23 Tiny Thrills That Can Brighten Any Mountain Biker’s Day
They say it’s the little things that count in life, and in a world where the majority of the big things seem to be teaming up to form a poorly-scripted blockbuster disaster film, that little idiom feels particularly important.
Take mountain biking for example. Sometimes you’ll be having a bad day on the bike when out of nowhere some tiny win will come along, something insignificant to everyone but yourself, and it’ll end up transforming your mood for the rest of the day.
We’re not talking about pinning your favourite trail or taking in a sunset at the top of the mountain. We’re talking about the minor stuff; the stuff that puts you in the right frame of mind to let you hunt down those heavyweight moments and make shit jokes that you’re mates will shake their heads at.
We’re talking about the moments that have you whisper-shouting ‘yes’ under your breath and make you physically fist-pump when nobody is watching. We’re talking about, well… read the list:
1) Finding that riding jersey or coat you though was either in the wash or had been lost forever
2) Seeing that familiar marker appear on the horizon of a climb that lets you know it’s almost over
3) When you pull up at the car park and find nobody else there
4) When you take a strangely excellent photo on your 2 megapixel camera phone
5) When you get an uplift of any kind
6) When you remember you brought a ham sandwich halfway through a trail
7) When you take a new shortcut that cuts off roughly 0.01 seconds
8) When you notice that yes, your jacket is in fact both windproof and waterproof
9) When you see a stranger smashing it in the distance on a vintage ride
10) When you turn a corner and the wind completely disappears
11) When you see a rider stop to help fix a stranger’s bike
12) When the one remaining bar on your GoPro mysteriously lasts forever
13) When you pass another mountain biker going in the opposite direction, and give each other the knowing nod
14) When you catch a glimpse of your dirt tan-lines
15) When you realise halfway up a hill that you’re not in nearly as low a gear as you thought you were
16) When you get a flat but you actually packed all the essential items (or the puncture repair kit actually works!)
17) When you remember that most of your friends are wasting their lives indoors
18) When you notice that yes, your shoes actually are waterproof
19) When you overtake literally anyone or anything, including inanimate objects
20) When you get a bit of air where you didn’t expect to
21) When you fly through a corner you had trouble with years back
22) When you accidentally ride over some horrid sharp glass or rocks and come out un-punctured
23) When you find yourself in complete and utter silence with nothing but the bike and the trails
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