I first fell in love with mountain biking 30 years ago. It was a new sport at the time, and I had just moved to the mountains of Colorado, surrounded by amazing bike trails. I can still remember those first rides, and the mix of joy and terror that felt like a drug. 

It wasn’t long before mountain biking became a central part of my life. My first date with the woman who became my wife was a mountain bike ride. All of my best friends have been my riding buddies. Mountain biking has featured prominently in most of my vacation trips. I started a little side hustle business selling mountain bike repair kits. And at the height of my riding, I had 5 different mountain bikes, all suited to different kinds of terrain, seasons, or challenge.

I’m an expert mountain biker now, and have been for much of those 30 years, but I certainly wasn’t in the early days. Back then, it only took a short time to see that if I wanted to get really good at the sport, I would need to learn how to fall. And I was all in. I wanted deep in my bones to get really good at mountain biking.