It was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas. I met my friends 
Adam and Jordan at the head of a mountain-biking trail. At the time, I had
no idea how much fun I was about to have.

 Adam and Jordan were late that afternoon, as friends often are. I sat there in 
my Toyota pickup wondering if maybe this was a mistake. I thought back to
when I had suggested this adventure: it had been the afternoon before, as I was 
walking to my truck with Adam. He was rambling about how bored he was,
whichwas not surprising. He is one of those guys that likes to be entertained, 
and this was Christmas break. There was not much to do in Austin, because
mostof the students had more sense than we did, and had gone home or were 
on vacation. I suggested that we go biking somewhere, thinking a good
workout on a bicycle would benefit us. (We were trying to get in shape because 
of our New Year's Resolutions, like everyone else does in early January.)The 
next day he called me and said to meet him just off of the Capitol of Texas 
Highway, at the Barton Creek Greenbelttrailhead. We were going to go 
mountain biking.

As I waited there, I began to lighten up a little. This could actually be fun. Just 
look at this weather! It was one of those afternoons that make even themost 
serious students go outside for a walk in the park in the spring. It was the kind 
of weather that you hope and pray to enjoy duringSpring Break, even though 
you never get it. (Kind of ironic, don't you think? It's like something you hear 
in an Alannis Morrisette song:eighty-three degree weather during the first 
week of January, rainy and cold during Spring Break·and trust me, somewhere, 
someone thinks that is funny :-) )

When they arrived we mounted up on our bikes. Never having experienced 
mountain biking before, I let them lead as we began pedaling down the trail
single-file. Less than 30 seconds after beginning, we encountered a series of 
very sharp turns. Since the ever-exuberant Adam was leading, we were all riding
way too fast.We all slammed on our brakes and tried to stay upright on the 
loose gravel surface of the trail. Adam and I made it, Jordandidn't. He fell 
off his bike and rolled into the woods. Adam yelled, "Jesus, Jordan, 30 seconds 
out and you already fell!" I just laughed. Thiswas already more fun than 
I hadenvisioned. Naturally competitive, I became determined not to fall.
  
After Jordan caught back up to us, we began biking in earnest. It was a very challenging trail, at least for beginners. We pedaled furiously,dodging trees 
and large rocks, picking our way over roots that crossed the trail. The roots 
reminded me of evil hands and arms reaching out from living treesto grab 
us like in some scary fairy tale. There were short uphill climbs where we each 
had to pull up violently on the front of the bike to "pop a wheelie,"and get the
bike over the ledges. There were fast and treacherous downhill portions, where 
if you went too fast, you lost control of the bike, but if youwent slower than the 
others you would be left alone with only your cowardly thoughts of regret for 
company. Our legs and lungswere burning; we got a great leg and 
cardiovascular workout that day.
  
Because none of us were in peak physical shape, we had to stop and rest often. 
While on one of these frequent breaks, I happened to glance to my right and
see a "jump." Though it was really just a sandy ledge that led into the dry creek 
bed, it was a nice four-foot drop from the ledge to the creek bed. We had totry it. 
Suddenly, I was apprehensive;this could really hurt! I had never jumped a 
bicyclebefore.
  
I nervously looked at the jump and asked myself, "Can I do this? Do I have 
thecourage to even try?"Adam, always the daredevil,chuckled and jumped 
it, landing his bicycle with ease. Jordan followed quickly after, landing his bike 
as well, though not as smoothly. They turned andlooked to see if I had followed;
I hadn't. They began calling out advice and jeering me, alert as always for any 
opportunity to get the best of me. Oh, don'tget the wrong idea, in their place 
I would have been doing the same. After all, that is the way we men show 
affection, throughgood-natured joking, friendly banter, and the occasional 
"momma" joke.

  Finally, I worked up the nerve to do it. I would have rather seriously injured 
myself than endured the thought that I was afraid totry. I pedaled lightly, 
tensed, and then as the bike began to rise through the air, something strange 
happened. 
  
Time came to an absolute standstill...
  
Wait, that's not quite right. Time was moving, but very, very slowly. I had time 
to think a thousand thoughts in a single second. I could have napped,showered 
andshaved in that instant. Whole school semesters passed. Saplings grew up 
andcollapsed of old age while I was in the air. Sunswere born and died in 
brilliant flashes of light, leaving ominous black holes.

As the bicycle's wheels touched the ground an eternity later, my body loosened. 
My knees absorbed the shock of the fall, thankfully keeping me fromcastrating 
myself on the cross bar of the bike. Somewhat relieved and already jubilant, a 
smile began to crawl across my face, then froze inplace. My glance found a 
large rock about a foot wide in my immediate path. Time still crawled slowly, 
but it no longer registered. Involuntarily, myhands gripped the brakes and 
squeezed forcefully, which was the worst possible action to take. If I hadn't 
touched the brakes, I might have madeit.
  
As it was, the front wheel locked up. I had time to think, "Oh shit·" and to quickly 
scan my friends' faces. Their expressions were already turningfrom 
amusementto concern. Unfortunately the front wheel locked up rightagainst 
the rock, immediately throwing all of my 170 lbs. forward. As I flewover the 
handle ofmy bike, I had time to see my worried friends starting to run towards 
me.

I was completely upside-down, with my feet flying straight above me. I 
instinctively tucked my head (which had a helmet on it, ofcourse), landing on 
my shoulders. As Jordan and Adam sprinted to my side, I couldn't help from 
laughing. Time caught back up to us as we all just stoodthere and literally 
shook with laughter, with them standing, and me still lying on the ground.
  
It was the funniest thing any of us had ever experienced. They were startled 
when I cut my laughter short and said, "That was awesome! Let's do it again!"
But they should have expected it.That is the way we work, and the way we live. 
Work hard, play hard. That is what brought ustogether, that attitude of trying 
anything once, and never being beaten for long. So we all tried it again, and we 
all landed the jump easily. Already boredagain, we took off further down the 
trail in search of more entertainment.

Somewhere on that trail, amidst the sweating, the cursing, (whenever we came 
to a difficult or "technical" portion of the trail) and thefriendly competition, I 
found myself that day. I know that sounds girlish and melodramatic, but it is 
the only words that describe the feeling ofpure joy and adrenaline that I felt. 
My eyes lit up, and my face mirrored the wide, ear-to-ear grins of my friends' 
faces. That was the first of many mountainbiking experiences. We all agreed 
afterwards, as we sat, fatigued, in Schlotzky's slurping fresh lemonade, that 
we had never felt more alive.