Mountain Biking - 9/14

One of the pros of Walkabout: each Walkabout student received a bike last week that we are able to use throughout the duration of the program. And let me tell you: these bikes are legit.

Flash back time:
Enjoying biking was someone I has to learn when I got here. When I first rode a mountain bike as a counselor in ’09, I hadn’t ridden something on two wheels since I was in middle school. You know, back when it was cool to ride around on your purple bike with your neighbors. The thing that had freaked me out the most about working at an adventure camp was riding around on things with wheels. I like to be secured by a rope, harness, or better yet, my own two feet on the ground. So of course, the first full day of my staff training involved a trip to our very own terrain park. If you aren’t sure what a terrain park is, think of a downhill dirt track with lots of hills and jumps built into its side. At this point, the terrain park was still fresh and new, which in Rocksprings, Texas means that it was still littered with rocks, gravel, etc. The other staff member started hopping on the mountain scooters and rolling right down, so I was feeling pretty confident that I wasn’t going to wipe out. That is, until I wiped out. HARD.

So the next week when we went to try out mountain biking down the trails here at camp, I was completely freaked out. I think I rode my brakes and held my breath the entire first ride.

Since then, mountain biking has become less terrifying, but it is one of those activities that I did have to force myself to love. I love the flying feeling of riding a bike. I’m still working on loving the rocks and steep hills, but for now we are on amicable terms.

Today was our first day to all bike together as a little walkabout family. It’s a good thing that I acquired that love of biking because somehow I was elected to be our fearless leader on the ride. We went riding down a county road that goes through camp and leads to other places in Nowhere, Texas. I thought that the beauty of camp was the ultimate sight, but the sky, hills, and scenery was ridiculous down that road. So just be warned that I might come home with a biking addiction.