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How Hard Can It Really Be?
Hard…Very hard.
I fancy myself an adventurer and somewhat athletic. But more and more I have the unfortunate habit of running into people who really are. Months ago, friends suggested I volunteer to ride as “sweep” for the 36-mile rocky, winding, single-track Mountain Bike race in our town of Pinetop, Arizona. Asking myself the same question every delusional person does before doing something stupid, “How hard can it really be?”
After all, I looked the part …. my new ultra-light carbon fiber bike with 29 inch wheels defined me as a ‘weight weenie’ — someone obsessed with reducing the weight of their bicycle (it’s a lot easier to pedal a lighter bike folks!). And wearing those unflattering, padded black cycling shorts that are the only protection between your tush and your hard (but light!) bike seat. I may have looked the part, but I know my place in this hierarchy of awesomeness and it was last…. not just as a figure of speech — but officially last. Being a “sweep” is all about being last; escorting and calling in for pickup of stragglers and helping with equipment malfunctions — what can be so hard about that?
As long as I don’t “biff” on the more technical parts of the single-track. Or go “endo” on the steep downhill or rocky portions of the trail if I have my weight too far forward or apply my brakes too suddenly. But I was pretty sure no…
