Mountain Biking August 2021

 

Do you ever later in life start a hobby or something and you think to yourself "man younger me would never do this!?" That is exactly how I look at mountain biking. I got into this last year with my fat tire and I enjoyed it so much. I knew with a normal bike my back would not tolerate down hill, rocks or tree roots it was not even an option. I mean I even broke my tail bone riding last year.... OR so I thought.... 

I never even knew there were different types of bikes guys. Like when I bought my first REAL bike that was like not from Walmart and cute I just wanted something to trail ride. Nothing crazy. So I got this bike which at the time I had no idea was called a hybrid bike. 

Blue my first bike.

So let's talk about it. What the heck is a hybrid bike? There are a lot of bike types and currently I have 3 of them. ha-- anyway a hybrid is not something for mountain biking and also not a road bike for riding on the road. It sort of is a multi-purpose bike but honestly it does not really do anything really well. It cruises nice yes but does not have the speed for riding on the road fast. It also is NOT good at mountain biking unless you want to destroy your back. It was a good beginner bike. 

Last year for Christmas I got a fat tire bike and it changed my life. I love hiking and I love being in the woods. Being able to be in the woods and bike was like mixing my two favorite hobbies. Single track riding on a bike is heaven. I never sweat like I do on a bike. It is an amazing full body work out. The only issue is my fat tire bike is a tank and it does cushion my back but not enough on hard ground. Here is my fat tire which I love riding in the winter. It does awesome in the snow!

Ru (named after Ru Paul) my fat tire!

As you can see my fat tire is a heavy bike and it is not meant for being agile by any means. So recently Ryan and I had some talks about me possibly getting an actual mountain bike. We had been wavering if I needed a full suspension bike (shocks on the front AND back) or what is called a hard tail with only front suspension. I had no idea what any of this meant last week when I was shopping for bikes by the way I learned a lot in a short time. We saw a Rocky Mountain bike for sale on market place and after much research we snagged this full suspension bike up. Full suspension bikes are EXPENSIVE so that was a big investment in my biking. I rode this bike on Saturday and I had a blast. Struggled on hills so we are going to see about adding a gear to help with that and maybe change up the tightness of the suspension as needed. Ryan wanted to try a hard tail out on Sunday so we rented two in door county. My POOR BACK! I need full suspension. Even if I cannot get the gearing right and need to walk my bike up some hills anything is better than that hard tail ruining my back. 

Rocky the newest bike to me (full suspension) mountain bike. 

So here we are I sit here with a sore back and bum but well on my way to looking like I belong on the trails out there. I cannot wait to go for another ride really soon and continue to share these rides with Ryan. I am happy we both love biking so much. Onto looking for a good bike for Ryan next!

Hints:

Get the padded shorts. 

Having plenty of water is a must. 

If your bike does not have metal studded pedals get some. Game changer. 

Until next time~

Emily 

Some thoughts on grief

 

I mean I am no expert on grief I can only really relate to you my personal experiences and what I have observed from others on their journeys. I say journeys because I am a firm believer that grief is not a linear thing. It's not a check off list where you can just say "okay today is the funeral I cry today and move onto another check box on some grief list." I personally have tried to challenge myself to allow myself to really feel the feelings as they come and practice mindfulness more when the feelings come. I assume I may have lost some of you with the word mindfulness. It's actually one of my personal goals this year to be more mindful when emotions bubble up and notice them for what they are and take the time to sit with them... feel them out and process what that emotion is and why I am feeling it. This is important because no matter what sort of grief you are going through "loss of a job, loss of a loved one etc" you will be on this little personal journey. I have noticed no one grieves the same. Each person has to really take that grief into their heart and process it over time. I try to let people breath in that grief. How we process it will for sure be different some people may never really touch their grief. I tend to have some really strong emotions up front that I have to sort through right away and then over time I will get little thoughts here or there about that person or thing that I have to work through. I will also say I am the type of person that may need help sorting through the grief if it is a mixed emotion situation. A good example of this is that my uncle just passed. I am a transparent person and him and I never had a good relationship. I felt so conflicted all day yesterday because I did  not have the same relationship others had with him it was so complicated and honestly today I am still trying to process him passing and what does that mean for my heart and for me. This is the type of situation where I may reach out and schedule a therapy session or reach out to an online community for support. I use the Sanvello App for mental health support weekly. I want you to take away from my little thoughts here that it is okay to ask for help. It is okay to ask others to sit with you in your grief even if you cannot verbalize what is going on inside. It is also okay to feel other emotions in your grief. I remember laughing at my grandpas funeral and feeling like "OMG-- what is going on you cannot be happy right now." This is such an old idea and out dated. You are allowed to live. You are allowed to be happy. I know that my grandpa Jupe would have loved to see me smiling and thinking of him. 

I hope that in your life when you come to the hard moments that you seek the help you need and know that grief is normal. It is part of life and you are not alone in it. 

Stay safe and be healthy out there-

Emily