Yesterday was a remarkable day!  It started early and ended too late for me to write!  I was up before dawn, packed the Subaru, loaded “Jefe” (my old yet loved Gary Fisher HiFi Plus dual-suspension 29r mountain bike), and started on my 2+ hour road trip.  My destination was a county park in New York, southeast of Buffalo, where I would partake in a women’s only mountain bike clinic.

The clinic was advertised “for beginners or those wishing to reacquaint themselves with mountain biking”.  As I have not been on my fat tire bike for 5-6 years, I knew the latter described me, and giving it wasn’t too far from home seemed a good option to safely get back on the saddle.

Shortly after arrival, the instructor started the meet-and-greet portion of the morning, and laid out the day.  It was a good mix of beginning and experienced cyclists, a few having been in the woods before.  We got acquainted with our bikes, did some skills practice in the gravel parking lot, and then pointed the tires to the woods. 

Our first trail included a small, smooth descent that flattened out, and wove gently through the edge of the woods.  As I rolled down the gently hill, I could feel the smile explode on my face… YES!  About 45 seconds later, the path appeared to disappear… There were some riders stopped above, and the instructor and a few riders were waiting below… NO!

I have a natural propensity to become nervous when I can’t see what’s coming.  On the bike… in life.  I like to have a plan.  I like to KNOW what I need to do.  Over the years I have worked to walk a bit more freely along my path.  I have learned that sometimes the next step, yet unseen, is well worth the slight pang of anxiety felt just moments before.  Sometimes, the situation deems a peek… an inspection… a glimpse of what is to come. I just want to know I will be safe, despite my feelings of unrest. 

One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein:  “Life is like riding a bicycle… to keep your balance you must keep moving”.

Mountain biking is certainly a perfect example of his explanation of life and balance.  I took a look at the descent that had stopped the group on top.  There were a few roots, a loose rock here and there… yet I could see one or two logical paths that would allow me to descend safely.  I took walk back a bit, remounted the saddle, and got the pedals turning.  When I got to the edge and could not see, I got into the “ready” position on the bike with my head down and butt back, and just allowed the bike to roll over the edge and down the hill.  Jefe easily rolled over the roots and rocks, and I safely joined the group below with a HUGE smile on my face having overcome obstacle #1!

Life is so often like a trail in the woods.  Sometimes gentle and rolling… sometimes rocky and uneven, sometimes things lurking where we cannot see.  Yet if we trust our bike…ourselves… and keep moving, we keep our balance and find our way.  The line we pick to navigate the trail may not always be the shortest, the easiest, or even the safest.  Sometimes, we zip off the trail into the woods.

But we must just keep moving.