What Doesn't Kill You ....

WARNING - GRAPHIC TOPLESS PICTURE OF 50ish YOM in the Comments. (Of me of course and done tastefully and SFW although may not be safe to view while eating or drinking.)

I didn't want to fill your feed with the picture without warning but did want to show part of the aftermath of my virgin mountain bike ride.

I've ridden a road bike for decades during my triathlon training but since my orthopedic surgeon recommended that I avoid high impact activities or face a knee replacement to relieve the pain I've decided to incorporate his advice and retire from running. I guess I should mention he advised me to do this over 10 years ago when he cleaned the knee up the first time. Yes I am a slow learner.

He did tell me that the other two legs of the triathlon are still quite alright to continue. However, a triathlon bike is the most uncomfortable thing on the planet and the swimming pools are still limited due to COVID so I decided to take up mountain biking.

There is a lot of content I gathered during that first ride that I'll release it in bits and pieces over time. (No need to dump all the foibles at once when I can milk the engagement longer.)

There is one piece of content I want to share now that inspired this article. During this ride I discovered that the old adage of "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is true. I do need to add that even though it doesn't kill you, it may scare the poop out of you and leave you with a few bruises. Thus the aforementioned "half neked" picture. (A little Texan lingo there)

Anyway, having survived at least a half dozen near death experiences earlier in the ride, I let my confidence write a check that my body couldn't cash. (Gratuitous Top Gun Quote) The the laws of gravity overcame my nascent mountain biking skills and I performed a fontal dismount off the bike. While these exits rarely end well, my years of odd exits from bikes, boats, walls, roofs, chairs, beds, etc., have taught me to roll with it. The result was that my head and arms avoided breakage.

While the dust was still settling I jumped right back up, checked my bike for any irreparable damage. Finding none I checked to see if anyone saw this acrobatic dismount worthy of 9.9 score. (.1 was deducted for colorful metaphors emitted during the dismount). And finally inspected my body for any protruding bones or gushing blood. Completing these checks, that any cyclist would employ, I finished my ride, battered but not broken.

The point of me risking my reputation as a conservative prude by showing this photo and writing this article, is that I am already planning my next excursion into the trails around my house. I was terrified about half of the time but having survived this only makes me want to get out there and get better.

This experience is the same as with telling your story to the world. It is so terrifying to many people that they never try. That inner bully tells them that they don't have a story. They don't write or speak well. The camera doesn't like them. While that is only their subconscious trying to protect them, it is also lying to them. No one (that I know of anyway) has died from posting their story to LinkedIn.

Will it be perfect. Absolutely not. I have yet to create a perfect post. (This article is an example of that even though I corrected a few typos.) However, I know for a fact that I have helped people in the past and THAT is why I continue to do this. If I had listened to Simon (Name of my inner bully) those people would have still been searching for an answer to the problem I helped them solve.

There are people out there that can benefit from your story so don't let that bully rob them of this knowledge. Jump on the bike and post. (Bike optional)

If you need help please reach out to me. Let's talk and I'll show you more graphic pictures of my bike ride. Oh and I can help you with your story too.

Doug