Today was my first time mountain biking and I loved it bunches! The first climb was a monster, though. It wasn't really steep but it was a lot of work. As we were going up, I was wondering at those in front of me-including Brother Wood- who were pedaling a lot more than I was. For every couple rotations they were pedaling, I was doing one and by the time we came to a fence and had to get off of our bikes to go through, I was entirely hot and nauseous and had to sit down for a minute. I really wanted to throw up but I just couldn't. After Brother Wood had closed the gate, I asked him to check the gear that my bike was in and he said it had been in the highest and most difficult gear and wondered how I ever made it up that far! I wondered, too. So he put it in a lower gear and oh it was amazing, though I was still getting a good workout. At the top, I had to sit down and was fighting the urge to throw up while at the same time hoping that I would. I wanted to go with the rest of them down the next descent but after that was another climb and as stubborn as I usually am, I knew that I needed to rest my body (I really don't think that I have ever pushed it so hard; oh I am grateful for a good, strong healthy body.) So another girl, Caitlyn and I went up a pretty level trail that met up with the one that the rest of the group would be coming up. On top of feeling somewhat ill (curiously, I didn't feel so ill while riding, only when standing) my bike seat was quite uncomfortable (who made those anyway?)
When the group caught up to us, Brother Sargeant (he's a chemistry teacher but he comes on the trips because he enjoys it so much) asked if I'd thrown up yet and we laughed. After that, the trail was mostly level and then we came to some steep downhill rides. I can't describe how terrifying it was, I honestly believe that I could have crashed and injured myself bad more than a few times. The hardest thing was dodging roots, branches, rocks and ruts without moving the bike too suddenly. More than once, I came upon a rock or root so suddenly that I knew I couldn't avoid hitting it and just held my breath with the hope that I would keep steady and land safely. There were a few small, steep climbs after that -mostly the trail had a rolling motion- and the area was so beautiful. There were cows mozeying around and at one point I rode through a little something they left on the trail. At first I wondered what had just splattered on my glasses but then I realized and just laughed because I hadn't even seen it in the trail and I for sure would have avoided it if I had been paying better attention. I was behind everyone and when I met up with them, they too were somewhat splattered and slightly disgusted but we all just smiled and dealt with it. We all headed for the van then and I ended up a ways behind them (not because I am slow but rather I think that I was enjoying myself too much.) At one point, I realized that I didn't know where they had gone to and I remembered Brother Wood mentioning before we started for us to remember where the road turned off (where we had left the van.) So I turned around, not sure how much farther I had gone. I really didn't want to go too far in any direction, so I paused knelt down off to the side of the road... This was a neat experience because I wasn't frustrated and I knew that it wasn't a terrible mistake that I had made (usually I have a tendency to become really irked at my knack for always getting lost and inconveniencing myself and other people.) I also for some reason knew that no one would be too worried or frustrated but would go about finding me in the right way. I actually had saved Brother Wood's number in my phone and there was reception but the number was wrong so that didn't work. So I said a short prayer and just as I stood up, they were coming down the road. It is the nicest thing to pray for simple things knowing that they will come and then see them fulfilled. If I had continued up the road after I had realized my mistake and turned around, I would have made it to where they were and that was what I was doing. But that little assurance that comes with prayer made me all the more confident. Confidence can make all the difference when making decisions: the more confident you are about something, even if you feel drawn towards doubt, the more likely your decision will be a good one.
I loved today. I love what mountain biking teaches me. I am excited for the opportunity to push myself and practice my ability to keep moving forward no matter how hard the trail becomes.
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