Winding Down

Going Back.......................

So................The season is getting late.  Since the last post, I've done a ton of riding on the mountain bike.  A week in Park City at the end of October provided some new trails, with the kids.  Some adventure rides for sure.  The local trails have been getting muddier with every storm.  Snow comes and melts, but then somebody thinks its smart to take horses up the greasy trails - bad combination. 

The above picture is from a little ride I had Thanksgiving afternoon.  This around a lake where I spent considerable time - 40 years ago.  The single-track was pretty greasy, but like the idiot I am, I had to keep driving.  Needless to say, I found out I'm strong enough to bend a ring on my bike.  All the same, it was a really nice get-away.  The place sure has changed in just the past five years.  It's hard to imagine what it was like 40 years ago.

40 years ago; a theme that seemed to resonate from way back early last winter.  Man, 1977 seems like last week, but it was literally a lifetime ago.  The summer before I started 9th grade.  That fall I dis-located my little finger on my left hand one week into the football season.  I couldn't play until the City championship game.  I couldn't use that finger to play guitar for nearly 20 years.  I had a great year hunting and bagged my first Swan.  I taught myself to play the tuba (Eb- base) at the request of my band teacher.  I found my first true love - skiing.  My first exposure to truth - Led Zeppelin IV.  I could go on, but it doesn't matter anymore.  Still, '77 was a pivotal year for me and it all seemed to resonate this past season.  Funny, as much as I thought I had found, I was equally lost.

There is something fundamental about riding my bikes - any of them.  For that time, everything kind of disappears out of my mind.  Because I ride alone almost all the time, my mind can clear and just enjoy the moment.  It's hard to explain, but as much as it may hurt, it still takes me to a place away from my troubles.  Looking back 40 years ago, that was just it; those troubles seem so insignificant and far away.  Life was good, regardless of the challenges.  On my bike............I can be 14 years old again.  I just have to work harder in the off-season.

If '77 was a good year, '78 was a banner.  It's hard to believe that all happened so along ago - to me.

The last post for the season will go later this week.  Time fly's..................

Ride Hard!  In my life.........Enjoy this one