How’s That Resolution Going?

Here we are, with you holding the March/April issue of the Southern Utah Health & Wellness Magazine in your hopefully trail-roughened, mountain-bike-handlebar-holding hands. Hands that followed your New Year’s resolution to ride your bike way more this year. Hands that have curled around grips, pulled brake levers, and clicked shifters countless times. Hands that pushed and pulled the bars to coax your bike over the myriad rock problems our trails afford or swung your bars side to side through swooping corners, leaning the bike over to really dig those tires into the dirt.

If those are your hands and you are indeed on track to do more miles this year, then give yourself a big pat on the back for me!

But statistically speaking, that festivity-blurred, midnight resolution you made on New Year’s Eve to really get out and turn some pedals this year is long forgotten—it was several months ago, after all—and a large number of those who resolve to do better in the coming year have already reverted to their old ways. I’m not judging; life happens.

Let’s be honest. That festivity-blurred night of fun on December thirty-first can be a hard one to bounce back from. The resolution you made may have to wait a day or two while you recover. Or maybe it will have to wait until next weekend—except the leaves need raking. And the weekend after that? Too cold.

By February, the reasons not to be resolute are numerous and easily called upon when the phone rings with a request for your presence on a group ride up Stucki Springs and down Flow Master to Navajo Drive (even the names make it sound like fun!). But there you sit, eating bonbons in front of the TV.

Sorry. That was rather judgmental of me. You might not even like bonbons! You probably have some legitimate reasons for not going on that super-fun trek into the hills, breathing the fresh air, and sweating the good sweat with your riding pals. You do have a good reason, right?

I’m writing this article in mid-January, but with my magic crystal ball, I can see that in the present March/April of you reading this, the weather is fantastic. (It’s actually pretty fantastic here in January also, so what was your excuse? Again, not judging.) You have a beautiful spring day—full of sunshine, chirping birds, and singletrack that weaves itself over hills with rushing descents on the other side, washes that snake along in grand serpentine twists, and rocky sections full of self-esteem-building puzzles for you to solve.

Why not get out and ride? There will always be things that need to be done, but don’t forget that one of those things is improving your mental and physical health while boogieing down some flowy trails!

What I’m really saying here is, it’s not too late to kick in your resolution. The weather is right, the days longer, the singletrack enticing. Did you make resolutions your body can’t keep? Then tone them down a bit. Instead of feeling like you blew it because you haven’t hit all your marks, re-resolute—because some riding is better than no riding.

Maybe your resolution could be rewritten simply to do good things for yourself, and riding your bike is one of the best things you can do. Find the time, get out, and do it. You’ll be happier when the next New Year’s Eve comes around.