Ready, WILLING, Able?

photo taken from M. Curiak, link below

I have been following along with Mr. Curiak's off road adventuring here, and dang! am I envious. I know I have been very fortunate in my riding life; both in places I've lived having fantastic trails and in trips I've taken for riding...but that guy is operating on a whole 'nother level.

I personally have ZERO interest in riding my bike through shi_loads of snow and all. Because that does not sound like fun. I'd rather ski/snowboard if it's gonna be like that. But maybe that's what gave him the outlook needed to pull off the stuff he's on about now. Self-supported multi-day back-country riding. That sounds good, huh? Yeeeeeees.

The Colorado Trip this summer was super fun. Good folks and better trails. It has given me the awareness of what it takes to plan something along these lines. That is the hard part- trails can be tough to hook together for this kind of distance, more so when you don't live there and know them. And it has given me the awareness of what it takes to execute a series of epic rides. That is the hard part- day after day riding is hard work, and trail junctions can be hella confusing when you're an exhausted simpleton. But fundamentally, a trip (of whatever duration or sort) takes one thing to make it kickass:

The willingness to have a good time.

That is the most important element in whatever adventure you happen to be on. Whether it's a 60 mile jaunt through alpine singletrack with cold beer waiting at the end, it's yet another lap of the local loop, or it's riding alternately boring and terrifying(cars) same old streets to get to work. It's far too easy to let _________ get in the way of a Good Time. People get tired and cranky. People have expectations that are disappointed. People get rained on, or cold, or too hot, or...People have a rigid schedule that must be followed. People have mechanical issues. People get injured. People don't have the bike for the purpose. People can't be bothered to ride because they are too out of shape, or have to get up early the next day, or...


The willingness to have a Good Time can solve all your problems. The Church of the Sub Genius, before they became embittered and fell on hard times because they staked all their hopes on alien salvation (hmmmm- divine help from the sky. sound like any other religion?) which failed to appear on X Day 1998 as promised (hmmm-appointed day for Salvation did not deliver. sound like any other religion? better reschedule, and this time leave it open ended, or the sheep will get restless and harder to fleece), had a good premise: the Short Duration Personal Savior. The ShorDurPerSav could be whomever or whatever you need to get you through. Maybe you need Jesus, or Mohammed, or maybe your God is nothing but an elephant! Maybe you just need that flattened and sweaty PB&J that's been waiting (already appraised and dismissed) in your jersey pocket for the last 2 hours. Maybe you need the love of your Sweetie. Maybe you need your mom. Whatever you label your need, it comes down to the Willingness to have a Good Time.