Life, Mountain Biking, and a guy I did not know

Sometimes things just hit too close to home. Such is the story of Wesley Hixson .

I didn't know Wesley Hixson. From everything I have read he was a lot more experienced mountain biker than I am. He was a young man of 30 who left too soon and the story is tragic not only because he leaves behind a family and friends who love him but because it was an accident that shouldn't have happened. That's why it's an accident.

The mountain bike community is something I am pretty new to but I have always found them to be amazingly friendly and helpful. I have had my share of near misses and I have always had someone there to help fix a flat, give direction, or walk or ride me off a trail. A stranger even stayed with me when I needed medical attention until the EMS came. They are always the first people to pass me by on the trail and make sure I am okay. They don't leave riders behind. That's just who mountain bikers are.

People are looking for answers in this tragedy and there really aren't any. There are no fingers to point and nobody is to blame. My instincts tell me as a rider that we all tend to feel we are okay after a fall, even if we may not be okay. Things happen. We fall. We fall a lot. That is just part of the ride. There is kind of a saying in biking that if you don't fall you aren't doing it right. When I come in after a particularly hard ride, my friends look at my bruises and scrapes and think I got beat up. I laugh and say 'No but I had a great ride! I face planted once and hit a tree!' They think I'm nuts. Maybe I am. Remember that I am new to this sport and I don't get a chance to ride near enough right now but God, I love it.

What makes this so hard, I think, so real, for anyone who mountain bikes, is that we know, no matter how experienced a rider we may or may not be, this could be us. There is nothing special or different about this situation that any rider who has been on a mountain bike more than 20 minutes hasn't experienced. Quite simply if you love biking, this is part of the sport, part of the adventure.

So will any of us quit? I doubt it. What will happen, I am guessing is that the community will find a way, when the time is right to honor Wesley. In the meantime individuals will donate to his family fund as he left behind a wife and young kids. As for personal safety, we will all check our helmets and make sure we have our cellphones with us if we didn't already. (I did). Me personally, I doubt I will ever not think of Wesley when I am at Northshore now. I am betting he has found the ultimate ride in Heaven. May God grant peace to those he loved.

Note: I didn't change this from Mountain Bike Monday because they found Wesley yesterday.


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Enjoy the Ride!

Simply,
Laura

WWH: Remember When Sports Happened...

Words...and other things, really.

Unless you live under a rock you have probably heard the tape of Donald Sterling the Los Angeles Clippers owner and his girlfriend-mistress which shed public light on his personal (stupid) thoughts.

Remember when sports were about the things that took place on the field? I guess, in reality that is probably a child like view because we all know there have always been bigger meanings to sports. I love Jackie Robinson and I am proud of Major League Baseball for honoring him every year, so clearly sports were never just about what happens on the field of play.

Unfortunately, lately it seems there are way too many ugly issues that show up in sports that have nothing to do with sports themselves. I miss the days when I didn't have to think about athletic assistance molesting children, racist team owners, bigotry and homophobia in the locker rooms, PEDS, coaches verbally abusing students or worse, sexual assault charges against the star athlete, DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges pending against this player and weapons or murder charges pending against that one, suicides and out of control parents on and off the field of play. Somewhere along the way, sports became ugly. Somehow it became representative of not only what is right but what is very wrong in our society.

When I turn on my TV to watch a baseball, hockey, football, or basketball game, I don't want to think about or worry about these things but it has become a sad fact. Instead of just being able to listen to Dirk Nowitzki talk about the Mavs-Spurs series we get his opinion on the sad state of the Clippers. Instead of hearing about a Rangers playoff run we have to face possible suspension rumors of PED athletes and how the players feel about those things, instead of just enjoying sports we are faced with the sad reality that these people that we elevate to stardom because they can play a kids sport really well, no matter how nice they may seem or how often they use Jesus' name in post-game interviews, may actually not be that smart or that nice. They are, after all, really fallible human beings. That kind of sucks. We are looking for heroes and all we get...are people just like us.


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I have Never, Ever, Ever!!! I swear!

It's time to link up for Never, Ever, Ever. How fun! Linking up with Neely, Stephanie and Shelley for week 4. (Okay, I missed some but who's counting?)
So let's  go.

Never, ever, ever:

*am as happy as that glorious week and a half period when the only sport is baseball! (I am only counting the big 4 here. I realize there are other things soccer & racing fans).

*thought I would give up my dream of having a child but I have. I turn 43 in August and I have decided it is time for another dream because I could marry tomorrow and it just isn't happening.

*thought I would give up coffee. I have. This is harder than I thought.


*have I been so happy to see Ian Kinsler back for the Texas Rangers. With him this team plays amazing baseball. Without him this team looks like the Rangers I grew up watching. I think we have solved the riddle of who's team this is since Michael Young left.

*have I wanted to break power tools as much as the ones used by men who have been hammering, sawing, and drilling right on the other side of my office wall for the last 2 weeks. How long does it take? Honestly, Rome may not have been built in a day but I think they built it faster than these guys are building out the offices next door.

*Have I eaten so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In my efforts to be more mindful of my eating and making sure I actually eat, I have relied heavily on this old standby. It's cheap and easy and it gives me protein so there isn't a lot it doesn't have going for it. If I wasn't out of bread I would have eaten that Saturday morning and hey, maybe saved myself an ER trip!

*speaking of the ER trip never will I ever, ever take water for granted again. I have become more than slightly obsessed! But I will save that for my Wed. Blog! ;-)

Happy Tuesday! XOXO



Simply,
Laura
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