It is in the air

In February and March of this year, as ski season started winding down, talk turned to biking and all the plans that sat on the horizon. Now, as the weather is turning cooler, and fall begins to fill the air, talk has turned to skiing. It is funny, really, to hear everyone talk after a bike ride.

"Nice Ride, huh?"
"Yep. You get your season pass to Killington this year?"
And the talk begins. The best runs, the revamp of the single chair at Mad River, the fact that no place beats Ascutney after a big dump. No friends and no family on a powder day. And they are coming up fast! And now, I have a new helmet light to use while night riding and skiing......Ah, fall....when a young woman's thoughts turn to skiing.....

A friend of ours, who is an avid cyclist, has just gotten his wife a mountain bike. He decided to take her on a Class 4 road, thinking that it was no big deal - just like riding on pavement- And it isn't a big deal. To HIM. To her, the road is filled with hazards. Rocks, sticks, holes.....all potential falls. She went over the handlebars three times. Three times. And not because she was trying to get used to disc brakes, either. By the time they reached the halfway point in their ride, she had had enough. It just so happened that they were turning around in a small nearby town, which was filled with people stopping by the local general store on their way home from work. She marched into the store and shouted "WHO IS GOING TO TAKE ME HOME? I AM NOT GETTING BACK ON THAT BIKE, ESPECIALLY NOT WITH HIM!" She was given a ride home and informed her husband that she was never riding with him again. It is difficult for hard-core riders to understand beginners - Bad equipment and bad teachers = unhappy bikers.

So I have entered the tween time - excited about skiing, excited about biking, depressed that real biking is almost over, not depressed it is almost over..... And tonight, having a relaxing mountain bike ride.

Pedal, pedal, pedal!