WHY BIKE?
Deciding to take up biking after a twenty-five year or so lull came as a matter of simply getting older in my case. Fly-fishing at Blue river for trout, panfish, and bass often required me to walk the long road to get to some of the prime spots. I found the long hikes getting more and more difficult and at times quite painful and unpleasant so thus the mountain bike came about.
Actually it was an early morning shopping adventure at Wal-Mart that proved to be the icing on the cake in my decision to take up biking once again. It was a bike with a retail of well over $100.00 that had been marked down to $40.00. Hey, I know how to save money with the best of them...including my wife!
Add a $25.00 carrying rack for the back of the Ford Explorer and I still got out of Wal-Mart and on my way to a new dimension in my outdoor life for less than a hundred dollar bill. Makes perfect "cents" to me.
THE JOYS OF MOUNTAIN BIKING
My joy in taking up mountain biking is bascially three-fold. The first thing that comes to mind is friends and family. My children are all grown and in that thirty something stage. But I can still remember when they were my babies and how much time we spent together doing things. Over the years with busy schedules and such we seemed to have lost something and mountain biking is proving to be the tool that is providing us the opportunity to experience each other once again. Both my daughters bike and they seemed quite tickled that old dad is riding along with them now. We are biking together several days and week and as much on weekends as we can and I have to tell you it is a wonderful feeling for me.
Another joy found in mountain biking is exercise and believe you me it is definitely good exercise. I figure in about six months I'm going to be in pretty darn good shape...courtesy of my new mountain bike.
The last joy in mountain biking has to do with my fishing life and the time management of that life. I simply don't have the time I once did to fly-fish and it bothers me alot. The mountain bike gives me an opportunity to manage my time on the water more efficiently. I can cover almost twice the water with my bike than I could hiking to my favorite pools and runs.
FISHING AND BIKING
So you ask how is it working so far. I would have to say absolutely wonderful. On my first bike outing at Blue I was able to get to one of favorite spots in about ten minutes. Hiking to this spot usually took the better part of half an hour. I caught trout at this first spot, biked to another pool and caught trout there and felt much more refreshed at the end of my day.
The next day my daughter Kempy and I biked to Travertine Creek so we could test out some new patterns for the upcoming bass and panfish season. We tested Chernobyl Ants and a EZ Hopper pattern, then biked through the park enjoying a wonderful early spring day.
I honestly believe that as enjoyable as my fly-fishing life is already, mountain biking is going to add a wonderful addtion to this life.
And, don't let me forget the challenges involved like different ways to carry fly-fishing gear and such. And then there's that hill at Blue. An incredibly steep hill that so far I have not been able to bike but I'm going to keep on keeping on until I reach the top.
Grab a bike and come join me.
