Yesterday, before I went to Crossfit, I got to spend most of the day on my mountain bike. In the morning, I met up with a couple guys from the Mule Team at MoMBA, where we tore through the trails on an ideal morning, enjoying the flow and the company in equal parts. In the afternoon, I had the chance to make good on a promise I’ve been trying to keep all season, and took my niece mountain biking at John Bryan.
She’s become quite the athlete over the past couple years, joining a swim team, and a track team, and generally wowing all of us with her ability to pick up new sports and excel in short order. She’s getting strong, physically and mentally, and learning the kinds of lessons that will likely stick with her for life. All of us couldn’t be more proud of her.
Almost as fun as watching her progress and blossom into an athlete, she’s reached the age where she’s just fun to have around, as a buddy. I picked her up from my sister’s house in the early afternoon, and after a quick stop at Village for a tune up, we hit the dirt at JB. There wasn’t a whole lot of time, and she had a race the next morning, so I limited our distance. We did Power Line and Abracadabra, then doubled back on Arboretum to the parking lot, covering right about 5 miles.
Ever the drama queen (as nine year old girls are prone to be), she started complaining about being tired half way through Abracadabra. I was having none of this, of course, because I’ve seen her endurance, and it’s just fine. Then she remembered that I had mentioned ice cream at Young’s after the ride, and suddenly we were flying! All of her thoughts of tired legs and treacherous creek crossings were banished by the promise of sweet, creamy goodness, and she exploded out of the woods and back towards the truck.
It may be tempting to consider her sudden surge of energy as adorably childish motivation. But really, most of us work that way, if we’re honest. I run and ride and work as hard as I do, in no small part so that I can drink beer and eat donuts and pizza. In fact, after my rides on this day, I succumbed to the temptation of a promo poster at the entrance, and ordered a big, sloppy sundae. Nothing wrong with being a kid, no matter what your age!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Double Buckeye Sundae
Ice cream is serious business.