Approximately five years ago my husband came to me and said, ‘Let’s buy mountain bikes.’ I said, ‘Meh, ok.’ Before that point, the idea of mountain biking had never crossed my mind. Sure, I rode my trusty BMX around as a kid almost daily and had heaps of fun, but after childhood, I drifted away from riding. So I followed my husband into the bike shop and became the proud owner of my first ever mountain bike.
I initially started riding around my local XC tracks and had a ball. I discovered that I enjoyed it more than I thought possible. It was fun and challenging. Then one day my husband said, ‘Let’s do a cross-country race.’ Once again, I replied, ‘Meh ok’. So I lined up for my first race and to my surprise, I came second and found out that I was actually quite decent at this mountain biking thing.
My first race unleashed a competitive side in me that I never knew I had. From that moment on I wanted to ride and train as much as I could to get fitter, faster, and stronger. And that’s exactly what I did. I rode as much as I could and worked on improving my technique to get faster. I was soon riding tracks and jumping stuff I never thought I could. I raced as much as I could and greatly improved.
"My bike teaches me to be brave and to be fearless and to never give up."
Up until I was hit by the mountain biking addiction (I guess you could call it), I never thought it would be possible to have so much passion for a sport or an object. I love my bike and I love riding. I enjoy the freedom that riding gives you. I also enjoy the challenge that racing gives you. You can have the crappiest day, and then when you get on your bike and go for a ride, everything is forgotten. To me, riding is my happy place. It challenges me and makes me want to better myself every time I ride. I have ridden tracks on my bike and accomplished things that I never thought I could do. My bike teaches me to be brave and to be fearless and to never give up. Riding has taught me things I never knew about myself, or never believed was possible. Sure I have had my fair share of pain from my bike, but when you have a good ride or race, all of that is forgotten. I think about riding daily and I get cranky when I can’t ride due to unforeseen circumstances.I strongly encourage anyone to buy a bike and start riding. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on a bike. It doesn’t matter if you're fast or slow, or if you race or just trail ride. As long as you enjoy the ride and learn from every ride, that is all that matters. Bikes are wonderful at teaching you new things: for teaching you to challenge and believe in yourself, for teaching you trust and commitment, and for pushing you to do and achieve things you never thought you could or would do.Every day I am thankful that I was talked into getting a mountain bike by my husband. My bike has shaped me into the person that I am today and I will be forever grateful that I have been bitten by the mountain biking bug. Everyone should own a bike.By Jodi Newton - Pushys Sponsored Athlete
