I have shared a lot about how much I love mountain biking and how much it means to me. Today, I want to switch it around and I want you to tell me…
How has Mountain Biking Changed or Affected Your Life?
Whether it has just been the freeing experience it gives, or a revolution in weight loss, today the focus is on how your life has been changed by mountain biking.
Leave a comment below and share how mountain biking has affected you. If you prefer to leave an anonymous comment you can send an email to me at shawn@texasmountainbiketrails.com.
I can’t wait to hear your side of things.
Sincerely,
Shawn McAfee
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{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
My story is that when I was in HS and starting college I had a group of friends that alway hit the roads and trails on weekends just for fun. Then my bike broke down, I keep driving instead of riding. In 2011 I moved to Houston and by summer 2012 I decided that I should start riding again, I needed the exercise. I bought a cheap bike and did some search to find trails close to home. After that I joined GHORBA and took a beginner class to hit the trails and got hoocked with it again. I alternate the trails with the road just to develop stamina to spend more time on the trails. Now I got a new great bike and after I finished the BPMS150 I’m ready to hit the trails again. I love to enjoy nature and mointain biking is the best way to do it. It’s ME time out there.
Lost 51 lbs in less than a year with MTB and controlled diet. Having logged close to 2500 miles of trail riding in 2012 I’m in the best shape of my life….Started racing over the summer and I am really enjoying that challenge, Cat 2 is fast and pushes me to get better. Looking forward to the upcoming endurance race season and a new goal….Ouachita Challenge is in early April looking to attempt to complete the tour and the race. 120 miles in 2 days. Wish me luck.
Wow Frank! Congrats on losing all that poundage!
Hopefully we can get together for a ride on Black Friday at Sansom before that century at Sansom. I’m also aiming to do the Ouachita Challenge in April as well. Let’s push each other to get there!
Thanks for chiming in on the site!
Wow, my bike was my life as a kid. I rode everyday raced BMX for years. I soon graduated to motorcycles. Growing up in SoCal riding baja, racing motocross. Snow sking watersking wakeboarding (owned a skurfer) been blessed to learn to work hard and play harder. Some things come up economy tanked. I found myself in a bad place physically and mentally. I was talkimg with my dad and he is addicted to mtbing. That was.it finished school got a cheap used bije. Getting back to my old self. I rode tonight. I shop like a crack addict for my next bike i revel in making the top of some small hill still clicked in. Your alive when your out there.
I totally agree Gmoney. Getting on a bike is one of the most refreshing things I can do for my mental and physical state of being. I’m glad you found the sport!
I took up Mtn biking after my Triumph and I had an argument with a guard rail. Luckily for the triumph, my Rt leg protected it from any major damage. My Rt knee, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well. Needing some low impact exercise, I decided on biking. At that time a good friend/coworker was heavy into Mtn biking and encouraged me to try it. I did and I found that I really enjoyed it.
I recently moved down here from Portland, Oregon to start a new job and was worried about finding a place to ride down here, but my concern was unwarranted. I now use ride not only for the exercise, but also for stress relief, the pleasure of seeing some beautiful parts of Texas and to meet some very nice people.
Awesome Christopher! And welcome to Texas. You will find no shortage of beautiful scenery and excellent singletrack for riding. I’m sorry to hear about your leg, I actually just sold my Honda Shadow motorcycle about 3 months ago, thankfully I never had any accidents on it.
I hope that you enjoy the site and find it helpful, if there is anything that you would like to see shoot me an email!
1n 2009 i swore i would never spend 50bucks on a bike. that was before i tried mountain biking. so not 2weeks after i committed to cheap POS bikes my friend asked if me and some others wanted to go to erwin park, we agreed, and he let us borrow some bikes. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! i didnt even know the sport exsisted! so as soon as i got back home i started looking for a new bike. i traded some stuff for the bike that my friend loaned me. me and another friend took my wife out to the trails to try and get her hooked but we only had larger bikes and she is 5’4 but she rode anyways. it was hilarious to see her stretched out on a bike that was 2 frame sizes too big. she enjoyed it anyways and next thing i know she and i are putting our first down payment on 2 fs mtbs. about a year later they both got stollen when we moved so…..oppurtunity for an upgrade! so here i am now, i have learned to never say never. my cars are paid off- my bikes are not. ha
HA HA! Josh I know what you mean. I drive a raggedy old Honda Civic that leaks when it rains and then smells like mildew for the next week, my bike on the other hand is as nice as I can afford.
I’m sorry to hear about your bikes getting stolen though.
