My Journey Through Life at 50+
In part of my effort to re-brand my YouTube channel to focus exclusively on trials biking, I’ve also created a new website to support that new brand. Therefore, going forward, posts of trials videos will be on that website instead of here.
I’ve also re-branded my Instagram account (formerly @tichem, now @ThisIsBikeTrials).
Several years go I decided to pick up a new hobby: trials biking. I had discovered this amazing sport serendipitously based on a recommended video in YouTube. Since there aren’t too many trials bikers in the United States – let alone locally – I’d never seen anyone riding trials and certainly didn’t know any trials bikers. I asked friends, family, and co-workers if they knew anyone who rode trials. I posted on our company’s internal employee discussion forums asking if there were any trials bikers. I scoured the web looking for anything I could find about trials biking and local riders. After weeks of searching and asking, I discovered some useful online resources, but still hadn’t been able to actually connect with anyone locally.
Finally, by sheer luck, I saw a post in a trials biking forum that there would be a trials competition nearby within a few weeks. This was luckier than I realized, since there aren’t many competitions in the US – certainly no organized series of progressive elimination towards a final championship like there is in other countries and different sports. I asked the competition organizer a few questions about the event and he encouraged me to enter the competition. This was only about 3 months after I started even learning trials. I’d never met any trials riders, and had never even seen anyone riding except on YouTube. Honestly, I could barely even balance on my bike in a ‘trackstand’, let alone ride trials. Three weeks after my first trials bike arrived, I figured I had nothing to lose and anxiously showed up for my first competition, having no clue what to expect.
The event was like nothing I’d experienced before. While we were all competing, all the riders were encouraging each other! In addition to meeting other trials riders, I also added my name to the organizer’s email list. Using the email list to notify everyone, a couple larger group ride events were held as well (e.g., one in the fall, one in the spring). Apparently, they had been doing this for a couple years – larger but infrequent group events and an annual competition.
At some point during one of the group rides, the competition organizer (our ‘ring leader’ so to speak) asked me if I wanted to join him and one or two of the other local riders on their weekly rides. Of course I accepted – riding at home and/or by yourself can be great, but riding with a group is a different dynamic. In addition to learning from, challenging, and encouraging each other, there is also the enjoyment of just hanging out socially with people who share a common interest. When I first started riding with them, there were usually 3-4 of us each time.
Over a period of months I had been telling everyone who would listen about my new trials biking obsession. I discovered that one of my colleagues at work, who is also an avid mountain biker, used to ride trials when he was in high school. Through my posts on the company’s employee discussion forums, I also received a couple of additional responses – one person who rides mountain bikes and wanted to learn trials and another who used to ride trials in high school (also a mountain biker). It certainly wasn’t a flood of replies, but at least I was starting to develop a network of people interested in trials biking. For months I would chat with these guys about biking in general as well as trials specifically. I invited them to join us on the weekly group rides, which still of only consisted of 3-4 of us during a given week. Eventually all three of the people from work participated in the group rides; two bought trials bikes (again) and now are active riders in our group.
Interestingly, I was also contacted by a couple other guys who found me in a Facebook group for trials bikers (our ‘ring leader’ is the administrator of one group, Northeast Bike Trials). I invited them to join our weekly group rides as well. One lives a bit far away for weekly rides, but the other is fairly local and is now a regular with the group. Other riders began to trickle into the group as well – some coming and going, others still active. Once a group hits ‘critical mass’, it’s easier to sustain its size or continue growing. Additionally, most of the folks in the group also ride mountain bikes frequently (I’m the exception, at least for now…), so now there is a larger group of folks who gather to go mountain biking as well.
Now that our local band of trials riders has grown, we have riders at pretty much every level from novice to pro. We have a number of different locations that we ride with a variety of obstacles and lines to support all skill levels. Weekly group rides now continue throughout the entire year, including winter – as long as the snow and ice is clear enough. While for some weeks only 3-4 riders show up, we also frequently have weeks with 5-10 riders (that’s me wearing the green plaid shirt in the Instagram post below).
Trials riding in the US apparently peaked and waned well before I even discovered it, so there aren’t many of us. Obviously, that also makes it more challenging to find other trials riders. It also makes what we have in our local community so much more special. Given how relatively ‘rare’ trials riders are and how difficult trials riding is, being part of this group provides a strong sense of belonging.
Every week I look forward to the group ride. There is a routine on riding day: riders trickle in, greet each other with a little banter, prepare our bikes, warm up a little bit, ride together, then stow our bikes, and finally hang out and chat for a while over a beer before heading our separate ways. During the rides, we often pick ‘challenges’ that some or all of the riders repeatedly attempt. Other times, we each pick our own lines to challenge ourselves. We rib each other at times (light-heartedly, all in fun), but we also encourage each other constantly. We even coach each other on how to learn new moves. It’s an extremely inclusive and positive culture.
