I had to do it. Right before I left Rockwood, I had to ride the bike one last time before I headed out.
Yesterday, both our trainers, Leslie and Helen (I love you both) taught me some more. So today, I got on, found that initial push to gather momentum and move forward. Naturally, then I assumed I'm a pro and figured - heck I can make my own tips.
Reality check: 2 hours of training MAY NOT necessarily make you a pro. Just a thought!
My self-proclaimed epiphany about riding a bike was: if you want to turn in a certain direction - just look there, and your body will kinda turn the bike that way too. (Symbolic of life, no?). Only thing is, try not to be on downwards slope and pretend that all you need to do is smile. I did that - I figured, just smile and look that way and it'll happen. I went... went some more... saw a tree and thought - "Just look away, Afshan, just look away." I looked away. Tree came closer, I thought... "hmmm, gaining speed... thinking look away but kinda staring RIGHT AT THE TREE". I start to gain some more speed thanks to the downhill slope. Still, I'm thinking, "Look away". Tree still approaching... "look away"... tree getting closer... "look... Yea, I'm probably gonna crash into that tree!"
I crashed. And voila - battle wounds (the visible ones). I'm noticing also that as you near 30s, some of the battle wounds arrive in the middle of the night. I'm anticipating some butt aches in the near future. But heck - it's out of my system now. Once you fall... that's it. You've fallen, you know how it is... then you get used to it and life moves on.
And so life has moved on. Rockwood is over. It seems unreal. I can see Leslie's hair flips in my head, hear Helen's voice, "visualize" crazy anchor position, think of Teddy Bears (you know who you are) instead of grizzly bears, remember, literally, the elephants in the room, the dancing, the moments of honesty, and the moments of clash that brought us back to reality too. The experience, that needn't be explained, will remain with us forever.
I really do want to aim to have shorter blogs! Alas - will try again!
Yesterday, both our trainers, Leslie and Helen (I love you both) taught me some more. So today, I got on, found that initial push to gather momentum and move forward. Naturally, then I assumed I'm a pro and figured - heck I can make my own tips.
Reality check: 2 hours of training MAY NOT necessarily make you a pro. Just a thought!
My self-proclaimed epiphany about riding a bike was: if you want to turn in a certain direction - just look there, and your body will kinda turn the bike that way too. (Symbolic of life, no?). Only thing is, try not to be on downwards slope and pretend that all you need to do is smile. I did that - I figured, just smile and look that way and it'll happen. I went... went some more... saw a tree and thought - "Just look away, Afshan, just look away." I looked away. Tree came closer, I thought... "hmmm, gaining speed... thinking look away but kinda staring RIGHT AT THE TREE". I start to gain some more speed thanks to the downhill slope. Still, I'm thinking, "Look away". Tree still approaching... "look away"... tree getting closer... "look... Yea, I'm probably gonna crash into that tree!"
And so life has moved on. Rockwood is over. It seems unreal. I can see Leslie's hair flips in my head, hear Helen's voice, "visualize" crazy anchor position, think of Teddy Bears (you know who you are) instead of grizzly bears, remember, literally, the elephants in the room, the dancing, the moments of honesty, and the moments of clash that brought us back to reality too. The experience, that needn't be explained, will remain with us forever.
I really do want to aim to have shorter blogs! Alas - will try again!
wow, mountain biking, chalo great now u can join me here for tour de galiat ;)
ReplyDeleteUmmm afshan ... You look more like a crazy person who went nutso and scratched your skin like mad in a moment of insanity than someone who ran into a tree.
ReplyDelete