That always makes me sad to hear.
I started riding bike as young as I can remember. I used to build wood ramps and jump my 3 speed schwinn with a banana seat to much enjoyment. At 10 I took up BMX racing, in just 3 races I turned expert. I raced BMX for 4 years until I started skateboarding, then I just kinda fell out with riding. By the time I was 18, I had been surfing for 4 years and I was going to start travelling to Mexico to surf rather large waves. So I had to get in shape. I bought a mtb and started to ride memorial park around 1990 to get in shape. That was it I was addicted once again to my bike. By 1991 I raced the first race at Warda. I proceeded to race a couple seasons. I never had good results, I just did it for the fun. Then life got in the way, and I didn’t have time for training. So I just rode for fun. I always rode on and off. And 10 years ago I started hammering the anthills religiously. I kept telling my wife when I turn 40 I would return to racing. 40 came and I returned to racing. My first 2 races at the TMBRA series (Warda and dripping springs) I finished about 20 place. Then I told my wife 1 more race, if I don’t do good I will not waste anymore money racing. So I raced at pace bend race in Spicewood,TX and I finished 6th. It felt so good to do well finally. I kept training hard and by the end of the year I was 8th overall in cat 3 40-49. I broke my pinkie at the big cedar wilderness race and still got 7th. But I had to miss the last race. But I stayed 10th for a too ten finish. Which was my goal. Super stoked and addicted to racing now. I also look at all the hard work to better my health, which is a top priority at my age. Especially since heart disease runs very high in my family. After seeing what my mom went through it is what drives me the hardest now, to never have to go through a bypass surgery.
Wow, you have an incredible background of racing and adventure sports! Mountain biking is such a great way to actually enjoy the vast world around us and stay healthy. It’s so easy to get caught up in our society with making money and ignoring our health. Awesome story my man! Thanks so much for sharing.
Also, I think I might have seen you at the Big Cedar race in May with your finger shooting off to the side. I know I saw someone with a jacked finger, would be crazy if it was you.
Shawn,
I am a 33 yeard old husband and father of two girls (8 & 2). Approximately 11 years ago my brother and I started looking for something we could do together that was outside and kind of competitive so we could push eachother. We tried a few activities until we got to trail riding. We both bought $80 kick around bikes from Wal-Mart and had at it. It was great fun!! this lasted about 5 years.
I later drifted away from the hobby for a period of about 6 years as I encountered some struggles at home. Now, having rebuilt my life, I have begun to revisit the things that I recall loving. My brother is still an fairly active rider and has aquired an extra bike. I borrowed one from him and I am exploring trails in the DFW area (which is how I came across your site) as I get back into it I hopeful regain any skill I might have lost while on the bench. Let’s hope for my sake the phrase (You never really forget how to ride a bike is true!! I sincerely miss the “one track mind” effect a good single track has on a person’s frame of mind. Its nice to focus on something not so critical from time to time.
In short, I started riding to have fun with my brah! Now I’m looking to ride for health and alomst a meditative escape. Plus my oldest is getting to an age where trail riding might be fun.
Welcome back Jester! Despite my best attempts I have yet to get my brothers to ride with me. I’m sure that must be a really awesome experience for you and your brother.
I imagine that you will have all of your former skills back soon! You just need a little re-acclimation period. Come join me and the Cadence Cyclery shop ride on Monday nights at 7pm at Erwin Park for a nice relaxing ride.
I did a lot of riding when I was a young kid between the ages of 5 and 11. At the time, I had a BMX bike and I rode mostly on the street and at the occasional park. That’s when I developed my confidence in riding skills and doing minor stunts. Around age 11 I moved from Jamaica to Florida and I was unable to bring my bicycle with me.
Over the next 20 years I didn’t get a lot of riding in… I’d borrow a friend’s mountain bike here and there to see how much skill I still retained. During that time I’d learned of trail riding and “downhilling” and the like, but never had the opportunity to do any of it, due to school, marriage, life, etc. Truth is, I wasn’t a priority, but it was always on the back burner as something I wanted to do.
Anyway, April of this year, I lost a friend of mine in a bad car accident and I told myself, “life is too short. Enough of this ‘I’ll do it one day’ business and just start doing.” So, in May I bought my first bike, a 2012 Trek 3700. My main intentions were to bike on the street or sidewalk and maybe the occasional dirt path, nothing major. Then one day I heard one of the guys at the bike shop I go to mention some off-road trails at a local park, so I decided to check it out.
