Breathless

It had rained all night, however by the time we left we were fortunate enough to be able to bike in the sun, we got the benefit of mud and sun. Water, energy snack, lunch, and gear, we are ready! What could be better than the feeling of newly stretched muscles in the morning as you embark on a journey to a new trail? We rushed through the natural tunnel of trees down a singletrack, one by one over the wet ruts and through the mud. The climb is up ahead; over wet, slippery ruts through loose wet dirt and gravel, my heart pounds, I sweat, it burns.

As we crest the first incline I look back to survey the conquest and it is good, very good. The time came for some water and a power bar. As I sat eating my power bar I saw my next challenge. Enhanced by the recent rainfall, a series of large pools of water had formed. I cram down the rest of the power bar and sucked down some water. I wiped the dirt from my glasses and I was ready for splash down. I mounted my rig, with a sudden push of the pedals; I lunged up and over a rut, down a little hill, and around a bolder into the pool. As my front wheel cut a path through the still pool of water, the image of two large rocks almost kissing came in to view. My brain quickly recalculates the angle of attack. I leap the front wheel up on to the edge of the rock and, the front tire slid down and STOPPED cold! Endo time. My front tire was wedged in between two submerged rocks tightly. I yank on it till I dislodged it and to my surprise it remained somewhat true, certainly ride-able. In spite of the Endo I needed more. I caught up with my buddies as they were dismounting and shouldering their steeds to hike up a seemingly impassable incline.

I had to go for it. With my chest on the bars, I heaved the pedals forward even as the forces of physics lifted the front wheel off the trail. Sweat was dripping in my eyes, my legs were burning, my heart was pounding and then I start to lose traction. My brain kicked in again. One part yells "bail", the other part whispers, "relax and focus". For just that moment, I do relax and my body shifts towards the rear wheel. My friends look as if they are frozen in time. Suddenly my legs give another burst of energy and I am over the ridge. The silence is broken as my friends erupt in to hoots and howls. I dismount my rig and stoop over gasping for breath. I feel light headed and I'm seeing spots. My friends gather around me and cheer my victory over gravity and proclaim this location "Breathless Hill".

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