Friday, January 31, 2014

Mountain Bicycling...It Doesn't Get Better Than This

        Incredible...a twenty-five pound instrument of locomotion, a bottle of water, pump, patch kit and a spare tube and you are good! You are set up for a half day of adventure and surprising discoveries...all under your own power. Type of cycle matters not, as long as it weighs 28lbs or less. Yes, this eliminates the "big box store" bicycles. You don't need those kind of troubles while climbing or descending mountain roads or trails...did they put the handlebars on correctly?
        A perfect mode of transport, no noise, no petrol, no problem. Non weight-bearing impact on the earth between your wheels while the vascular system flows and the heart beats like a metronome or, in some cases, like a grandfather clock. When you explore the mountains or hills in a fifty mile radius from your basecamp you can pick a new route every day of your vacation. Who wouldn't want this?
         I'm not a fan of flat-road cycling, too much time to think about work, or butt bones, or distracted motorists. The hills however, are full of entertainment and wonder...like, I wonder what's over the next one. I started on this tack over forty years ago...exploring the backroads on a chain and muscle-driven two wheeler. It has long been my goal to impart the 'joy of cycling' to everyone I come in contact with...to see that wide smile under the salty brow of my riding companions on nearly every outing.
         It's an easy sell, "Do you enjoy running? Do you want to extend your life a couple of years? Do you like the high that comes with manufacturing endorphins? Let me take you on a bicycle ride, I know the way and I can keep you rolling....just give me a couple hours of your life."

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