain biking is a little different than music, because unlike picking up a guitar to pluck a few chords, i can’t just jump on a trail right from my door and be back home in 10 minutes. This is why i haven’t ridden it much for several years now; it’s often hard to find a good 2-3 hour block of time to get to a trail and back and have any sort of riding time. I ride a lot of miles, but trail miles are a different kettle of fish. I’ve been overdue to reclaim some dirt time.
Singletrack trail riding is all about floating and flow. At its best it’s like being a leaf floating along a twisty river. Your senses open up, you can take in the trail surface and the obstacles ahead and your breathing and how your muscles are working and the next curve of the trail and every sound the bike makes, all concurrently. You’re able to focus on everything and nothing at the same time. You still have to pedal and brake and pick a good line and shift your weight around as needed, but always flowing over and around. Remember that you are made of water and you always flow. The bike is your boat. Hurray for mixed metaphors! For me, it’s simultaneously an incredibly energizing and incredibly relaxing thing to do, no better stress relief.
I rode at Lebanon Hills last night, and it was just a blast, even considering the gashed tire and 2 mile hike-a-bike back to the car. Even though i sometimes get irked at the artificial “features” along so many trails nowadays, big props to the MORC folks for these trails.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:26 pm (#)
Agreed, there’s something hugely intrinsic about singletrack: just you and that spot a few yards right in front of your handlebars.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:17 am (#)
My buddy Carl and I used to ride from Ventura up to Ojai on the road, and up into Matilija Canyon on fire roads, and then along the creek on single track.
Reading this took me back a ways, like maybe 18 years. I don’t know which I miss more: that ride or my old Trek 970. Good times!
July 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm (#)
I think that’s why i’m waxing a bit rhapsodic about it – i first started riding singletrack in about 1989 when i got my first Specialized Hard Rock. In fact, from 1990-2002 the only bike i owned was my MB-4. The cumulative time i spent riding along the M’haha park and river bottom trails is probably in the weeks.
I typically ride the river bottoms trail from home, but last Friday i started from the Indian Mounds school entrance for the first time in at least 8 years. It was like returning to a childhood home, remembering practically every twist and root in the trail from the first drop-in. MORC has done a great job keeping this one of the most naturally beautiful and fun trails around, it’s still one of my favorites.