He is trolling you. And everyone who thinks like you. He has ridden that log ride, the one he just posted on social media, some three hundred times without so much as a wobble. Now he is enjoying a cold beer, relaxing, and you are screaming #STAYTHEFUCKHOME over and over again in your head or to your commiserates on the internet. Either way, it is not healthy for you or the choir. 

Yes, sure, he has crashed his bike hard before. Harder than hard. Knock the wind out, knock a tooth out, wide-eyed, cry-for-mommy, what-was-that‽ Hard! He knows how to take a hit. He has been to the emergency room a couple of times over decades in the woods and always from trying to reach another level of riding. Watch the video, he is tuned in and turned on.

People are still going to work with power tools and heavy equipment. Driving cars. Crossing the street. Chopping vegetables. Annoying their loved ones. And the vast majority of them are doing it with an abundance of extra caution and care. Either out of support for our front-line healthcare workers and fellow citizens, a raw self-interest (because they do not want to go to any hospital, even more than usual) or probably in most cases a happy combination of both.  

Some folks cannot ride their bikes without taking risks, hitting the dirt, and the real potential of visiting a doctor on every single trip into the woods. That is on them. I know a few people quietly choosing to park their bikes for as long as it takes out of an abundance of self-awareness and I absolutely applaud their choice. 

But that is not you. You are one of the most cautious riders I know. Have you ever even had stitches mountain biking? In the last five hundred times that you have ridden Fromme, have you had one real stack? More than a pedal bite on your shin? Have you ever once smoked a helmet hard enough to be concerned that it did not show the signs of the impact? 

Could something happen? Sure. Will something happen? Knowing you, it is much more likely you will crack your head open doing laundry or pour boiling water on your junk cooking pasta. 

Here is the thing. Plenty of folks who know more than me are saying the current situation is going to last at least twelve more weeks. Twelve more weeks. That is for three more months. That takes us into July. You are already losing the plot, after a few weeks, and I know you know it. It was easy to vehemently champion putting your passion for bikes on hold when you thought it was just going to be for a fortnight, right? 

Now I recognize the minefield that you have laid for yourself. You are on the record, seven times a day, that you are not going to ride your bike until Dr. Bonnie Henry gives BC the all-clear. And yes, yes I know that there is a lot of anxiety in your life these days and also yes, I recognize that mountain biking is not a cure-all. How about we try it anyway?

Can we talk? On mountain bikes. From two meters away, of course. I know you hate to ride alone, I am ready to go with you. I have my lights charged if you are worried about being seen by someone you know. I would not worry too much though, you will be far from alone in giving yourself an indulgence for the sins you are foisting on others. I will ride before dawn. I will ride after dusk. 

Text me.