My first day out on the trail was interesting, I relied too heavily on my outdated riding skills and endo’d over a boulder … LOL. In retrospect it was a good lesson, I learned to respect the trail regardless of how easy it may look. A week later, I tried the trail again, this time a lot more cautious. I completed about 70% of it and avoided expert sections as much as possible. There was a certain level of satisfaction and exhilaration and freedom that came with riding the trail and I was hooked after that. Since then I’ve been setting small goals for myself to complete various sections of the the trail as well as seeking out other trails in my area. And it’s a great cardio and weight loss solution as well.
I recently traded in the Trek for a 2013 Specialized Rockhopper 29. I’m super excited about that purchase. Upcoming purchases are trunk mount rack and hydration pack.
Thanks for sharing Craig! Congrats on the new bike. I am sure that you are completely in love with those 29″ wheels by now!
I was 22 when I was rear-ended and had to get immediate back surgery. For someone like me who was active and into sports and the outdoors all my life the surgery has had a tremendous impact. Many of the activities that I loved to do and could perform with ease suddenly became hard, and in some instances painful-like running and horse-back riding.
. I can easily say that I have gained a lot of confidence in my skills and abilities. I’m 26, and it’s nice to actually feel my age again, without being reminded of what I can’t do. I finally discovered what I CAN do.
However, this past summer I went to Colorado and went mountain-biking. It was my first time ever. And I felt no pain from the activity. I don’t think I can begin to describe the feelings and emotions that I experienced when I finally found a physical activity that I could do and perform without being reminded of some of my physical limitations. I went out on the trails yesterday, and the only soreness I feel are in my legs
Thanks Kat! That is awesome. I’m so sorry that you had to go through that traumatic experience, but I’m thrilled you found mountain biking to soothe that adventurous soul!
I’ve been mountain biking off and on since its near beginning–around “82″. I rode both road and mountain when living in eastern Ohio, but when I got to the Dallas area, the lack of beautiful scenery, traffic, and heat led me to give up the road. Mountain biking is the fun side of biking in my view–road is the workout for endurance and does build the body in a different way, but mountain is like being a kid and hitting the cool stuff. It’s great fun and keeps me in shape and as with all biking, it’s lower impact is easier on the body than many other sports. Although I haven’t taken advantage of many of the trails in the Dallas area, I plan to broaden the number of trials I frequent.
Keith I have said for a long time now that road riding is all work and no play. I’m glad you seem to agree. MTB is where its at. Join the Facebook page and meet up with me for a ride sometime!
It was christmas break and I was headed over to England to visit my sister. Before the vacation I had already wanted to buy a nice Specialized to go ride. I was there in England when my brother in Law asked me if I wanted to go to Thetford Forest to go mtbiking! I said yes, off we went, when we hit the single track and quietness of the forest I was almost hooked by the serenity that Mtbiking offered me. It was an equivalent to the relaxation that Reggae music gives me. I finally got back into town. After two weeks of searching online for a Mtbike on the web, I bought a great Diamondback Mission 1. This bike has taken me to so many places in so little time. This riding is another world, it’s like the VIP club of sports. It’s a way of life. It’s something off another planet. I love Mountain Biking
Awesome story Roland, I really appreciate you adding it to the mix!
I am very new to mountian biking (new to cycling for that matter), it all started for me when a neighbor friend gave me an old beat up, rusted out bike. I stripped it down, cleaned it up, and rebuilt it with whatever components I could find, then took it for a spin (my first time on a bike in probably 15 years). The ride was rough and the shifters barely worked but I was hooked! That whole process really taught me a lot about how all the little bits and pieces of the bike work together. I really enjoy working with my hands, so it’s a great way for me to use that to tweak things here and there to find that smooth ride. As far as mountian biking goes, I consider myself a bit of an outdoorsman, so any time I can be out in nature I am happy. There is no better feeling than ripping through trails and trees and leaving the stresses of life, work, school, responsibilities in the dust!
And of course it’s great exercise!
Like I said I am very new to the sport and learning more and more everyday, so any tips or tricks or just general information is greatly appreciated!
Matt, that is a fantastic story. When I first got back on a bike many years ago it was on a buddies road bike that I had just borrowed. I can fully relate to your story.
Since you are a guy that likes to work with your hands and enjoy working on your bike, I would highly suggest looking at getting a Park Tools repair stand. Having a real stand to put your bike on is a huge time saver and makes self maintenance so much easier.
Keep riding brother!
