Skip to main content

What You Need To Know About Mountain Biking



 Biking in Telluride, Colorado
The More Forgiving Path



Mountain biking—the most terrifying and exhilarating thing I’ve done since that crazy horseback ride through the mountains outside of San Miguel, Mexico. At that horseback ride, the guide handed us a beer and a flimsy straw hat when we arrived at 9 a.m. He pointed to the horse we were to mount in a few moments. No waiver was signed, no lessons or tips given. If you had to take a bathroom break there was a small blue bucket in their outhouse. Oh, and my horse’s name was Tornado.

For three hours we galloped through steep canyons and splashed through creeks and river beds. And yes, some members of our group were in tears making their peace with God. I, on the other hand, was in heaven. 

I figured out quickly that mountain biking is a lot like riding a horse in the wild. I’m not talking about group trail rides that move slower than a hoveround. I'm referring to the fox hunting style of riding—fast and furious. Like horseback riding, you have to have confidence, control of the handlebars and the rest will follow. 

The experience of bike riding through Telluride Mountain can never be replaced. It was more than I dreamed of. I thought I might die as I plowed over tree stumps and large rocks and slid across gravel all along a foot-wide path that curved up against a 40-degree angled slope straight down the mountain. At one point I went flying off the side of the mountain within the first half mile.  I ended up hugging a tree.

Here are a few things I learned on my first intense mountain biking experience down Telluride Mountain. Again, no tips from the guide, but at least we got a helmut and signed a waiver. 

  1. It is actually better not to go slow than wobble down the mountain. That’s when you end up hugging a tree…or dying. Speed gives you more control, believe it or not, and an amazing rush.
  2. Riding a bike down a mountain is like loping a horse—loosen up or you’ll get thrown. Hanging on for dear life may cause you to lose that life. Jello...be like Jello on a board, my horse trainers used to say. 
  3.  Encountering tree roots at full speed is just as terrifying as encountering large rocks. They are everywhere. Think fast. Think fast. Think fast. 
  4. Keep your friends close and your mountain bike closer.  Once we became buds, I was able to more confidently attempt to kill myself on a rock as opposed to being scared when killing myself. 
  5. Learn very quickly how to change your gears at a moment’s notice.
  6. Figure out which is your back break and your front break. If you hit the front-wheel break flying down a bumpy mountain you will launch yourself over your handlebars. Although I didn’t go over, I was halfway there.
  7. Trees are actually your friends—they will catch you when you go flying off your bike. 
  8.  HAVE FUN!

We survived and are blissfully high on adrenaline
Why do we go on an adventure? To see the unknown. To experience something new. To learn something about ourselves in the midst of a challenge. How we deal with these physical challenges tells us something about how we face other challenges in life. Me, I’m a why-not-type-of-girl. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Marfa 2020

By Jocelyn Tatum  I n the 12 years that I have been going to Marfa almost annually, a lot has changed. But the small-town-in-a-vast-desert charm has stayed the same. Here are a few things I always plan to do in my two days and two nights in Marfa.  First, drive. I know it seems like it is far away, and it is, but this road trip goes fast because there is no traffic headed west and away from civilization. Driving is part of the right of passage to get there. I also feel like I shed the societal sludge that builds up on my shoulders as I careen across Interstate 20.  Once you turn off onto HWY 17 in Pecos, the drive starts to transition from sulfur and pumpjacks to pure beauty. It always reminds me of my road trip though the Scottish Highlands. My thoughts change with the landscape. Again, no traffic and no crowds. A tip: when you do pass a fellow road warrior once you get into the mountains, give them the friendly L-shaped finger wave the locals do th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Sky No. 2, parts 1+ 2

  By Jocelyn Tatum   I have an affinity for all things that cause me to look up — mostly trees and clouds. When I walk the dogs or go for a long run, I often trip over something because I am admiring tree limbs reaching toward the ever-changing clouds, or the way sunlight plays with both.    Komorebi is a Japanese word that doesn't have an English translation, which means the way light travels through the leaves of trees. I wonder if there is a word for the way light shines through the clouds. Fall Gallery Night 2019, I stumbled upon a magnanimous canvas of clouds with the sun piercing through. It knocked me back. I took a picture just to admire it from home but walked away knowing I would never allow myself to get it. A year later, it occurred to me that I still think about that art. The strange state of things and lots of extra time at home has encouraged me to do things I never thought possible. And I don't understand the correlation between the pandemic and my n...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Trip to Port Aransas, TX: Goodnight Summer, Goodnight Beach

photo credit: wikimedia My last trip of the summer takes me to the Texas coast. It's time to go after days of play, but I need one last moment on the shore.  A few others are there doing the same. They stare out at the gilded waves reflecting the new morning sun. Two thoughts undulate in my head—someone bigger than we are had to organize this, and timelessness mixed with newness. Saltwater and waves have been around since the beginning, but the life within is new and ever-changing. Ancient Greek tragedies and comedies, settlers, explorers and travelers find their stories' epicenter in the ocean.  I then remember I'm not alone in my adoration. The opening paragraphs of Moby-Dick speak to humankind's shared fascination with water: "There now is your unsular city of the Manhattoes, belted by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs—commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme downtown is the battery, where t...
Post a Comment
Read more