30 BICYCLING.COM • ISS
depression in times when I tried to play
things safe, I’ve known for a while now that
risking failure or embarrassment is the only
way to live a full life. Handling risk requires
handling fear; it requires courage, thought-
fulness, and emotional clarity. Or rum. But
whatever gets us through that door, once
we accept that something we desperately
want to achieve might not work out, what
we are left with is confidence in our abil-
ity to survive.
It comes down to the belief that every-
thing we’ve been through, all of the jumps
we’ve jumped before, our muscle memo-
ry and our practice and expertise will all
come together to help us succeed or heal
us if we don’t.
And when the risk pays off does it feel
amazing—that elation, the power, the tri-
umph, the joy. I think what feels best about
it is the exorcism of fear, the purging of
destabilization, the adrenaline of over-
coming whatever perceived threat it was
that we faced.
My favorite part of risk is that it requires
decisiveness; there’s either do or do not.
Half measures and hesitations often lead
to more trouble than full failure, and the
beauty of committing to any risk lies in the
total acceptance of potential consequences.
My challenge to you is to take a leap—today,
right now, tonight—and dive into whatev-
er you’ve been waffling about, on the bike
or off. Want to try clipless pedals? Fuck it...
jump in. Have never signed up for an enduro?
Go get it. Feel like you’ll get your ass hand-
ed to you in that group ride? So what if you
do? All you have to lose is everything you’re
scared of, and the more risks you take, the
easier it becomes to dive in.... Trust me.
And, hey—if you fail, who cares? Believe
me, anything less than death just doesn’t
matter. Not being liked? Not death. Break-
ing bones and spending months in the hos-
pital fighting infection and constant rehab?
Not death. There are so many things that
are not death, and yet we act like we may
die from them all. If we’re not six feet
under, we still have risks to take, to suc-
ceed at and to fail at, to relish and to learn
from, and to trust to take us someplace we
really need to be.
AT YOUR
FIRST RACE1 / SKRATCH LABS SPORT
HYDRATION DRINK MIX
/$19.50 FOR 20 SERVINGS
This fruit-based drink
provides the energy you
need to perform.2 / BIKELANGELO RICKY
BOBBY STEM CAP /$15
A little motivation every
time you look down.ON THAT BIG JUMP3 / HANDUP SERAPE4 /5 /6 /GET THE RIGHT
GEAR FOR
GETTING SENDY
Finally get the guts to go for
it? Share it on social with the
hashtag #ChaseYourRisk,
and tag us for a chance to be#CHASEYOURRISK
30 BICYCLING.COM • ISSUE 1 | 2020