Snow is bucketing from the slate-gray sky in Santa Fe today, and I was glad to find to fortify my evening workout鈥攔elocated indoors due to the grim weather. It鈥檚 amazing how a bit of beautiful footage of riding in glorious weather can motivate you.
It got me thinking, too, about all the riding I did last year and the riding I hope to do in 2014. For some of us, it鈥檚 that time of year: when training plans start back up, some good hard efforts start to rouse the body out of its rest state, and goals and racing plans begin to crystalize for the coming season.
But this video was also a pleasant reminder that it鈥檚 not just about racing. (I know, 鈥淒uh!鈥 But it鈥檚 easy to get caught up.) One of my fondest memories of 2013 was a bikepacking exploration that my wife and I did in March around Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. We set out with enough food for a couple of days, linked a couple trails we knew with lots of desert singletrack we didn鈥檛, braved some cold nights under the stars, did a bunch of hike-a-bike in deep sand, got lost on some backcountry trails and buzzed by an immigration helicopter, and took so much longer than we鈥檇 planned that we both missed a day of work. It was riding at its best: exploratory, impromptu, self-supported, out in the elements.
With that in mind, as well as the video footage still on repeat on my screen, I humbly submit a few more Things Every Cyclist Should Do:
11. Build a trail. Or at the very least, adopt one and help maintain it.
12. Introduce a friend to cycling. You know how happy it makes you.
13. Poach an illegal trail. But only if you don鈥檛 get caught.
14. Learn to wheelie. I was going to say track stand or bunny hop, but there鈥檚 something elegant about a wheelie. Manuals are even better.
15. Ride so hard that you crash. But don鈥檛 crash so hard that you can鈥檛 ride anymore.
16. Get girled. There are lots of fast, badass women riders out there鈥攆ind them and learn.
17. Skip work to ride. Biking is somehow even better when you know others are stuck behind a desk.
18. Get lost. Enough said.
听
The snow is chiseling at my window, and mostly everyone I know is headed up the hill to ski. Maybe I鈥檒l go tomorrow. But today I鈥檓 riding. Five inches of fresh in town is the perfect excuse to take the out on its maiden test ride.
Perhaps that should be 19: Skip a workout and ride for fun.
from on .