X-country contemplated.

I took some time off biking today to allow the knee some rest. According to some of my buddies, I shouldnt even be on my bike; should actually be wearing a leg brace and a crutch. However, limping around on foot isn't exactly my cup of tea, so I'll pass. Was just going over some schematics of the Bukit Timah bike trail again in preparation for my next trip there, and just happened to get this nostalgic impulse. Reliving the days on the dirt trail, the endless tumbles, the mudbath I landed in, the countless setbacks and the help rendered by the old-timers there then. I recall that back when I was still a kid, my only goal was to reach the end of the damn path so I could turn around and go home. But now, it seems, priorities have to change. What is X-country biking really about anyway? Is it speed? Power? It can't be.....that's for road biking. Looking up at a 70 degrees slope that resembles quicksand after torrential rain really takes the notion of speed out of your mind. You've got to know every cranny, every rock, every fissure of that hill in order to coax your bike up without taking a nasty tumble and a nice long slide to square one. And nowadays, I find my mind is no longer set on the final stretch of the trail; instead, I tend to compartmentalize the course, assessing individual obstacles and surmounting them one at a time instead of trying to mentally conquer them all at once. And when things screw up, or you realize your assumptions were screwed and something goes badly wrong, no raw speed or power is gonna help you. It's a simple matter of possessing the right skills and a calm head so as to be ultimately able to pedal your way out of every situation. It seems that after all those years, I've finally achieved this level of biker's psyche. A gratifying prospect.