I’ve had knee issues for years due to cartilage loss from years of tennis in high school, college & after. Many years & four surgeries later, still no relief, and I’ve been slowly losing muscle in my knee due to lack of cardio. Sure, I could have spent my time on a recumbent bike in a gym somewhere, but I chose something more exciting – watching paint dry. : ) I was unable to participate in most of the sports I loved so much – tennis, basketball, soccer…
About 4 months ago a good friend from high school asked me to go on an off-road mountain bike ride with him. I had a top-o-the-line Wal-Mart bike, so I said “sure, why not”. I’d had a mountain bike for years, but had never ridden on anything except cement, and to me, watching paint dry was more fun than riding on cement. He took me to the trails at River Legacy, and although I couldn’t make the 7-ish miles of dirt without stopping a few times to gasp for air, I fell in love with mountain biking immediately.
After having gone through two Wal-Mart bikes in as many months, I realized I needed an upgrade – a bike with “real” shocks that could hold my 240-lb self without breaking. I picked up my new Trek Rumblefish last week, and was blown away at how much less of a beating my body took on a good bike! Every time I ride, I learn something new – either about my bike, the trails, or myself.
I’m now in the best shape I’ve been in since high school, thanks to mountain biking. And the best side benefit of all – the muscle in my knees is growing back, and I’m now playing tennis once a week with no pain! Incredible… Thanks to my high school buddy that got me into this crazy sport – you know who you are. : ) One last comment – mountain bikers have got to be the nicest people I’ve ever met, period. If I’m ever stopped for any reason, 90% of riders who pass will ask, “Are you okay?”. Just awesome…
Awesome story Ross!
I myself have torn the ACL in my right knee and know very well about the trials of knee pain. It sucks… bad.
I’m glad you got back on a bike and started riding. I think you’re right too, mountain bikers are the nicest people in the world. It’s comments like these that make my day.
Thank you Ross and keep on riding. Be sure to hit up the Facebook Page for more info and occasional planned rides. I would love to meet you sometime for a ride.
Thanks Shawn – I’d enjoy that as well. : )
Hey Ross, I was just perusing the blog and read your story. You and I seem to have a few things in common. I got hooked on my first ride off-road as well and never looked back. I’m also a bigger guy at 225 (and losing) and knew I needed a higher-end, entry level bike. It took my wife some convincing to get over the sticker shock, but I got the bike I wanted.
Congrats on the Rumblefish.
Congrats on losing some poundage! Keep riding hard!
My sister got me riding about 3 years ago. I love getting outside knowing how much fun we are going to have. I’m not as good or as fast as she is but she doesn’t care. We are together laughing , usually at my expense, and enjoying ourselves. It’s fun trying out new trails and going places we probably wouldn’t go to by ourselves. I’m a personal trainer and very fit and active but I get tired of being inside working out 6 days a week and this certainly shakes up things a bit (I gave myself whiplash last weekend from a fall. I do that a lot ). My husband is glad when he gets my texts that I’m still alive but just barely and I’ll be home soon bloody and bruised. I consider that a good day.
Ha ha Suzanne, that’s too funny. At least you have a GREAT sense of humor about your falls.
Just keep riding, the falls will happen less and less often!
I’ve been riding all my life (well, since I was 10). That’s over 50 years of cycling. I started to get into mountain biking about 25 years ago, and now that’s almost all I do. My BP runs about 125/70, my cholesterol and blood sugar are great. I had let my weight climb somewhat, but it’s coming back down now. While mountain biking is not the only reason I stay fit, it’s a very significant one. About three years ago, my wife, Vicki. decided she’d try it, too. She’s been a road warrior for about 25 years (Hotter than Hell 8 times, Beauty and the Beast once, marathoning occasionally, etc.). She got an entry level Specialized MB and finally found it was holding her back. This weekend she got a Cannondale MB, and now it’s tough for me to stay ahead of her. We take the bikes with us on vacation, and have ridden around Hunter Army Air base in Savannah, over the causeway to St. Simon’s Island, GA and back, trails at Davis Mtn State Park, TX, the Rio Grand trail in Taos, NM, and many others. So I can attribute, to some affect, good health and a better relationship to mountain biking.
Thanks John!
I agree, biking with your spouse is a great way to build your relationship as well as stay in shape. You’re wife sounds like quite the endurance junkie!
Just recollected my kiddy time I often realizes to ride a bike is always a moment of elation and often a defining childhood moment. Biking may have been your means of freedom in those earlier years, but it might have also given way to the newfound independence of driving a car as a teenager. While driving can lose its novelty when you’re sitting in traffic day in and day out, biking continues to be offer fun and freedom. At my age I continue enjoy the outdoors like a kid again and hop on a bike.
