| I'm at a point in my life where I'm ready to cut down on | | | | started riding. And as they say, the rest is history. I got |
| partying. I don't want to officially hang up my "cutting | | | | older and picked up BMX; bunny hopping curbs and |
| loose" habits, but I can only take so many yawn-filled | | | | cruising around on pegs. When I hit college, I was over |
| mornings of bloodshot eyes and crooked smiles. I am | | | | my dirt jumping phase, and got a road bike-pedaling for |
| ready to put those nights of loud clubs and expensive | | | | miles at a time. So it's no surprise that mountain biking |
| bar tabs behind me. Why the sudden lifestyle change | | | | caught my eye-- which is a sort of hybrid |
| you might ask? The answer-mountain biking. I think | | | | amalgamation of extreme maneuvers from BMX and |
| taking up this sport will jump start my active, healthy | | | | long rides of road biking. |
| lifestyle. | | | | Back to my life story, I graduated college, picked up |
| Growing up, I have always been into bikes. It all started | | | | and moved to California. This state is absolutely |
| when I was six. My parents tried teaching me to ride a | | | | beautiful. Last weekend, my girlfriend and I drove out |
| bike in a big field near our house-not the best idea. | | | | of the city and spent a few hours exploring and |
| Have you ever tried riding through a field, let alone on a | | | | admiring the west coast's landscape. We hiked |
| child's bike with small wheels? It's nearly impossible. | | | | through a state park, which was awesome-but I'm not |
| Every bump, rock, and stick bounced me off the bike | | | | much of a hiker. I need something to get my heart |
| and landed my butt on the ground. My parents' | | | | pumping. We did discover a ton of mountain bike trails |
| rationale was that falling in a field would be better than | | | | that the state park offered. And that's when it hit me. |
| hitting the unforgiving pavement, which makes sense. | | | | Mountain biking looks like a blast! These guys flew past |
| But it is also nearly impossible to ride on this terrain, | | | | us on these gnarly mountain bikes, equipped with full |
| especially when first learning. | | | | suspension and rugged tires. The east coast didn't |
| So one afternoon, I took off my training wheels and | | | | offer trails like the west coast, which is probably why I |
| brought my bike into the driveway. I sat down on the | | | | never got into the sport. Now that I have all this terrain, |
| seat, put my one foot on a pedal, pushed off and | | | | I want to take full advantage. |