(R)Evolution

I used to think of myself as a runner.  To keep myself inspired, I would enter 10 and 5k running races.  While running the race, I would see many of the same faces as we all ran at about the same pace.  I viewed them as both my competition and my support as while we would be hell bent on beating each other to the finish line, we also shouted (or grunted between breaths) words of encouragement to each other.   

Then a friend introduced me to mountain biking. I live in the Arizona desert.  There are rocks, cactus and rattle snakes on the trails. Scary, but I took it on and gained a few scars. Then even scarier, another friend told me "you have a mountain bike, your should enter a race."  Life was forever changed.

I showed up at my first mountain bike race in my Umbro soccer shorts and a running event commemorative t-shirt.  I looked and felt like a goofball.  Dressed in their team cycling outfits (kits), everyone else looked like a professional athlete to me.  Needless to say, I was intimidated.  

Unlike in running races where there is a mass start of all ages and genders, mountain bike races have age and category race starts.  I line up in the Beginner Masters Women Category which meant that thanks to Title IX, I am one of the oldest female competitors. (more about Title IX in a future post).  We nervously size each other up and with the sound of a shotgun, off we go.  I was sure that I would finish dead last, but I didn't.  My years of running gave me a foundation of fitness that offset my lack of mountain bike riding skills, at least at the beginner level.  At the finish we congratulated each other and exchanged phone numbers so that we could ride and learn from each other.  It was the start of a 20+ year relationship with a sport that I love and with people that are a permanent part of my community.

With Gritty Revolution I am at a new and different starting line.  The path forward is new, exciting and exhilarating.  I am building once again on a strong foundation of skills developed over the last 3 decades.  A (R)Evolution.  As my mountain bike wheels rolled over hills and rocks, I've imagined a blog where I share my thoughts on how the sport of mountain biking influenced my evolution from a nonathletic, shy girly-girl to an empowered athletic leader.  I hope to share everything that I've learned on the bike that has translated to business and my slice of the universe. 

---