The Beginning of the Beginning

When I think of where to start I wonder how much is necessary to divulge. One must understand all my motivators in suddenly deciding to take on Rothrock State Forest and eventually the Mid-Atlantic Super Series. I simply can not use the excuse "I don't own a helmet" anymore. So the beginning of beginnings starts with my motivations, my intentions, my progress, and finally my results. Follow them, won't you?

It always starts with a boy, at least for me, it does. The boy I am with is a mountain biking phenomena. He's been hitting trails with the big kids since he was a youngin, raced competitively all over the mid-atlantic in his teens, and remembered him mentioning something about a sponsorship somewhere in there. He recently got back into racing last summer, when a old race route near his home town resurrected. Enter the Coal Cracker Classic.

 
He came in 2nd place, single speed expert class. It was at this moment that I knew that my guy was a hot shot. Hadn't been in a competition in 7 years and just shows up and womps into 2nd place.

 Here I am, trying to enter his great big world of biking, just to get closer, have more to do together. Now don't get me wrong, I consider myself an expert class ADVENTURER. Just not that accustomed to bikes.

Now without getting too far ahead of myself, I must tell you about christmas(or as we tend to celebrate, the winter solstice, but whatever.. I'll just say christmas).  I had previously dropped hints about wanting a bike, but never saying that I wanted him to get one for me. I always figured that I'd stumble across some old beater at a yard sale for 20 bucks. I'd take it home and fix it up, and have a happy little bike to call my own. Something like this...

My friend sam found this baby in a dumpster. Throw a basket on that sucker and that's what I'm talking about.

Well Tom(my boy), gave me some present hints. It was impossible to store at our house, so he had it kept at his mom's. He mentioned that he couldn't keep it at our place because it wasn't something he could hide. He'd probably have to get it a day or two before christmas. Here I am, the whole time thinking, he must have finally adopted a kitten for me just like I've always wanted. I came home from work that day to find this

 That would be a Jamis Allegro 1x Hybrid or my new kitten. Whatever. I remember being utterly disappointed. Thanks hun. I tried to hide my sadness. What am I supposed to do with a bicycle in the middle of winter? Why isn't this a kitten? Can I snuggle with my new bicycle? I was perplexed. I tried to tell myself it would be ok. I was like an animal approaching a foreign object. I smelled it, cautiously. "It's too big for me." I started crying. I think I ruined the boy's gift giving courage for any future holiday. He adjusted the seat. "It's too big for me." He adjusted the handlebars. "It's too big for me." He insisted we could get a different bike, but that is the very bike that I now proudly own, and ride awkwardly.

I think my real fear lay in facing that I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with Tom. Regardless of how many times he kept telling me he enjoyed my company, even if I did have to stop and walk at every incline, I still felt defeated. Like I could never be on his level, or even on an intermediate level. I am a loser with a sweet bike, and I'll pretend I know what I'm doing with it. As time went by, I tried to accustom myself with my new ride. When summer came we went on some bike paths I could handle, but I really wanted to try the woods and forest trails. This was a far away thought as I still have yet to set tire into a forest.

Next time I'll tell you about my rivalry with traffic, my moving to State College, and surviving winter. After all that background info is established - The real GOAL and how I get there! Joining See Jane Ride and getting to the 2011 Coal Cracker Classic!