Endurance

Necks tattooed, sinewy frames, taut muscles, hard-rock and thug life rap music blaring from the camp sites, looks serious and stern. And that was just the women. The female gender were a definite small minority of the riders but the one's who did ride looked tough as nails. Not a whole lot of girly-girls pedi-types. To bring you up to speed, just got back from some seriously hardcore downhill mountain biking competition at Blue Mountain Resort here in Pa. About two hours away through little traffic, it fits the frame of what I would consider a picture-perfect weekend getaway paradise. The event is a big draw rider-wise and the participants were mostly from the Mid-Atlantic region.

Blue Mountain Resort is first class facility with superfriendly and competent staff and management; it is a well-run operation. At the end of today when we needed a ride down the mountain after viewing the downhill race, we hitched a ride with a staff member who was driving, down treacherous paths, a six-wheeled Polaris vehicle with a roll cage. That alone made the weekend worth it.

The costs of the bikes used this weekend were probably are in the $3,000 to $5,000 range--closer to 5K--and body armor is the norm. A full face mask is worn to keep one from smashing one's face on stones and trees. The gear looked something out of a recent Batman movie.  I felt like Hans Brinker with wooden skates and had the good sense several weeks ago to not enter the race. I ain't stoopid. I took one whiff of this and said no way in terms of the competition.

My equipment and expertise are not where they need to be yet. And maybe never. My buddy had a better bike and is a better rider. I trust he knows what his limits are...I don't always trust he knows what my limits are. So, I have learned to tell him no at times.

It is a young's man game. Good equipment can compensate to a degree for a lack of expertise. High-levels of expertise can compensate for below-par equipment (any rider with expertise will never willingly use less than the best equipment, though). But, these riders had high expertise and high-caliber bikes and equipment, and that young man testosterone. I was outmanned and outgunned. Last night I heard a young buck say something like, "You know, you can still mountain bike when you are 35!" I was going to mention that I was nearly two decade older.

Today were the actual races, yesterday was the trial run. It is really unwise to ride these trails in competition without first 's checking them out at a slower and more careful pace. So, my buddy and I hit sections of the race yesterday. In today's downhill race, the average speed of the races was plus 30 mph and they were just bombing down the rocks. The downhill race was a different route (in Red). Red as in blood. Here is a pic. Remember, this rider is going around 30 mph and has milliseconds to react. On the other side's path, they got air. I didn't want to get in the way so I stayed on the other side of the route most taken.

I had a really bad habit of getting in people's way all weekend and knocking bikes over like dominoes. So, I felt it advisable to keep my distance. It is not easy being 6'8".

Little did either of us know that my buddy yesterday picked the most difficult section first (second yellow path left to right). The race was divided into five sections and during the race you would time in and time out on each section. It was good that we had arrived early on the trail because it was the hardest riding I have ever done. I would have been a menace to other riders.

Blue Mountain has the steepest declines on the East Coast and add the omnipresent Appalachian rock piles, it is a diabolical duo. I have a hard-tail bike which means I only have shocks on the front of the bike. For this type of riding, one needs a shock in the frame itself. I only saw two others all weekend who had hard-tailed bikes. It is just not wise. 99% of the riders had full face masks. Again, not me. I did bring my skateboarding elbow, knee, and wrist guards. My buddy had the full face mask. Together, we had all of the equipment.

After than first run, I was very reticent to go back up the chair lift to the top. There was a Beer Fest to attend at the same resort and I was scared a bit shitless. I did my best to demure. However, my buddy pretty much wouldn't take no for an answer. It is not safe to ride alone. It is unlikely that we will both wreck at the same time so the buddy system is in force.

So, he asked around a bit and it seemed that the best option would be to do section 1 (first yellow path left to right) which was not nearly as hard as section 2. Yet, still the second hardest ride I have ever done. The hardest just an hour or so before. We both had to take our bikes for repairs in-between the two rides.

It turned out to be good ride. I did crash once and the bike landed on top of me. My pads saved smashing my elbows and knees. And perhaps kept my wrist from being broken.  I have had so many concussions and live with post-concussion syndrome to some degree, so I am somewhat certain that is my new normal.  

We could hear the other riders generally coming behind us....sticks snapping, stones shuffling...so we would jump aside. Since these other riders are probably going about 20 mph there isn't a lot of time to react.

As my buddy and I let the other riders pass yesterday, it was pretty common for them to ask: "Are you OK?" and "Do you need anything?" Most of the time we were just sucking wind. These are a confident and cocky bunch but I also found this really to be kind.  It quite caught me off-guard. In some indirect manner, it gave me some energy to carry-on. If they had busted our chops and made fun of us and spewed disdain like dirt as they passed us, I would have definitely crawled off the mountain as quickly and quietly as I could have. Castrated by comments.

The whole thing reminded me of those verses in Hebrews where we are exhorted to run the race and that there is this cloud of witnesses who have come before us cheering us on. That gives us the encouragement and endurance keep running and riding. As I drifted to sleep last night in the back of my car (I folded down the back seats of my Civic to craft my sleeping quarters) I feared I would dream of rocks all night. Although I didn't sleep great--I am just a little to tall to fit--my dreams were rockless.

God has been teaching me some cool things about forgiveness the last couple of weeks but I wanted to write about this weekend before I forgot some of the interesting details.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music." I sang that out as loud as I could on the mountain to the consternation of my buddy...a view from the close to the top where the racers launched. It is about two miles down.

        
Speaking of mountains (a theme in my book, I know a bit ragged of a transition) Wellness is part of a healthy lifestyle. Although I like to eat and drink, I also run, lift, kayak, skateboard, hike, and walk a lot. I find pairing fitness with fun to be the key to sticking to a regiment. My book details what Wellness looks like, particularly in having a "well" attitude about what life's paths present to us adversity-wise.

College students should check out some of my thoughts. Click here.