Wednesday, July 06, 2011

RE:

Here's one more model picture.
E.L. Wilson
I came across this bike at a local warehouse store. I noticed several things wrong with the bike configuration. Can you see them, too?
E.L. Wilson

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Conquering the Mountain

One of the reasons that I love mountain biking is constantly pushing myself toward new challenges.  I get to challenge a trail over and over again in order to conquer it.  I have been trying since early April to get to the top of Green Mountain.  Green Mountain is a treeless hill west of Lakewood that is an easy ride for my office.  This May I finally got to the top.

It's a challenge even to get to the mountain because of the climb over the I-70.  The flyover bridge I take is steady climb leading then to a gentle slope down.  I discovered that I didn't need to ride to the main western parking to catch a trail on to the mountain.  There is a concrete path that goes under C-470.  It leads straight to Box O' Rox trail.  The name Box O' Rox is a very accurate name for the trail.  It is a smooth trail at the base but becomes rocky near the top.

Climbing a mountain on a bike is not always fun.  I didn't start out riding Green Mountain for the fun of the climb.  I didn't think the climb was the best part of the ride.  I thought it was the down hill.  I watched videos all winter of the downhill mountain bike races.  I got hooked on the idea that downhill was mountain biking.  But the ride can changed my thinking as I got further up the mountain.  Someday, I would make it halfway up the hill.  Other days I would barely make a quarter of the climb.  It was frustrating at the worst times and at best times would make me feel alive. 

I was able to find a place where the ache of my muscles and the shortness of breath met my sense of victory.  I have heard it called a "Zen" moment.  I was in communion with all the universe just my own body.  To feel that way is enough for me to find peace.  God made my body to move and to be in tune with that feeling makes me feel in tune with God. 

Since I rode to the top I have moved on to other trails (which you will hear about soon).  I cannot always find my peace with every ride.  I know that like everything in life I will be disappointed at times. I also know that there will be those times when I get closer God.  I look forward to those times to come.
A view from the top of Green Mountain