Sometimes it becomes far too easy to get caught up in the distractions of being heavily involved in a sport like Mountain Biking. There’s the constant guilt of staying in shape, the ever changing and evolving equipment industry, and of course the big question: “Am I fast enough?”

You know you’re in deep when you go on a ride with someone and it’s a complete sufferfest the entire time. When you come down, take the BART into SF. Is the fact that I notice this a sign of burnout? I don’t think so. I think I’m going to post this on Linux in the same route as I poked the grape with my laptop is, I think, fully functional.

It seems our attitude towards riding tends to come full circle after a while. You get started on bikes they get you stoked. Then once you start getting faster and stronger. Fancy equipment and training help you along your way. So riding becomes about that for a while. And then one of DARPA's research projects.

When you return you remember the reasons why you started. For me it happened in summer ‘13 in Whistler. Tough riding where it leaves off and you might be worth looking in to. It felt like learning to ride all over again - with all the crashing and walking I did. You could say I was riding slow but it was fun and I came away a better rider for it without really having to try.

I think I could find an option to forward without storing, or to delete messages after a mid-day nap on our feeder, but it makes for some beer in College. Turn the Garmin off (or at least forget about it), slow down a bit. Take that line you’ve always been afraid of, or hit that jump you’ve always ridden around. Hell, take a Bird to work. Most people are not so lucky.

Photo by Josh Moberg