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.
It’s a bit of an inside joke with my wife. I like to collect journals. I don’t actually write in them. Well, until last week I didn’t. But I love the idea of journals and artfully composing inspired reflections in them. It turns out I’ve had lots and lots of ideas about how a journal is supposed to look, how it’s supposed to work. So many ideas, in fact, that I’ve not actually written anything in any of these journals for years.
At the beginning of last year, I thought it would be different. I got online and I ordered this custom leather cover for journal inserts. When it arrived I marveled at its beauty. I loved the soft leather, and felt a rush of something like self-importance to see my name embossed on the front. This is it. I’ll finally write in this one.
But first, I need to research the latest ideas on journaling.
I found a great system that would keep my ideas really well organized. I went ahead and numbered all the pages in the corner in my tidy little handwriting. Aaaaahhhh, progress.
I dutifully carried my lovely new journal with the numbered pages with me to my office and back. But writing in it? Don’t be ridiculous. I wasn’t quite ready to go that far.
Until last week.