Pedal Pusher Seeks Instruction

After the test on Monday (of which I was quite proud of my grade), I was definitely needing some well-deserved R&R. Not having class on Tuesday, only a seminar on "Cultural Competency" which I would have preferred to have clepped out of, my fellow and culturally competent classmate Hannah (who's lived most of her life as an MK in Africa) and I decided that we would go enjoy the fall weather. Since both of us were the recipients of generous loanings of bicycles by our thoughtful friends, we decided it would be fun to explore nearby Buffalo Mountain on bike. We met at Quillen and loaded up the bikes on the back of Hannah's car. The physchiatry residents, who had just finished their grand rounds that morning and were walking back to the hospital, cast envious gazes in our direction as they wished they were back in their first year of medical school and had plenty of free time to enjoy the fall weather.
Despite being neophytes at this whole sport they call "mountain biking," we were confident in our abilities to tackle any incline. I mean how hard could it be to pedal up a path? Well, we were mistaken. We should have realized the trip was doomed when we got the call from our other classmate, Kristen, early that morning saying that she had forgotten that her bike wasn't equipped with the right tires and she would have to bail on us. Then when we got there, Hannah realized that perhaps she should have put more air in her tires. Our friend Matt, a hardcore biker and outdoorsman had told us to take the trail on the left. However, the trail on the left looked more like a hiking trail and unsuitable for mountain biking. So, we decided to take the trail marked for ATVs since it was wider and less covered with tree roots.
With its washouts and 45% grade incline (ok so maybe it wasn't that steep), we found ourselves not so much mountain biking as walking our bikes up the mountain. After about a mile or two of these, Hannah and I decided that perhaps there is more to mountain biking tan pedal pushing and that maybe we should leave the Black Diamond level "hill" and find a more appropriate Bunny Slope upon which to test our skills. When we finally reached the bottom after many speedy descents and hasty dismounts to walk the bikes, we looked around and didn't see any other trails. We didn't just want to go home and waste the $5 donation we had made to the National Park Service for our 15 minute stay. Luckily, there was an old access road across the street. Hopping on our bikes, we road across the road and started up the gravel path. With a more gentle incline, we found little difficulty in biking up and down it for thirty minutes, Hannah's tires barely holding on.
Needless to say, we concluded that perhaps paths are better on foot, perhaps there is something more to biking than just pedal-pushing, and that perhaps we'd better try a few more spinning classes before planning another outdoor two-wheeled excursion.
Tomorrow's Rural Track day in Rogersville and Friday I'm headed back to Smyrna for Fall Break, my first time since moving here. Lots of traveling and all by car and foot. The semester has flown and I've enjoyed it, but thank goodness for fall break. Time to go study, the learning never ends.