Life is funny sometimes and not always in way that leaves me laughing. That is usually my own fault. I get too serious, too self absorbed and acutely focused that I lose my sense of humor, my ability to roll with the punches and still come out smiling. The good thing is that it doesn’t take too much to kick my ass back onto the right track of loving life and the gifts it brings.
This morning I got up a bit earlier and took the dogs for a little hike. Nothing long or hard, just a little stroll through the sage. The dogs were stoked and charged about for no reason other than to feel the air flow, the dirt between their paws and to feel that irreplaceable feeling of freedom that being alive, happy and doing what you love can bring. Their simple joy was contagious.
sun dogs
We also got to see the sun rise up over the hills, and cast it’s glowing light upon the snow covered mountains. I am so grateful that a simple sunrise can make me feel so wonderfully small and make my inflated problems fall into place with a sense of enlightened perspective.
Afterwork I was tired, my tummy was a bit of a mess and my motivation level was not where I wanted it to be. Still, Rachel and I headed out for a spin in the waning hours of the day. Up a slow steady climb into the hills, farther and farther from town a huge sense of quiet engulfed me. All the accumulated stress of the day and past few weeks slowly melted away with the rush of pumping blood and pedals spinning.
Cranking out a good effort we crested a small climb on a random dirt road. The hills slipped behind us and the view opened up with a gorgeous sunset lighting up the magnificent sky. Words and pictures can not truly express the perfection of that moment. I just wanted to hug the sky, shit, I wanted to hug the whole world and let them feel this amazing feeling. There is nothing to me as pure, real and empowering as a sunset. It makes me so happy be alive, to be in love and to have made that critical step of getting out the door and going for a ride.
Life is too short to be grumpy, life is too precious to not get out there and live.
Live Love and gO Ride, it really really is always worth it!
jwookieone 
Hey Jefe! I came across your blog about a week ago and wanted to say thank you for motivating me to get out and ride my bike. I feel that sometimes i spend way too much time reading about riding bikes and not simply just doing it haha, its weird how that works. I’ve been debating about going for a ride for the past 30 minutes and thanks to this post, i’m convinced that it will be good for me 🙂
P.S. I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2013. I remember one night i was laying in my tent trying to fall asleep when a mountain biker whizzed by on the trail with his light on.. I was super confused because i had never heard of the CTR before and was wondering why in the world someone would be biking that late at night. But the next day when i was meeting more and more mountain bikers in the race, i realized that it was the leader who must’ve passed me during the night. I don’t know if you had the lead the entire race but i heard that you broke the CT Northbound record! Ever since then i’ve been fascinated with bikepacking and the bikepacking races as well. I plan on hopefully racing some within the next couple years once school is done 🙂 Anyways, i’ll stop rambling, but keep on loving life! I really enjoy your posts, especially the sunrises and sunsets. Take care. – Jake Bruce
You just made my day!
Seriously hearing your stoke makes it all worth while.
Thanks so much,
Jefe