mountain biking

I've never been mountain biking. Seeing as that I can barely ride a bike in town without hitting something, I feel like maybe I should let other people ride the bikes in the mountains, and I'll come along to document the beautifulness of it all.

So we did.

I packed up my camera backpack with all my lenses and flashes and set off to the mountains with 4 boys and 3 bikes with us. We winded up the highway until we parked the car and proceeded to get ready for the adventure. Myself and Connor walked ahead of the group since we were on foot. Tyler, Aaron and John quickly caught up to us, or moreover, zoomed past us with unbelievable speed.

I've never shot photos of mountain bikers before and I was pretty excited about getting the opportunity to do so today. I thought, 'what a good challenge, to shoot a sport that I know absolutely nothing about.' After causing minor wreckage while trying to get "the perfect capture" (and forgetting that I was standing in the middle of the trail) I learned very quickly that I needed to let the guys ride and I needed to take photos safely to the side or somewhere that wouldn't put me in the direct hit line. After a couple more instances where I became aware that I was still in take-out range, I realized how dangerous of a sport this is. I got lucky that they didn't run me over and chose to take a wreck instead, and I vowed to be more careful next time.

The colors in the grass and the trees was wonderful, and I really enjoyed being outside. We hiked down quite a ways until we were in a huge open field and up to the right was a giant hill. As I watched the boys scramble up it, Connor and I talked about how steep it was and how it would be scary to watch. As Tyler went across, he made a turn to drop and fell. Still taking photos of him rolling down the hill, picking up dust, it occurred to me how scary it is to watch an accident happen through the lens. I've heard a couple stories of things worse than mountain bike falls and it started to make me think that I might witness one. Hopefully not, but I realize that it's a possibility.

After shooting 300 photos and running out of good light, we started back, only having one headlamp. The altitude was taking effect on my lungs and I drug myself up the trail back to the car. My calves won't fit in half the snow boots I try to buy, but they carry me up mountains. I guess I would rather have that then snow boots any day. I miss being outside like this, just playing.

It's been too long since I have been in the mountains, and my heart and soul thanked me endlessly for this today.