Big Bear Blog

I have a friend, he’s a good friend. When I’m too loud, he doesn’t tell me to shut up.
When I’m late getting ready for the ride, he doesn’t get all frustrated and let it ruin the day.
When my jokes aren’t that funny, he still squeeks out a chuckle and when my grub’s not that good he finishes it anyway. That’s all stuff that makes a person a good friend but you know the best part about my friend?

He’s got mountain bike amnesia, just like me.
He forgets the painfully long or brutally cold rides from days gone by and he shows up again and again even after swearing he’s not going to believe me the next time I call with some crazy route in my head. We’re constantly buying high end, weather proof equipment and technical clothes but still end up with cold toes and frigid fingers because we inevitably end up hiking our bikes through the freezing slush on long un-rideable stretches and our puppy like enthusiasm keeps us out playing in the cold longer than we should.

Then a couple days go by…we start ogling the photos from our last excursion and the exuberance returns full force wiping the memories of pain and fatigue from our minds. Then we take a peek at the map and the whole darn thing starts all over again.
It goes something like this, Sean’s cell phone rings and he see’s that it’s me…

S:”hey what’s up”
R:”I’ve got a ride mapped out”
S:”I’m busy that day”
R:”I haven’t told you when it is yet!”
S:”Yeah but I know how your rides go, and I’m sure I’ll get more rest if I go to work!”
R:”Oh come on it won’t be that bad…remember those great shots we got that day?”
S” Yeah but…well…how far is it?”
R:”I’m not sure but it looks really fun on the map, let’s do it” Then I reel him in like a big fish with some kind of interesting facts or total b.s. about the ride.
S:”O.K. where do we meet and what do I need to bring?”
He’s a good friend.
The next time one of your buddies wants to go on a nice long ride up here on our mountain top playground accept the challenge and go for it, you too can be a good friend!
rev