Injuries suck.

It’s one thing to hurt yourself riding but another to have an injury or health issue that has nothing to do with riding keep you from enjoying the sweet taste of singletrack. I have not been able to ride for a few months now and not only does it affect me, but everyone around me as well.

Riding is my therapy. When I am out on the trail nothing else matters, you don’t have the luxury of thinking about that “special” client at work or what bill is not going to get paid this month, because if you do you end up hugging a tree at high speed, and believe me that is not nearly as much fun as it may sound.

When it is just me and my bike out there working together to conquer the trail in front of me, all the crap just melts away and by the end of the ride I feel like my soul just got scrubbed down and all the cobwebs and slime that bring me down gets blasted away and left all over the forest.

When I don’t ride, that is a different story. All that crap just keeps building up, and I may not notice it right away but others around me sure do. My awesome girlfriend will ask me “Hey Rivers when was the last time you got out for a ride?” and I take that as a gentle nod from her that I may be a bit grumpy and she knows the cleaning power of the ride.

I know it affects my work as well, I really try to not let it get to me. I am a grown man, I can control these things, but no matter how hard I try the build up of crap pops out at the worst times.

I really feel for those around me when I don’t ride for a while and it’s been far too long without a ride now and I feel like I am bubbling over and there is nothing I can do about it. Watching MTB videos and surfing bike porn can only do so much.

In the end I just have to remember that I will ride again, maybe go downstairs to the bike dungeon and wrench on my bike a bit and take the time to remember how lucky we are to be able to ride these amazing metal beasts.

 

I know all it will take is one ride to wash away all of this nasty buildup, but till then I would like to let those around me know that I am not crazy…just a little ride deprived and I am sorry for any extra grumpiness that I may send your way.