Kung Fu & Battle Scars

Perceive the way of nature and no force of man can harm you. Do not meet a wave head on: avoid it. You do not have to stop force: it is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve rather than destroy. Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be replaced. -Master Kan

This is my lovely left leg, hairy and all, recently after a wipe-out on my mountain-bike. Feel free to use, royalty-free.

One trending joy in the last few months has been getting on the mountain bike and riding a different trail each time. Last early evening, my buddy B.R. and I were scheduled to ride. Then one of those summer showers came and doused everything. Mountain-biking on wet rocks is pretty dangerous. B.R. said the rocks would be slicker than snot on an icicle. He spent several years in Alaska and his vocab reflects the geography up North.

B.R. is a very good mountain biker and knows all of the trails nearby. I am quite the novice and if we were characters in the show Kung Fu, I would be Grasshopper and he Master Kan. Or, maybe I would be Rockhopper. Upon inspection of the trail, we decided to ride anyway. Yes!

We spent spent a good amount of time walking up the mountain. It was far too steep and a little too wet to attempt the ride up. So, we hiked up with the bikes, I was drenched in sweat from just doing this, and then we set our sights on heading down--like a scary ski run. A complete blast. The hardest biking of the season yet. Exhausting and exhilarating.  

When I saw B.R. take a spill last night and do a 180 in the air and land on his back, I got a little concerned. For if that should happen to the Master, what shall come of me?

Sure enough, I wiped out soon thereafter and my right elbow narrowly missed a boulder--and would have likely cracked it like a peanut shell. Dumb luck. Fortunately, my elbow mostly hit mud.  I asked Rob afterwards why he wiped out and he said that he did not ease up on his front brakes when he came upon a big rock. He said that the better technique in scenarios like this is to let the front tire roll freely over the rock and brake from the back wheel. Makes sense. In street biking, this is also true when coming upon an obstruction or steep downhill. Braking from the back works better with the center of gravity.   

Part of the trick in effective mountain biking is to flow over the rocks and use speed as a catalyst to move over or around the rocks. Too much braking and straining is not good. Force redirected and channeled versus fought. I am learning avoidance and redirection by bike and it is morphing into a larger philosophy. It is a great strategy. There are battles to be fought by not fighting. Less scars.