Why do you do that to yourself?

A question I have been asked by my parents, girlfrineds/wives, friends, co-workers and even total strangers when they hear of hours spent in the saddle or in the worst cases, see the injury du jour. In my younger days my enthusiasm would get the best of me and I would start rambling about the race and how crazy it was losing the casual bystander in the jargon of singletrack, doubletrack, kickers, bunny hops, endos and the inevitable faceplant. My mom and dad saw this bike as a passing phase as much evrything else had ever been in my life. Buying my first mt bike for $450 in 1987 months before my sixteenth birthday was probably one of those hair-pulling moments that parents experience and I am now lucky enough to have being blessed with two great girls myself. Two years later I was racing and loving every minute. I rode six days a week, forcing myself to stay off the bike for just one day. And so it went for four years of entering as many races I could manage to pay for up until I joined the Army and sold all of my bikes and gear. Upon my discharge I promptly dropped a huge wad of cash getting it all back, but I was more of a casual rider for the years to come. Family, kids, school and jobs took priority while the bike got moved from place to place and even ridden on occassion. Alot of other stuff happened in there and I won't bore you with all of that, but I came to the point where I found myself working in a shop fulltime and my passion was fully reignited! My time came to an end there and I now find myself involved in a truly unique situation of being part of Simplicity and for that I am very thankful.

The point being that this April I will turn a pedal in the name of organized competition for the first time in 17 years. In an effort to not die I have begun training, dieting and riding as much as I can. Prompting those around me to ask the age old question yet again, followed by an ever more daunting one. "You are a 38 y/o who could be in way better shape, why not find something "safer" to do with yourself?" has become the NEW question. The answer is I love this sport! When I am freezing my a$$ off in the snow or breathing through my ears from o2 debt I can still look back and smile. This to me is happiness:

 a snowy Sunday in February that a bunch of the team guys got together and did a ride. This camraderie is why I love this sport. These guys kick my butt all over the trails, but I am always up for trying to keep up. One day I hope to hang off the very back rather than the dust cloud, but until then I'll still be spinning to try and catch up.

The final and maybe the most energizing factor that has fueled this vigor is that my oldest daughter had decided to give this whole mt biking thing a try. She will be on the Nuts About Granola/Simplicity Cycles Jr team along with two other young men. Seeing these 9-11 y/o kids getting out and mixing it up has brought me great joy and I look forward to seeing them grow! My new mission isn't "winning the race" it's passing the torch to these guys. My races will be strictly for fun and t-shirts, but my main purpose will be helping to chaperone these Jrs thought their mt bike journey. And I think that Sean, Mike and I can ease their passage somewhat thorough experience and technical assistance. The very fact that my daughter is picking her bike over her DS, laptop or the TV makes me a SUPER proud parent!

I'll have some new gear reviews coming up here shortly. If there is anything that you would like to see tested or hear about, let me know!
GET OUT THERE and RIDE! There's still a beautiful world out there and it's worth the journey to find it!!!