The Ride

A faint breeze tussled the aspens and maples as the sun stole through the overhead canopy of leaves in singular rays spotlighting patches of the trail. The surface tread was firm due in large part to the rains that had ceased two and a half days ago. The knobby tires rolled effortlessly over the tacky dirt. David focused on the trail, spotlighting every feature, noting the trees, stumps, and roots as they crowded the trail. Decisions were processed in an instant. How hard to take that corner, how close to get to the tree, hop the root or roll over it. He was suddenly aware of his breathing and how easy it seemed. This was truly an amazing day to ride. After dealing with the days idiots and pointless issues, hammering a ride on the dual suspension mountain bike made everything else seem like background noise. The trail surface was so good, when David was done, there would be no dust or mud on the bike.

As he dodged and weaved along the narrow ribbon of bare earth, David's thoughts shifted with terrain. Up ahead, a steady climb of about a thousand yards began. David incrementally shifted into easier gears as the pitch increased and settled on a gear that allowed a sturdy cadence. He thought about his boss at work. The quintessential short man with the typical short man's disease. If the fool could only see what an idiot he made himself out to be by strutting around spouting pointless advice based on pure speculation. He was the kind of little man with just enough knowledge about most things to be creditable on nothing. David's thighs began to enter into a minor burn as he ascended the climb. And there's that ridiculous asshole customer that the short man insists on doing business with; just to make a quick buck obviously. The short man could care less about how the customer treats employees as long as he makes a buck. The minor burn steadied and David's breathing fell into a steady rhythm while his legs faithfully pushed and released on the pedals. His thoughts cleared for a moment and he became acutely aware at how in tune his entire body was with the effort of the climb.