Thank you for these comments BongDu. You’re right, as we age it becomes harder to put the stress of running or weightlifting on our bodies. Mountain biking and cycling in general is such a low impact sport and can really help with aging bodies.
It’s an activity you’ll be able to do the rest of your life.
Even if you’re in amazing shape now, weightlifting and certain exercises aren’t going to be so easy years down the line.
One of the best things about MTB is that you’ll be able to do it long after you have to say goodbye to the weight room.
“So many people I know ran for years then just ended up too stiff or too sore when they ran all the time, then they switched to bicycling (MTB),”
Someone says. “The great thing about it is you can do it day after day for the rest of your life.”
My Opinion MTBiking I would considered as Doctors prescription:
Take One Ride Twice Daily:
Side Effects may include;
loss of weight, reduce stress, promote happiness, and slow to die!
Mountain Biking to me is such a sense of freedom. When I start pedalling at the beginning of a ride, it’s not long until my lungs hate me, and my legs want to snap off. But after another 10 minutes, they quickly learn what I’m trying to do and relax.
Once I leave the bustle of the road, and end up on the top of a hill, with no cars for miles sometimes, my head fills with the sense of freedom, peace, excitement, adventure and fear. All this makes me smile. I love being ‘wowed’ by my surroundings.
When I hit the downward slopes, my smile widens like a stream into a river. Fear overtakes me, but I enjoy it, so push on even more, seeing where my limits are. If I reach them, pass them, and fall off, I still smile, for I feel I’ve learnt something, or that I know I’m pushing my limits too far, but that doesn’t mean I went wrong.
Basically, Mountain Biking makes me smile, feel free and be at peace. That’s why I love it.
Written like a poem. Thanks so much for your input Keith!
Mountain biking has changed my life in so many ways a small paragraph would not begin to tell them all. However I can give you the main things it has done, 1st I’ve lost over 100# since starting this sport over 10 years ago. That weight loss has lead to curing my self of type 2 diabetes, and other risk factors for heat disease. I started riding about 13 years ago when I was nearing the 300# mark, my stress levels and over all health was the worst of my life. After being an athlete from a young age through 4 years of college and 8 years in the Army and office job managing a 24 hours team had me so stressed and eating so bad I was killing myself. My dad, who still mountain bikes at 70, told me to give it a try. I remember my 1st ride at LB Houston, on an old ridged 26er that I had since college, in jean shorts hurt in so many ways, but felt so good in many others. I was hooked on riding again. In that 1st year I lost over 100#, I yo-yoed back up about 60# for awhile over the years, but have again lost 70 more and am back to a weight and health I have not seen since my early years in college.
If for some reason I don’t get out on my bike for 3 or 4 days my wife of 20+ years will kick me out and tell me to go ride. Apparently the freedom and relaxation that cycling, and, especially mountain biking, give me make me a better person to be around in general. The stress relief and over all endorphin release let me be a person my wife can toll orate, at least for the most part, and my friends and co-workers even notice it..
I could add so many more examples of how mountain biking has changed my life, but those were just a couple of physical examples, and some pretty great ones for me to think of mountain biking as a life long friend and sport I look forward to doing forever.
That is an amazing story Paul, Thank you for sharing it and congratulations on 100 pounds lost! That number is just amazing and it sounds like your dad is too! I hope when we all reach his age we are still loving the bike and mountain biking.
I initially started riding with some guys I work with, now it’s expanded into new riding groups and best of all my wife and daughter (8y.o.) It has helped both of them with a huge confidence boost and given me better health than ever. Come see us on the Wee-Chi-Tah.
Thanks for your story Jimmy, I just got my wife into riding back in December and I think it is one of the greatest opportunities to share my passion for bikes with her. I’m glad that you are able to do the same with your wife and daughter.
I may be out to do the Wee-Chi-Tah trail race during HHH Weekend. I have much training yet to do!
Four years ago I learned that I had Type 2 Diabetes. My doctor put me on five different types of medicines to get it under control. I really don’t like taking daily medication and quite frankly being type 2 was just out right annoying to me. So I decided to do something about it. I had already changed my diet, but I knew that with exercise I should be able to eliminate all medications. I was kayaking at the time but needed something more aerobic than that so I chose mountain biking. Glad I did, I have been completely off meds for two years now, added core strengthening and road biking to the mix and have not felt this good since high school.
