Well, sometimes it isn't.
For example: when you get hit by two cars in one week, but don't sustain substantial injuries for anyone to feel bad for you, or to take a break from riding. When muscles scream profanities loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night. When masochism begets feelings of "there is no reason to go through this much pain by choice." Just when these things begin to overwhelm you, and you're on the edge of a simple and early retirement, praise the off-season, for it is finally here!
Off-season, by definition: The time of year when thinking about that time in January, when all you could think about was bikes, makes you question your own sanity.
Welcome, once again, I embrace you yearly, use and abuse you for several months, only to forget you again for nine months of the year, and then, consequently to come groveling back on my knees come October.
Ingredients:
Eating really great (tasting) food and not worrying about protein and carbohydrates.
Racing cyclocross and making a fool of yourself (because you forgot to wash all your RMB kits and are racing in the US national team kit, or maybe because you're riding a mountain bike)
Sleeping in.
Working at the ski shop, making the moneys.
Spending time with great friends and family
Reading, Writing, and doing the other things that I excel in, but forget about when cycling season rolls around.
And playing in the snow. On bikes, of course.
But hey, this wouldn't be a proper blog without a hint of sentimentality behind it, so here comes the cheese. It's been a long journey, has it not? A long time since that first ride over 8 years ago. A long time since the golden years of Junior Sport. A long time since the local series was as nerve racking to me as the World Cup 6 years later. But one thing hasn't changed. Off-season always hits with relief, and riding bikes is always fun, even when it's not.
I know, that doesn't make much logical sense. Unless of course, you ride bikes for a living (which I don't, so it still makes no sense...)
One thing is for sure, even if I want nothing to do with pain, bicycles are aesthetically pleasing to me. I dream of bikes. I dream of the new Element, who will surely be gracing me with her presence by 2011.
But mostly, I dream of singletrack. When I go out in the field for Geology, I rarely see only the glacial moraines to the south, or the sedimentary clasts off the right shoulder. I see those things, and I see potential. Building trails is not illegal so long as you do it in your head. They say you can't dream a face that you've never encountered. The same is not true of trails. I rarely dream of a trail I've already ridden (though I do sometimes). Right now, I imagine a shallow-cut route above timberline, a few sparse shrubs along the right. It winds along the ridge that cuts deep into the plate blue that is Colorado at midday. A lone pine shades over a landslid portion of trail (what came first, the trail or the slide?) where marmots whistle their one-note tune and the camp-robber jay hops and hopes for a slice of your pb&j. This is to be alive. And the fact that no such face, no such trail exists, exactly how I see it, is sad. Alternatively, the idea that I'll never be able to prove that this trail does not exist delights me.
Mushy-Gushy-thanks-everyone for a great season. Thanks be to sponsors, without whom we professional cyclists would be an extinct breed. All the Canadian (and otherwise) folks at Rocky Mountain Bikes -- particularly Peter Vallance, and Ephraim Learned. Rob Perkins over at Maxxis International, and all those guys down South -- the new tires look great! Podium Sports, Summit Velocity, Mike Mac and Seth Strickland - you guys pulled some serious strings last minute to get me out of a very large, sponsor-less hole, and I owe you both cases of beer (in 1 year, 2 months). Ryan Cranston and the MRP crew - best of luck with the new Fork line (White Bros., everyone should definitely check them out). Peter Pyer and SixSixOne - you guys don't do much XC stuff, which is great, because it means your gloves are actually comfortable, hellsyeah! Marc Gullickson and USA Cycling: great work in 2010, thank you all for such a great opportunity this year and in years previously.
And most of all to my family: Dad, you are the great motivator and you're far too humble about your photographs; Mom, thanks for being creative with me when it seems like my life is all about bikes and money (or lack there of); and Meghan, never forget that I taught you everything about downhill, and that if you treat life like a trail , remember that building your own is always better.
Love you guys, thanks for reading.
Ride On,
The Ponderous K
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