When I was a young boy....well a teenager I started doing a bit road cycling with a local (almost) club. After about a year I got bored and got into mountaineering and rock climbing.
But I missed cycling. Then one of my pals got himself a newest trendy bike with flat handle bars, a million of gears and thick, off-road tyres. That was it, it clicked with me straight away- the love of cycling and the love of mountains and adventure. Before long I was climbing my favorite mountains with two like minded fellows on the 18-gear, rigid forked, steal framed, ton weighing beast. We were happy as pigs in a ...
Then came competitions and racing. The beginning of XC racing was somewhat different than it is now but none the less it was XC racing. Some successfull starts some not so successfull, constant need of an upgrade to better, lighter components that was my goal.
In my head anyway. The reality was that I was struggling even to get propped set of cycling shoes.
All was fine untill an accident while climbing. I fell during rock climbing and fractured my wrist. Not a big deal, only the following weekend I insisted and went racing XC race. I won alright, but my wrist was in bits. Broken in three places. That was the time when I realized that professional sport has nothing to do with good time and good health. And that was me finished with propped mountain biking untill autumn 2012, when I decided its time to give up smoking and start looking after myself. Twenty years after I gave up racing MTB I started cycling again. After a year of, on and off biking my employer introduced a bike to work scheme, witch gave me an opportunity to get a propper bike. Cube Xms. All was good I enjoyed the bike. It was way better than any bike I had before. Everything was going great. I was trying more and more difficult trail centres, untill after only three months, my bike was stolen from the boot of my car. I was devastated. I really wanted to ride. I took out the old hard tail from the shed, but it wasn't the same. Then, when the owner of the bike shop, who sold me the Xms found out what happened, he offered me any bike I wanted at the cost price. I was thrilled. With the help of friends and my father, I got th Cube AMS. That's a second expensive bike in one year. That's a bit of a stretch for the father of three kids below 10. But I'm happy I was able to do it. Would not go back at all. So far the bike has helped me with giving up the smokes, sorting out my back pain, easing down headaches and much more physical stuff, not to mention all the brain stuff like stress, self confidence and more. But later about that.
So that's my story with the bike almost up to date. Next post will be about my 2013 year as a mountain biker.
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