Small Victories

The impetus for this trip, according to Aaron, was to improve my skills and confidence on my mountain bike.  I've been mountain biking for about ten years, though, to be quite honest, I never really forced myself to go outside of my comfort zone until the past three seasons.  Once I started pushing myself, I realized that my skills were not what I thought they were; I lacked the skills and confidence to overcome the obstacles on the trail.

Fast forward to this week, and not much has changed.  My skills are still mediocre and I find myself signing-off on the more challenging parts of the trail before I even try them.  It gets frustrating.  I get upset for not trying harder, I feel defeated when I do try something new and fail.  It can get very defeating.  But, all of the riding I have done is not for naught.  Hills that I couldn't climb last summer are easy, I'm riding over rocky obstructions with relative ease, and I'm discovering that a simple "can do" attitude can go far in establishing success.

This doesn't mean that I'm going to be a world class mountain biker (thought I would consider myself to be quite the bad ass if I could achieve such a title), but I does mean that I'm getting better.  Incrementally so.  But, nonetheless, better.  If I got stuck on putting my rides under a microscope and nagging myself because I didn't try "x",  or failed at riding "y", or got stuck doing "z", I would feel that I never accomplished anything.  That isn't the truth.  The truth is that I've been successful at riding over a rock that I didn't do last last year and that I'm nailing hills that defeated me last year.  They're small accomplishments, but they're worth celebrating.

It's worth celebrating the small victories.  Maybe I'll never accomplish a full trail with 100% success because I know I'll always want to go faster, ride harder, and try new challenges;  but I did manage to do something that once made me wary.  If I ignore these small triumphs, I may be missing out on realizing that I'm improving and getting better.  Maybe riding over that rock is small, but it's still worth celebrating.  Small victories, one at a time, lead to a cumulative improvement.

Biking Marquette, and a Fall Preview: On the Road

I'm watching the fire from a dangerously close distance, able to see my breath and questioning my ability to feel my toes.  With weak cell signal and an inability to keep my fingers out of my pockets for an extended amount of time, but also with a desire to not fall too far behind on my posts, here's a short summary of our trip to Marquette.  All from the cozy comfort of campsite T6.

Blogging in the dark.

Upon arriving at our campsite, our new camp neighbors, from Louisville, KY, offered to make us margaritas.  Expecting the generic "from the bottle" margarita, we were taken aback when Stephanie prepared our margarita from freshly squeezed limes and oranges!

Goofing off at breakfast; we opted to grab some on the go rather than having to clean up camp.

Enjoying the view from T6.

Traversing Gorgeous Trail in Marquette.  This trail gives little room for error.

A rainy and very cool second night had us head out for some ice cream, because who doesn't want ice cream when they're freezing cold and soaking wet?!

Gus diligently checks out the scene from inside the tent.

Following a rainy night, we ditched the trails for the first half of the day and opted to scope out downtown Marquette.

Boats.

After a day of splurging on going out to eat (both at Sweetwater and at Donkers--where I indulged in an olive & nut sammie), we cooked at the site.  Hello, quinoa, blueberries, raisins, almonds, and honey!