The Things We Take for Granted

Winter has finally arrived in the Sierra Nirvana. It's late, but the snow is finally sticking. Boreal is open for business, which is a good indicator that minds are turning from riding to, well, riding. Down here on the eastern front, however, there's no need to give up the bike for your board(s). Rather, it means more rocks, more layers and fewer rides. Generally we don't have much snow to contend with, although that is sometimes an issue too. Let's face it though, mud sucks, especially when it's the consistency of heavy grease. So does wind -- we've been getting gusts in the 70 mph range this week, which is enough to turn a typical downhill into a thigh burner. But, the wind die down and the mud dries up, and you can almost always hop on the bike and fix your jones.

I've been off for a couple of weeks with a nasty upper respiratory infection -- the kind that has you coughing up peanut butter and scabs every morning and doesn't take kindly to sucking down lots of cold air. Well, yesterday during a lull in the wind, I got out and rode a little technical loop close to my house. It's nothing all that special, but it's a good little tuner with several technical rock gardens and about six combinations of loops. I used to be able to open my back gate and ride dirt all the way from the house. No more. Hundreds of houses have gone up along with fences, retaining walls, pavement and all the box store amenities no one could want.

None of this has affected the loops much, but my approach now includes dodging traffic, riding on pavement and going around lots of new barriers. The encroachment here and in other areas has also driven more motorheads into my space. They don't so much ride the loops, but a lot of the surrounding hillsides. Now, rather than riding along a quiet one-track overlooking the city I smell and hear those stinky neanderthals.

On the upside, there's some new track down, and riding along the top of a 50-foot high rock retaining wall looking down into Gold's Gym where all the sheep pace on their treadmills is rather gratifying.

It also struck me how lucky I really am. I have a place that I can ride right out my front door. It's got variety. It's rideable almost every day of the year. There's sections that will always be challenging. It's one of those things that I've come to take for granted. I shouldn't.