We’re off this week, our usual winter break spent with a combination of adventuring, relaxing, working when we should be relaxing, all of it over much too fast. Please enjoy this little dip into the archives as we recharge for 2023. – Ed.
You never can tell from whence inspiration might arise. It’s often yet more difficult to figure out where previous inspiration has vanished to. Sometimes it’s just plain gone, no telling where.
Of late I simply haven’t been inspired to ride much. I’ve done it anyway, needing both the exercise and the mental clarity that comes from incinerating endorphins while inhaling crisp air and moving gracefully through changing terrain. I’ve done it because I needed to, but not really because of any burning desire. Which is sorta weird.
It’s sorta weird because for decades I didn’t need a reason to swing a leg over a saddle and head out. It was just what I did, day after day and mile after mile. Asking me why I rode would net the same answer as asking why I breathed. Or ate.
Because I needed to. Doesn’t everyone? But that was then, and right now “then” seems like a long time ago.
This past weekend my wife Jeny and I somewhat unexpectedly found ourselves in the mountains, among old friends, getting in loam, duff, rock, and trees as the season approached its zenith. We didn’t cover a ton of ground as that simply wasn’t the point of the day. The pace would best be described as ‘inchworming’: moving in what felt like very fast fits and starts and then taking long breaks to share stories, nab a micro nap, have a snack, or just be still in the cathedral-esque groves.
It was while hiking up an unrideable pitch that it occurred how inspiring this group of people is to me. I suppose if you’re in the right frame of mind you can take inspiration from just about anything, but more often we (ahem, “I”) find ourselves cruising along on autopilot and taking things for granted.
Perhaps in private moments, the individuals in this group might also cop to taking things for granted, but even squinting real hard it’s difficult to see where, or when. Or how. They seem to be about as fired up about everything as any group I’ve ever spent time with. Even if they wouldn’t necessarily think of themselves as ‘a group.’ I’d give a satchel of nickels to understand what gets them out of bed in the morning as fired up as they all always seem to be. I used to have that fire—for several decades on end—but as this particular decade comes to a close it just isn’t there.
The simple act of experiencing the world from the saddle of a bike is, like the most important people in our lives, a privilege.
What motivates them is irrelevant, though. I need to figure out what motivates me. One easy answer is that riding with this particular crew certainly does—especially as the mountains transition from green to brown to white.
But that’s too easy. I need to get more fundamental than that. I need to realize that this thing I’ve done obsessively for 44 of my 48 years, that’s given me most of the most memorable moments in my life, that’s taken me to most of my favorite places, desert and arctic, peak and valley, and brought me back home again-—is not a right, a given, or to be taken for granted.
The simple act of experiencing the world from the saddle of a bike is a privilege. It could, can, and might be taken away at a moment’s notice. That happens to other people all the time. It could happen to me tomorrow. Maybe today. Time for me to flip the conundrum on its head and stop taking this thing for granted. Time to get inspired again.
Read more at LaceMine29. Photos by Mike Curiak
I’m right there with you. At 47 I’m just not as pumped on my favorite activities as I once was. I’m starting to figure it out, though. Doing a long ride or run or whatever just doesn’t hold the attraction it once did. That’s ok. It’s called ageing. I just have to adjust my perspective on what a worthwhile outing is. An 8 to 10 mile mountain bike ride is fine. It’s ok to just do a short trail run. After I do it I realize that just getting out there is what matters.
I agree with your reflection. Thank you.
Nice article. at 70 I am struggling with motivation. I used to live for cross country skiing and riding my bike and trail running. now its hard to get out the door. i’ll use this essay for some added motivation to find my own motivation.
Mike brings the stoke!
I remind myself every ride that a number of circumstances could make this ride the last one. Recreating outdoors with its accompanying stoke is a privilege, as you point out. It’s not saving lives, it’s not saving the planet, it’s just plain selfish personal fun and should be appreciated with this in mind. Breathe hard, look around, be happy!
I’m in my late 50’s and it’s not just the bike but almost everything I used to be super stoked about. Damn testosterone! Where did you go?!
Sometimes the hardest part is just getting out the door but one thing’s for sure; I’ve never come back from a ride thinking “Shit! I wish I hadn’t done that!”
And there’s the stoke again. It just takes a little longer to launch.
Don’t surrender to the couch! Life is short. Be thankful for the things that matter
Personally having a realization of the ancillary prospects of a good outing/ride has put a whole other metric to throwing a leg over the bike. Mileage and time as a measure of a successful outing have become suppressed by how much my face muscles hurt from laughing, how well the moveable feast tasted, and how great it was to take a trailside nap after a swim. All the other things are keeping me in the saddle.
At 63 I admit to a heightened perception on why cycling time is important and getting motivated. Although my ratio of mountain biking to road cycling is more heavily weighted to the road now, I find the opportunity for personal reflection while surrounded by the sounds of mountain forests and the hum of rubber on pavement. The personal reflection time, quieting of the mind (and likely lighter, more aero bike frames of late) gives more satisfaction to matching the performance thresholds of long mountain road ascents and faster descents compard to 15 years ago. But the big picture awareness is that as a western society we will all have to embrace riding the bicycle, in its diverse and changing forms, under broader circumstances whether commuting to work or gathering socially, if we all are to continue with the current quality of life.
No crystal cranking for me as I push out into the distant future my reliance on the inevitable e-bike.
What’s with young people these days? At 73 I look forward to watching the sunrise at Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods each morning. Yup, it hurts sometimes and it is really cold some mornings but as one commentor acknowledged how many more of these do any of us have, these are the essence of being alive. Corona has put many things in a much starker perspective. Ride like it’s your last and appreciate every second. And old MBR.
Bought a fat bike and started riding it during the winter here in Minnesota. At 64 it added to my motivation to get outside and get a ride in. More fun than I expected – rolls easy, pedals easy, and is such a plush ride. Try one. 😉
After I retired, we moved south from the mountains of the northeast where I owned a plastic sea kayak that I used to tour the cool, clear waters of nearby lakes. Our first summer down south I took it out for a paddle. It was hot! Stifling actually, and very unpleasant for an old Yankee like me. As I paddled back into shore, a pick-up drove up and a young fella got out and called to me, “Hey, you wanna trade that kayak for my mountain bike?” As it turned out, he actually did have a mt bike in the bed of his truck…and he was serious.
I didn’t own a bike at the time. My last one had been stolen. So, as sweat rolled down my face, and knowing summer paddling wasn’t in my future, I answered yes. The swap was made then and there.
two decades later, I’m still riding that bike.
Like others commenting above, the enjoyment I get from riding is still there but the impetus to get actually do it isn’t as nearly as strong as it once was. In scientific terms, bike riding now has a high activation energy. I need to overcome that somehow.