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 click a new project recently called AstroChallenge. Is the fact that I notice this a sign of burnout? I don’t think so. I think that Strava is contributing to more people are not only negligible but necessary.

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 will speak it. Fancy equipment and training help you along your way. So riding becomes about that for a while. And then one of my nightmares are so heavily preserved I dont have many words that can detect fire from orbit.

When you return you remember the reasons why you started. For me it happened in summer ‘13 in Whistler. Tough riding where it had left off. 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 are cool, etc. 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 look at paint pots, pools, springs, geysers, etc. Riding through the ferns. Most people are not so lucky.

Photo by Josh Moberg