Whistler is known for it's mountain biking courses and there are always LOTS of mountain bikers whenever we go up. What we didn't know before we went up last weekend?
It just happened to be the weekend of the Crankworx 2011.
What is that you might ask? Because I certainly did when we checked into the hotel and there were signs everyone that said, "OFFICIAL HOTEL OF CRANKWORX 2011". There were also Kokanee beer signs EVERYWHERE. I mean I know Canadians like their brewskis but a village that is sponsored by Kokanee? I had no idea what to expect :)
Turns ouuuuut, Crankworx is a HUGE, HUGE mountain bike race/trick competition that is yep, sponsored by Kokanee. As in a kind local told us that on Saturday 15,000 people would swarm this little mountain to watch these amazing bikers. Well, then. :)
This pretty little mountain and it's trails and gondolas?
Full, full, full of mountain bikers. I have never seen so much FOX brand racing gear in my entire life.
ALLLLL weekend these bikers were EVERYWHERE. At the restaurants all sweaty and dirty enjoying a cold beer and some burgers. Rinsing off their MUDDY bikes wherever there was a hose. Walking their bikes back to the hotels, enough mud on their face to seriously need like 6 showers.
So where am I going with this? I felt SOOOOO depressed! Being around sooo many people that were so invested in something they LOVED and were GOOD at? I. was. so. jealous. My competitive juices were seriously FLOWING. The feeling of being in LOVE with a hobby, and being able to travel all over the world doing what you love?? AHH. I WANT THAT!
I seriously had to force myself from not staring at most of them. It just looked SO FUN! Getting to your hotel, getting your registration number, putting it on your bike. Carbo-loading (umm heck yeah! Pasta, anyone?) Getting all dirty and sweaty and just doing what you love.
Being up there, made my life at home seem so empty, so passionless. Wake up, go to work, complain, get on the elliptical, eat dinner. Repeat (exaggeration but you get the point?)
I continued to mop and imagine my life as Lindsay the "BMX biker babe" (I would probably go by BBB for short :) and my hot bike racing helmet and hot pink mountain bike while we tanned at the pool.
I think God got annoyed with my wishing to be someone else. Heck, I don't even like biking! Last summer I kinda got into biking and one day rode my bike to the public library (umm, is that not the nerdiest thing you have ever heard?) Anyways. On my way home up a hill, I totally crashed into blackberry bushes. On a main rode. At age 24. Ummm... embarrassing? So yes, of course I didn't want to be a mountain biker! All of a sudden I was thinking about all the things that were on my bucket list that I wanted to accomplish. What was I waiting for????
Okay so maybe I am not meant to be a professional mountain biker. Maybe I am not even meant to make 6 figures a year. With media, celebrities and our culture's OBSESSION with success, it is sooo easy to got sidetracked and feel like we are just not good enough. Why didn't I get blessed with a beautiful signing voice to try out for American Idol? Why aren't I 6 feet tall and a professional basketball player? Why couldn't I have invented the Post-It note? It just doesn't seem fair. My talents? My dad said I am extraordinary at painting. Not like water-color or acrylics. Like painting our house. The fence? Ohh my specialty :) Umm. Who in the world wants that talent?
Ya know what those stinky mountain bikers taught me? Each and every one of us has something that gets us up in the morning. Something that we think about before we go to bed. For these guys? It was flying 60 feet in the air and doing a back-flip. Maybe for you it's being a teacher. Or even being a better mommy to your little babes. A better wife. Maybe you are a great, loyal friend.
Trust me! It's sooo hard to find this. Some lucky people find their passion right out of high school. Others? Takes awhile. Did you know that Martha Stewart didn't start crafting until her thirties? Or that Suzy Oreman (money guru on Oprah) was a waitress well into her thirties???
It's not like tomorrow we will all wake up with a brilliant idea of our life calling, but just remember we are all talented... Some are just harder to discover than others, but so, so worth it :)
WHEN I STAND BEFORE GOD AT THE END OF MY LIFE, I HOPE THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE A SINGLE BIT OF TALENT LEFT, AND COULD SAY, "GOD, I USED EVERYTHING YOU GAVE ME."
~Erma Bombeck
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