And now that I'm on this new quest to remember the good from my life, I was thinking about when I was a kid while I rode today.
We lived on the edge of our neighborhood, meaning that behind our backyard was a creek and lots of areas to explore. We could also go three houses up and there was an undeveloped area. We referred to all this land as "the cedars". I don't remember why we nicknamed it that, there were only a few cedar trees, it was mostly weeds and sagebrush.The cedars were criss-crossed with trails. In the late spring, all summer and early autumn my brothers and I were outside as much as possible. When I got a bike we loved to go down this large hill towards the creek. We always tried to make it up the hill, but this was a one speed bike and I always ended up walking it up the hill.
Yesterday I spent about three hours riding. A coworker joined me for about half the time, but he got tired. LOL. This morning I looked up the Dallas Off-Road Biking Association (DORBA) trail guide. I wanted to try something new since I couldn't get any friends to join me. I noticed a trail in Arlington, close to the Cowboys Stadium and not too far a drive from my house.
The trails were great! There were a couple of technical sections but my favorite area and the one that took me back to my childhood was an area called "The Fun House".
It had lots of hills to go down, sharp turns and even a few small hills at the end of the hill to make a jump. Yes... I caught air several times as I was riding these hills and jumps!At first I was a little intimidated by the steep inclines and almost vertical drops, but I remember being fearless as a kid. I channeled little Jimmy and rode down some awesome hills. Sure, as a kid I would wreck and I even broke by wrist once, but it healed.
Soon a few young guys joined me and they were doing the same thing I was... just having fun riding the trails and catching air on the jumps. Me, a 49.5 year old guy doing the same stuff as some young twenty-something boys. I could have stayed out there longer but this old body started to get a little tired.
Embiggen the pictures if you'd like, and see my afternoon through my eyes. It was wicked awesome!!
4 comments:
That banked curve looks like FUN!
I have a 20 speed bicycle that is several years old but hardly touched. I should try to use it more. Here, biking is not much fun - sun and heat and all.
Mind! I do like coming up on bikers and seeing their backsides up in the air. Some of them are quite pleasant. I have yet to reach out and pat one as I pass by.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Dr. Spo, the backsides are fine... but the thighs; it's all about the thighs.
Jim, Well done! This is why you are much younger than your numeric age. There are guys our age who are practically ready for the rocking chair.
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