There’s a ride I look forward to every fall: Eagle Creek, just outside Gardiner, Montana. October rolls around, and the aspens explode into golds and oranges, turning the trail into something out of a painting. It’s one of those grueling uphill climbs that makes you question your choices about halfway through. But the view at the top? Totally worth it.
I started out in high spirits, but about halfway up, I felt that unmistakable wobble in the tire. Flat number one. Annoying, but manageable. I patched it up, took a breath, and got back on the trail. Not five minutes later? Flat number two. Right there on the side of the trail, watching golden leaves drift down, I just sat for a minute, questioning my life choices and feeling a little deflated myself.
Lately, work had been that same grind, an endless mountain that didn’t seem to get me anywhere. Every day felt like another climb, another hurdle, just spinning wheels and wondering if I was actually moving. It’s a special kind of tired, the kind that starts to wear you thin and make you feel like you’re fading away a bit.
But there, with the aspens blazing around me and the sky so clear and blue, something just shifted. The mountain didn’t care about my emails or projects. And maybe that was the point. I packed up, ready to roll, and headed back down.
That descent? Pure bliss. All that hard work going up transformed into this wild, freeing ride down, with the wind in my face and golden leaves scattering around me. Sometimes, you need to get away from the daily grind to remember that there’s a world out there that doesn’t care about your deadlines. Just you, the bike, and that rush that makes you feel alive again.
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