It never ceases to amaze me how you're cruisin' along, enjoying the scenery when, before you know it, the scenes you're passing become nothing more than a gray blur as life accelerates to an alarming speed!
As much as I've wanted time to sit down and evaluate my goals and plan for the coming race season, it just hasn't happened. But I've had all sorts of fun (as well as some very productive work days) lately. One of the things that has kept me hopping is establishing a family mountain biking club.
Family XC Club
Last summer I started mountain biking with my then 5yo daughter. She struggles with anxiety and is naturally timid person. So when I first took her mountain biking, I prepared myself for a lot of crying.
She started down the trail on her little 16inch single speed coaster bike full of apprehension. She rode over her first tree root and I heard a little “woo-hoo” squeak out of her mouth. Later we came to the first “big” climb, complete with some challenging roots (for a timid, anxiety-ridden 5 year old), she cried and screamed “I can’t do this! It’s hard!” and yet her legs kept pushing the cranks. I kept my mouth shut, knowing that no matter what I said, I would only add to her anxiety. I watched in amazement as she pushed, battled, cried, hammered her way up that hill. And when she made it to the top she hollered back to me “that was fun!”
Mountain biking has given her a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence that no other sport or activity has been able to give her and that she desperately needs. Seeing her thrive on the single track has inspired me to work on establishing a Family Mountain Bike Club. We had our first planning meeting last week. Most of the kids are young, 10 yo down to 2! Our main goal is to establish a community of little cyclists and to have lots and lots of fun.
We've set a structure for the club and have some activities planned. I'm currently working on t-shirt designs while the kids are coming up with a team name that we will vote on. This is So. Much. Fun. Even more fun than racing my mountain bike!!!!
Training Ride
Sunday we had another busy-filled day planned. I was going to skip church so that I could get a gravel road training ride in before all the family fun began. As I was packing my gear my phone began to chirp. It was my boss. On a Sunday morning! We're working on a Top-Secret, High-Priority book right now. And my boss needed me to get some things prepared to show the author that afternoon!
My ride was delayed a couple of hours. But I managed to squeeze it in. It was a muddy-muddy mess. I am so thankful I decided to wear a face fleece or I would have been eating a lot of dirt. I managed to do 2,500 feet of climbing in just 24 miles (that's a lot for around here).
It's a good thing I always liked playing in the mud!
When I got home, I realized my hair was completely cast in clay. It took an hour and 3 now-broken shower combs to wash my hair. Good times.
Another busy week has begun.
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