Fat Tire Freedom: She’s Baaaack

Fat Tire Tuesday’s Sarah Hansing is riding amok again, and not containing herself to just Tuesdays either … 

Pfffffftttt …………

FART NOISE.

Because I am a grown up, I often make a fart sound with my mouth, followed by a declaration, to clarify what my intention is:  

“Fart noise!” I will proclaim.

Because I do this often, I think maybe it has become a bit more second nature than I would prefer. Which is to say: I don’t even realize I’m doing it sometimes.

This is not how an adult is supposed to act.

I am aware of this, because I am (by numbers) an adult. However, I would like to stand up and own the fact that this year. This month. And this particular STUPID MONDAY … I AM BAD AT ADULTING.

*spoiler alert: I am always bad at adulting.  It’s not just this Monday.

Look. It was a long, gray, gross, muddy wet winter. I was off the bike a lot. Like A LOT.  Like …  you wouldn’t even know by looking at me that I even OWNED a mountain bike. I stopped eating burritos. I started caring more about how my hair looked. I thought about joining a spin class.

I … I …

*sob*  

I … stopped … liking … IPA.    

Everything was terrible and nothing was OK,

AND I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHO I WAS ANYMORE.

Don’t Panic. Don’t Panic. Don’t Panic. (Not you. ME. I was repeating that mantra to MYSELF. Sheesh.)

…. PFFTTTT  FART NOISE …

And then the sun came out.

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. (Okay, fine. Everything was beautiful and Everything hurt. My apologies to Kurt Vonnegut.)

I pedaled. I pedaled slowly. I pedaled with a slight smirk (it won’t be an actual smile until mid-June, I suspect). I pedaled without self-loathing. I pedaled with pasty weak legs.

I pedaled with intention.

My intention was this:

Don’t stop.

Don’t stop looking at next week’s weather.

Don’t stop glancing wistfully at your bike.

Don’t stop geeking out.

Don’t stop making plans to ride with your friends… and then breaking them.

(It’s okay. Eventually, you will ride again.)

Don’t stop hoping.

Don’t stop being you.

Don’t stop riding.

Because you are rad.  

Because even without a bike you are rad.

Because you are you, and I am me, and the time is now and the dirt is hero and our bikes are calling.

Because everything can go from Fart Noise to Fun Noise in no time at all.

Happy spring / summer everyone, and welcome back. I missed me. I missed you. And I can’t wait to see you on the trails again!!

(But let’s all just do a pinky swear and agree to not turn Strava back on again for a month or two, okay?)

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Sarah Hansing is a 5-year veteran of the Westside of Santa Cruz, who lives with her amazing Australian partner in crime, as well as a little white cat (who is still a jerk). Sarah has been a bicycle mechanic coast to coast and back again for about 20 years, and has been pedaling them (and falling off of them) for even longer. Dirt is preferred, but road has been experimented with a few times … please don’t judge.

Currently she enjoys making the customers at Bike Station in Capitola, CA happy with her wit, whimsy and wrenches.