My doctor says that all of my symptoms for diabetes are completely gone and without prior knowledge, he wouldn’t guess that I was diabetic. I have beat this disease and cycling has been a huge part of my success.
WOW! Unbelievable story Jay. That is absolutely outstanding and a huge congratulations to you.
MTB gave me my first broken bone(s). After 35 years, it was finally time to get one….or in my case, two!
Thanks Chris! We all have to live a little dangerously sometime, I hope those broken bones didn’t keep you off the bike too long.
Mountain Biking is a big part of who I am. When we were kids riding down sand dunes on our BMXs in the 1980s we kinda invented mountain biking independently of the whole north american side of things. Mountain biking has always been about freedom and independence , now it’s about me maintaining a relationship with nature.
Thanks Matthew, Freedom and Independance for sure. And it is great to get back in touch with nature.
I work full time, go to school part time, and often get so focused on school that I neglect others things in my life, including my health and social life…in other words I do not get out much
Last year I was so tired all the time that it affected my school and work and my home life. My adhd got worse and I generaly did not feel well. I have never been into playing sports or going to the gym…I loose focus and interest too easy. With all that said I wanted to give some sort of exercise a chance, but something that would keep my attention. I decieded to give mountain biking a try and started this summer and have loved it.
My focus has gotten better, I have more energy, I eat more healty, I get out around people more, and I love biking so much I am now eating better and exercising so I can become a better cycler.
I even notice it has helped me congnitively. Being I am adhd, when I get too much stimuli I deal with overwhelm and frustration and I tend to shut down. When people place abstalces in my way, like when people at work do not do their job right and it slows me down, I normaly get very frustrated and distracted. Dealing with abstacles on the trail, I have learned to see them as a part of the challenge and fun…so this bleeds into the way I deal with everyday life like work…when people make mistakes at work that mess up my work flow I am learning to think ” those are just abstacles to get around no need to get frustrated”
Great job on getting on the bike and starting. I really appreciate the time you took to read and share!
Don’t have time to write a novel but…
-Lost 36 pounds
-Got me over a harsh 4.5 year breakup
-Got me motivated
-Always in a great mood
-Started running and eating healthier with noticeable side effects (no more migraines)
-Killed my wallet -_-
I’m glad that mountain biking has helped to turn your life around. Keep on rocking!
It is saving my life. As a Type 1 diabetic with history of heart disease in the family, riding and racing is helping me keep everything in check. I eat better because I want to perform better at races etc. My end goal is to beat my families history of dying before age 55.
Thank you Clint! That is a great goal, let me know if you need a riding buddy. I would love to share your passion and desire for improving yourself.
When I first saw the question, I instantly had a flash of memories from rides past,. Places I’ve ridden, people I’ve met, internal feelings that were born of time on my bikes. Not the life changing answer that the question was seeking, but my lifestyle that was/is the bike. A little deeper thought, and I do know how cycling has changed my life. Mountain biking being a huge part of my cycling lifestyle, but not limited to.
I’ve always been a cyclist. I raced BMX when I was younger, and that evolved into racing and enjoying mountain bikes later. The bike, and it being my vessel of escape, was a source of mental therapy as well as physical. When going through chemotherapy the first time, I used my bike to reach a goal. The more I rode, the stronger my body became. The more I rode, the clearer my thoughts became as well. The MTB took me to desolate places where I could be alone to just BE. Took me to places where I was allowed to stop, relax, evaluate my condition, my life and harness my being into a positive and curing result. The MTB showed me that the hustle and bustle of everyday life is not really that important (to me). That the simplest of inventions (the bicycle), can serve such a complex job and purpose, as to give mental clarity.
There are those who race, explore, commute and or travel by bicycle, and I’m sure (I hope) they “get it”, while they ride. We all have a different purpose on our bikes, but mine is one of self awareness, self improvement, and that mental clarity I find with the monotony of each pedal stroke.
So i guess it has changed my life., but in only that it has made me more clear on who I really am.
Rik, that is exactly the kind of answer I am looking for. Mountain biking affects everyone differently and it is great to see all the ways it can touch peoples lives. Congratulations on #winning. Your response shows a lot of passion and is masterfully crafted. Thank you for your reply!
I never thought I’d be one to ever try mountain biking, but once I tried it I learned how much I love it. I’m still new and not that great, but I find that I’m more daring than I thought I’d ever be and I’m up for trying new things. It certainly helps me get out of my comfort zone and as a plus, it’s a great workout.
Thanks Amanda! I’m glad that you are enjoying it and building up your confidence to try new things!