Yesterday I shared what a fabulous, romantic get-away Rob created for the two of us. You can read about it here. You can also bet that every day with Rob is a new adventure. Our trip was no exception. Several crazy adventures evolved over the 4 days, but one in particular I am compelled to share.
Rob’s latest craze is single track off road biking. Over the past year he has become a fat tire fanatic. He uses terms like roller coaster, whoop-de-dos, chutes & ladders, and end-o’s when he talks about his technical biking excursions. He gets a thrill showing off his latest trail injuries: road rash, bruises, bloody legs, cracked ribs and broken fingers. So when Rob announced we were going to bike the Blue Valley Trail, I was not surprised, just hesitant.
Why would an adventure loving girl be hesitant?
The weather had changed from the original 40% “chance” of rain forecast to a torrential downpour with lightning and thunder booming all around the mountain. The locals said they’d never seen anything like this. Rob pressed on, determined to get a bike ride in.
The car drive to the trailhead was full of hairpin turns and I became a terribly nauseous co-pilot as we navigated the mountain in search of this “hidden” trail. Once we found the trailhead and I finished up-chucking my breakfast, there was nothing appealing to me about riding in the pouring rain on a loose gravel bike trail which included a 7 mile ascent with an elevation change of 1000 feet. Would that excite you?
But after all Rob had done to make the week-end so special for me, how could I deprive him of his greatest joy—mountain biking. Apparently I couldn’t because against my protests, Rob announced he’d go without me.
Now I’m mad. What kind of romantic would spend the day by herself, leaving her husband to bike alone? Besides, what if he missed a turn, slid down one of the many cliffs and was never found? Now how would I explain that to the kids?
So I donned my rain gear, sat down on my rain-drenched soggy bike seat and off we went. The uphill climb was a bear but doable until my chain came off. That happened at the one mile marker. Rob came to my rescue with a makeshift repair. He got the chain back on my bike but the damage left me with only 3 gears on the small chain wheel and my bike began to ghost shift at will. I was not happy. I even began to whine until I realized that Rob was wearing ear-buds and listening to a Coldplay tune on his ipod. He couldn’t hear me.Not only could he not hear me, he couldn’t see me. He had taken off and left me with my 3 low gears ~ alone. As I struggled up the mountain, I passed a campsite. There was a man with no teeth building a fire in the rain and all I could think was, “Michelle, pedal faster.” I swear I heard banjo music.
Things seemed to go from bad to worse and when I thought I couldn’t take the torture any longer, God came through. It stopped raining! Not only did the storm pass, but I caught up with Rob. Together we arrived at a most beautiful waterfall. But that wasn’t God’s gift to me. What followed certainly was.
Rob asked if I wanted to stop at the waterfall and take in the beauty of God’s creation. Sure! I could use a break. I thought to myself. With the sun now shining and the humidity hovering at 99%, it became sweltering hot. Vinyl rain jackets don’t breathe and I couldn’t wait to get my rain gear off. I tied my jacket around my waist and walked over towards the waterfall.
I started cracking up. So this was what Rob meant by taking in the beauty of God’s creation. There was my husband standing buck-naked ready to take the plunge into the pool of water. I’m sure the camper from Deliverance heard Rob yell as his body hit the cold, icy water. But his yell became fierce when he surfaced and saw me with my camera!
Sorry blog readers, no pictures today!
The waterfall stop made my bike journey down the mountain the most pleasurable ride I’ve ever had. And on the drive back to our mountain inn Rob shared his new motto:
Bike naked… it puts color in your cheeks!
Life with Rob is never dull… I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.