"Adventure is worthwhile" ~ Aristotle
I have never really understood why completely sane and intelligent people tend to enjoy doing
completely insane activities? A great example is the well known Laird Hamilton. He has a men's health cover body, a gorgeous model wife, a home in Maui, and seems to be a very intelligent man. But... in his free time he chooses kamikaze drops into deadly waves, just to have fun. Not something that a sane person would probably choose to do.
Unfortunately, Somehow I have that same desire to do completely stupid things in my free time? Whether it be cliff jumping, dirt biking, hiking, or mountain biking; I have found that I enjoy the excitement that can only be produced by nature's speed, adrenaline. On the first cold day of winter, My buddies and I decided it would be a great opportunity for a night mountain bike ride in the woods. This was probably spurred from the sight of early morning snow flurries followed by a cloudless afternoon sky.
We met around 6:45 pm and sat around the fire laughing hysterically at the way Jimmy was dressed. The Indian style chant that he had playing in the background only added to the hysterical view. After consuming one can of the finest adult beverages, "Steel Reserve; 211", we got our bikes and headed out.
With no set route in mind we chose to let Alex lead the way and headed for an old hunting club we knew of a few miles down the road. We yielded off the road onto an abandoned logging road. The trail was extremely muddy due to the recent downpour on Saturday. Muddy ruts were numerous but most could be avoided. Unfortunately there were a few that couldn't.
One covered the entire width of the trail and left us guessing as to which side was the most shallow. Two made the right decision and two made the wrong. Alex and I made the wrong and found ourselves spinning through a muddy pit that consumed our bikes up to the skewers. This confirmed what I already knew, not to follow Alex. We both were able to bog through the muddy mess and escape lucky enough to only get our feet wet. (If you ever have the opportunity to ride your bikes in the dark, in 20 degree weather, you definitely will enjoy it more when your feet don't feel like two ice cubes.) We rode for a few hours only stopping a few times to take in the night sky. We came to a cutover and stopped momentarily to listen for owls and noticed that it was clear enough to see a sky filled with thousands of stars, and were amazed at how visible the milky way was. From where we were standing it seemed as if tonight you could see the earth's spherical shape looking at the horizon. We rode for a few more hours and finally were able to spin our icy clubs, otherwise known as feet, enough to get us back home.
I have camped in below zero weather, played in the snow for hours, and walked barefoot in the snow, but I can honestly say that my feet have never been as cold as they were tonight. As soon
as we clipped out of our pedals we headed straight for the fire, in hopes of bringing feeling back into our little piggies. We shouldn't have been so anxious to get warm. As the feeling slowly came back into our feet, we didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling. It was a painful stabbing feeling, almost like you were walking across a bed of thousands of tiny needles. As we watched our skin tone painfully return to normal from its fiery red color, we convinced each other to head out for some Mexican food. So we loaded up and headed for Los Dos Potrillos.
When we arrived there, we found all the lights off and nobody in la casa. After a few seconds of debating on where to eat, we came up with a great idea, Local Joe's! We all laughed at the looks and expressions we would receive when we entered in muddy tights and baggy shorts, but decided it would be worth it. We ended the night with some greasy food, Dead Guy Ale, a few cool stories, and a lot of laughs.
I have never really understood why completely sane and intelligent people tend to enjoy doing
completely insane activities? A great example is the well known Laird Hamilton. He has a men's health cover body, a gorgeous model wife, a home in Maui, and seems to be a very intelligent man. But... in his free time he chooses kamikaze drops into deadly waves, just to have fun. Not something that a sane person would probably choose to do.Unfortunately, Somehow I have that same desire to do completely stupid things in my free time? Whether it be cliff jumping, dirt biking, hiking, or mountain biking; I have found that I enjoy the excitement that can only be produced by nature's speed, adrenaline. On the first cold day of winter, My buddies and I decided it would be a great opportunity for a night mountain bike ride in the woods. This was probably spurred from the sight of early morning snow flurries followed by a cloudless afternoon sky.
We met around 6:45 pm and sat around the fire laughing hysterically at the way Jimmy was dressed. The Indian style chant that he had playing in the background only added to the hysterical view. After consuming one can of the finest adult beverages, "Steel Reserve; 211", we got our bikes and headed out.
With no set route in mind we chose to let Alex lead the way and headed for an old hunting club we knew of a few miles down the road. We yielded off the road onto an abandoned logging road. The trail was extremely muddy due to the recent downpour on Saturday. Muddy ruts were numerous but most could be avoided. Unfortunately there were a few that couldn't.
One covered the entire width of the trail and left us guessing as to which side was the most shallow. Two made the right decision and two made the wrong. Alex and I made the wrong and found ourselves spinning through a muddy pit that consumed our bikes up to the skewers. This confirmed what I already knew, not to follow Alex. We both were able to bog through the muddy mess and escape lucky enough to only get our feet wet. (If you ever have the opportunity to ride your bikes in the dark, in 20 degree weather, you definitely will enjoy it more when your feet don't feel like two ice cubes.) We rode for a few hours only stopping a few times to take in the night sky. We came to a cutover and stopped momentarily to listen for owls and noticed that it was clear enough to see a sky filled with thousands of stars, and were amazed at how visible the milky way was. From where we were standing it seemed as if tonight you could see the earth's spherical shape looking at the horizon. We rode for a few more hours and finally were able to spin our icy clubs, otherwise known as feet, enough to get us back home.I have camped in below zero weather, played in the snow for hours, and walked barefoot in the snow, but I can honestly say that my feet have never been as cold as they were tonight. As soon
as we clipped out of our pedals we headed straight for the fire, in hopes of bringing feeling back into our little piggies. We shouldn't have been so anxious to get warm. As the feeling slowly came back into our feet, we didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling. It was a painful stabbing feeling, almost like you were walking across a bed of thousands of tiny needles. As we watched our skin tone painfully return to normal from its fiery red color, we convinced each other to head out for some Mexican food. So we loaded up and headed for Los Dos Potrillos.When we arrived there, we found all the lights off and nobody in la casa. After a few seconds of debating on where to eat, we came up with a great idea, Local Joe's! We all laughed at the looks and expressions we would receive when we entered in muddy tights and baggy shorts, but decided it would be worth it. We ended the night with some greasy food, Dead Guy Ale, a few cool stories, and a lot of laughs.
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