I went mountain biking yesterday. I had just uploaded a route from MapMyRide for the Cub Run Stream Valley Park trail, so I was excited to follow it. All of a sudden, I was headed down a hill when I saw a huge stream coming. It had rained for the past few days, so that thing was grown.  I panicked because if I didn’t stop, my Trek mountain bike and I would end up swimming in that stream.  Everyone who has clips knows what happened next.  I tried slipping my shoes out of the pedal like you would do if you had pedals.  When you have clips, you don’t pull your feet back; you clip them out to the side. However, I didn’t, and *CRASH* I was on the ground wincing in pain.  I had a choice: I could stay on the ground feeling sorry myself and wait for someone to come along, or I could be a hardcore biker, get up, and continue on my ride. I decided to be tough and continue going.

I was just talking to someone who asked “Why do you like biking?” I answered that you learn so many life lessons while biking that would take you a lifetime to understand.  One thing I have learned is never to give up.  Yes, you might fall off the wagon sometimes, but you need to dust yourself off, and get back on.  You might still feel a little bit of pain (my neck kind of hurts), but it’s a reminder of what happened so you never do it again.

It’s something that I am trying to instill in my kids.  Never give up, even when you feel like every obstacles is coming your way.  You have to continue riding forward and not looking back.