While I’m still a beginner, I’m now in my fifth year of trials biking (already?!?). My journey started with a search to find any other trials riders, but is now shared with a decent-sized group of fellow trials enthusiasts. It certainly didn’t happen overnight, and I only played a small part in growing the group. I believe there are a few critical factors that have contributed to the growth of our local community:
If you have a new interest or hobby, I would strongly encourage you to join or start a community of people who share your passion. Even if takes a while to find or develop a group, persevere and you will be rewarded.
There is a place I’ve been thinking might be a good location for trials biking, but I still haven’t tried it out yet. I finally scoped it out today to see it it was worth trying to ride. Not only does it looks like a decent place for bike trials, but it is absolutely beautiful, especially with the fall colors.
Today, I merged two of my hobbies: trials biking and photography. While investigating the location for suitability of trails bike riding, I also took some time to enjoy the scenery and snap some photos.
In addition to the visual beauty, this location also provided the soothing sounds of flowing water. As I got closer to the little falls, the sounds of nearby traffic were all but drowned out.
While I’ve lived in the area for nearly 2 decades, this is the first time I’ve actually stopped to check this place out. It didn’t disappoint. If I didn’t have places to be, I would have stayed longer. It was so peaceful and soothing. And the lighting was perfect.
The intersection of three different conditions has led to an apparently endless stream of injuries.
Ever since I fell in love with biking 3 years ago, I have suffered injury after injury. I’m not talking about getting minor cuts, scrapes and bruises (although there are plenty of those), requiring stitches, or breaking bones – the stuff you might expect with trials biking. No, I’m primarily referring to stupid, nagging, annoying injuries that are largely due to my age and lack of exercise.
I kicked off the injuries by jamming the big toe on my right foot and aggravating a bunion. Next, I hurt my shoulder, probably from going over the bars several times doing endos. Those eventually healed after a few weeks. I think there might have been some others in there as well. But last summer is when the persistent and recurring injuries started. Somehow I did something to aggravate my arm, probably around July 2019 – the result is tendinitis in my right arm. I also began to suffer from an impinged sciatic nerve and a string of recurring lower back injuries.
I had physical therapy for my arm (tendinitis) and back for about 4-5 months. Everything seemed to be better in my arm by March 2020. I even bought a new trials bike in January, which I rode a few times in the driveway and parking lots, taking it real easy. But after a couple rides in the woods, my arm is now in pain again, almost constantly. It hurts to lift anything – even just a cup of coffee (though ironically, it does not hurt while riding – only after). It feels like the past several months of physical therapy, stretches, and staying off my bike were completely wasted. This is so incredibly frustrating!
My sciatic nerve issue seems to have been resolved and my lower back has been pretty good for the past 1-2 months. I spend 20-30 minutes every morning before work doing stretches and pushups – I started that routine while undergoing physical therapy. While this seems to have “fixed” my back, I still need to be careful – when it goes out, it’s usually for something dumb and comes without warning.
Recently I added another nagging injury. This time I wrenched the big toe on my left foot, irritating that bunion. Before that could heal, I jammed it again, even harder than the first time. The re-injury also seems to have pulled some tendons or something in the bottom of my foot. While the worst pain subsided after a couple days, my toe joint is still sore weeks later and is aggravated by walking. Additionally, now I get random cramps in the bottom of my foot, usually right after I stand up. This is not extremely painful (it does hurt), but it’s quite annoying.
Why am I blathering on about my injuries? Whining, hoping for sympathy? Nope. Is it frustrating? You bet it is. Does it hurt? Sure. But none of that is really the point. Look at the 3 conditions I cited at the beginning of this post as contributing to my injuries. Don’t do what I did. Start exercising when you’re young, and keep exercising. Stay active. Find something physical that you love to do, and do it regularly. If you decide to start something later in life that can be rough on your body, ease into it. Get yourself into shape, work on building muscle, and do stretches. Don’t go from zero to full throttle at 50. Obviously I can’t guarantee you won’t still get injured, but if I could go back and do it again, this is the way I’d do it.
There is another point to make as well. You might ask, “if you keep getting injured, why do you keep doing it?” Why? Because in trials biking I have discovered something I absolutely love to do. When I’m not riding my bike, I’m often thinking about riding. When I am riding, I don’t want to stop, even if I’ve ridden to the brink of exhaustion. Trials riding is one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever done. I enjoy it too much to give it up, despite the injuries and ongoing pain. So for now at least, I will continue to ride and hopefully still see ongoing skill progression. And maybe I can figure out how to “fix” the chronic issues like the tendinities in my arm.
Seems like there really isn’t any good place to start with this blog. If I wait until I have the perfect first post, with all the backstory, I’ll never post anything. So, here goes.
This is a rather uninspiring video clip of my latest trials biking practice session. I’ve been riding trials for about 3 years, but I’m still a beginner. And, this past year I’ve had a few injuries, which have required months of recovery.
In January of this year, I bought another trials bike. On Saturday, I played around a little with both bikes. Nothing fancy, no huge moves or anything. Probably the most impressive looking moves are at the beginning and towards the end of the video.
Throughout the past 3 years, I have been documenting bits and pieces of my journey learning trials biking – primarily in Instagram and on my YouTube channel if you’re interested in following my progress.