On a sunny day I took my bike for a ride to Jubilaeumskreuz. A woman, sitting at the only bench in the sun, was enjoying the marvelous view .
She invited me to sit down and we had a nice chat. To my surprise she was 85 years old. She told me, that she had taken care of her sick husband for 9 years, a time when she hadn’t had the chance to walk as much as she had during their marriage. After his death she soon started hiking again and has never stopped since.
After a while I was ready to leave to take the trail down to the parking lot. “Have a safe ride”, she wished me, twice. That was slightly irritating to me.
I had ridden the trail already a few times. I knew, I could do it rather well. Although the last turn was always a challenge for me.
Upon arriving at this very turn, I realized that rain had washed out the soil between the roots quite a lot. I stopped, as I had to think about a new way to make it through the turn based on the new conditions. While standing at the edge of trail, I saw a man coming down the trail quite fast. He seemed to be a very good rider and made this turn quite easily.
Carefully watching which line he took, I decided to take a similar one.
Taking the last turn was not easy on this day. The woman’s wish “Have a safe ride” had made me think briefly what could possibly happen while mountain biking.
But in the end, I took a deep breath and then made the last turn decently.
At the parking lot I met the guy from the trail again. We had a short chat and I told him, that his riding was motivating for me.
He obviously liked the remark.
An 85 year old woman, hiking all by herself, was impressive
and a motivational boost for me at the same time.
Like the guy, who made it so easily through the last turn.