Mountain Biking


A few months ago I went for a ride in Green Bay while waiting for a load. I was following a paved trail and it was a nice ride. The next leg of the trail was closed and under construction. The trail ran alongside a wooded area. A path led into the wooded area. My bike is a hybrid, so what the heck? I took the path.

Wow, a nice ride evolved into a great ride. The path did not go far, but it was challengingand fun. One of my fellow church members is an avid mountain biker and is in great shape. I mentioned my ride to him. He smiled at me and told me how addictive the sport can be. He has several bikes and offered to take me on a local trail and let me use one of his bikes. A trucker’s schedule is a trucker’s schedule, and I have yet to take him up on his offer.
Then this week I delivered in Delaware, Ohio, and had a pick up scheduled for several hours later in Columbus. There are two truckstops in Sunbury, Ohio. In between my delivery and the truckstops was a sign for Alum Creek State Park. So I put in the 50 gallons necessary for a free shower and took off on my bike in search of Alum Creek. About 2.8 miles into my ride there was a sign for a mountain bike trail. There I was, this 50-plus-year-old inexperienced mountain biker with a hybrid bike and a sense of adventure. Off I went on the trail.

This trail was way more advanced than the one I rode in Green Bay. Tree roots routinely ran across the bath. The path was less than two feet wide and went up and down steep short grades. The trail ran along steep downgrades (cliffs) along the water. There were foot bridges no wider than the path itself. At times the trail was more than I could handle and had to push the bike because the trail or bridge was not wide enough to walk alongside the bike.  This was fun. It reminded me of over 40 years ago and my indestructible sting ray bike.

When I got home I started reading about mountain biking. One of the articles said that a man my size burns around 750 calories an hour mountain biking. There was an article in a body-building magazine extolling the muscle-building benefits of mountain biking. It is fun. It is great exercise. I think that I could become addicted to this sport.