The Boy in the Man

I think most Aussie Weet-Bix kids have spent their fair share of time on bikes while growing up. I’m sure this still rings true for anyone growing up in the suburbs but I do worry sometimes about what the kids growing up in the big cities are missing out on. Growing up in any Canberra suburb presents endless opportunities for getting out and getting a new scab. Be it chasing your brothers around a col-de-sac, jumping your best friend by building a kicker out of a piece of wood and a brick, or venturing further into the nature reserve to dig, build and mould the local BMX track.

The individual who isn’t so common is the 10 yr old who gets into trouble for getting home after dark, because the day just wasn’t long enough to finish that fresh table top. The boy who aimlessly follows dirt bike tread marks, deep into Stromlo forest, in the hope that he might catch a fleeting look at the machine that left them behind. The boy that takes to bunny hopping horse jumps in the effort to smash the local stair jumping record. Only to clip the top of a log, get sent straight over the bars, be left alone in the dust and wondering if, that one breath, will come back in time to survive another day. The boy who follows the slippery line of the storm water because it feels cool when the front wheel slides from side to side. Yep, this obsessed little boy was me, and he is still in there, a little more subdued these days but still comes out most times I hit the dirt.

These days I have a better sense of timing when it comes to pushing the limits, no doubt. Definitely because I don’t bounce and bend as well, but mostly because I have found a new instinct, one of survival, one that is paternal, one that in mid flight over a double, presents vivid images of my wife and 1 yr old son. Don’t get me wrong, I am still made keen on making a bike perform at its best, and in doing so strive to perform at my best. To the point where I find myself visualising how the tread is flexing over the terrain and thinking about what I might be able to do get better traction in that moment.

So from 1991 to 2011, from 20inch to 26inch, and from boy to man, I find myself in the present, letting the past shape and form the new trails that are unwinding in front of me. Now it’s just up to me to find the best the line.

Race this weekend, yeah. Tumut 3hr Enduro. Goal is to survive and pump out my fastest lap on the last lap.