Saturday, I spent over 9 hours riding bikes in the woods with friends.
It’s an annual tradition in which I feel quite fortunate to participate.
It’s usually a bit of “type 2 fun”, with highs and lows throughout the day. But it’s always a great way to spend time with friends, to push our collective limits, and to ride some of the best (and most challenging) single-track trails in the area. All on drop-bar bikes with skinny tires.
“Why not mountain bikes?” you might ask.
Certainly, they would be perhaps a “better” tool for the day’s journey – but riding skinny tires adds to the adventure (and hilarity) of the day. Changing things up can also provide an element of novelty to one’s life and provides a fresh perspective on what we may have started to take for granted.
See, I am very fortunate to be able to ride these trails on mountain bikes all summer. Many have become routine. Having ridden them dozens of times over the last several months, I have my “mountain bike” lines pretty dialed.
But when you change tools (bikes, in this case), everything switches up. This change forces one to look at things from a fresh perspective and select new lines of approach.
It’s the same in life. We tend to get pretty used to the way we see things. We drop into routines and develop habits that prevent us from seeing the fullest picture. Whenever you feel “stuck” it’s usually not because there aren’t alternate routes to take. It’s because you simply can’t see them – based on the perspective from where you are looking.
Switching your viewpoint can shed light on new pathways.
And sometimes, that just requires hopping on a different bike.
If you are finding yourself stuck and you don’t have a new bike to try out, give me a shout. I can help you see things from a completely different vantage point and change your trajectory.
#ridefasttakechances #changeyourperspective #mindsetshift
