Yesterday was my 35th birthday. Do I feel any older? Nah, not really. There’s less hair on top and a couple white hairs have mysteriously appeared in my beard (facial hair coincidently seems to be a byproduct of working from home).
I happened to get the following email yesterday.
We at Mtbr.com Forums would like to wish you a happy birthday today!
Please go out and ride today and we sincerely hope you get a lot of cycling presents.
There was some drizzle and some sprinkles, but I decided what the heck, they told me to get out and ride. So I packed up the car and headed to Whiting Ranch. I realized a little bit into my ride that my body was not feeling it. I did a fairly long ride the night before (16 miles, 3000ft elevation gain), and also went to the gym where I ran 1.5 miles and did some arm workouts.
As I chugged along and got to Four Corners, I was faced with a decision - take the easy way out and be back at the car in 10 minutes, or add in some singletrack on Cactus and more climbing up to Sage Scrub. Again..what the heck, I’m not getting any younger, let’s do Cactus and Sage Scrub.
And after some contemplation, I realized that even in my tired state, I’m in much better shape than I was a few years ago. I couldn’t get up these same hills without having to stop multiple times and/or push my bike. I’m also 20 pounds lighter and my cholesterol is probably 100 points lower.
Mountain biking must reverse the effects of aging - or at least that’s what it seems to be doing. Thanks.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:37 pm
sup fool. some day i’ll come ride with you. i need to condition first. btw, guess what i started recently, tai-chi and chi-gong. i found a real master! and now i’m getting stronger inners already. crazy fun stuff.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
agreed. I think biking does add some youth. Interesting little blog you got going.
Later.