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September, 2006
High Terrain, High Maintenance
By Deb Moulton
It is always a challenge to get friends interested in Mountain biking. One of my first endeavors was to get my best friend Carrie interested.
Quick introduction. Carrie and I are about as opposite as two friends can be. She is drop-dead gorgeous, heads turn when she walks by: 5'6", long legs, great figure, dresses to the nines. A girly girl.
Me, 5'3", skinny, no talent for dressing, In fact most the time I look like I just came off the trail. She and I met running a 5K, in Rexburg, Idaho. She came in first, I was second. We have been running together now for over 15 years.
Any way, I talked Carrie into trying mountain biking, a new sport I had taken up with some guys I knew from work, and, yes, they would love to get us interested in mountain biking. There were just had a couple rules: 1. We only wait 10 min from the agreed upon time and place, and then we leave. 2. What is said on the trail and in the van stays on the trail (Van rules).
We are meeting at Chris's house, which is just a few houses down from her place.
She agrees to go.
First she is running late. I tell her I will meet her at Chris's and try to get them to wait. I run the 300 feet down the street and let the guys know it will just be couple more minutes. Please wait. So we are sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for her to step out of her house. We see her and yell for her to hurry up. She walks down her front sidewalk and gets into her car and drives the 300 feet. Tony, Chris, Darrel and I are slightly stunned and I can still hear Tony saying "is she driving?"
She arrives, steps out of her car carrying a small suitcase, which is full of lotion, hairspray and other things girly girls carry around. The guys, of course, don't care too much as she is awfully pretty and charming, and help her get into the van which is loaded with all the bikes and gear.
We arrive about 30 min later at a roadside trailhead. Outside Ashton, Idaho.
We get out of the van and start unloading the equipment. Chris hands Carrie a helmet to put on and she says she does not want to wear one, as it will flatten her hair. There is a pregnant pause as Chris and myself digest that information. I have totally not seen any of this coming. I inform Carrie she has to wear a helmet. She cannot go if she doesn't. She finally agrees to wear the helmet and then refuses to hookup the chinstrap. I am pretty sure by now my new friends now are never going to let me come biking with them ever again. I explain to Carrie she has to wear the helmet and it has to stay on her head at all times which means the chin strap has to be hooked together. She does eventually agree as she is becoming aware everyone is waiting on her. I am thinking thank God Tony, Chris and Darrel, are patient and see the humor of the situation. I can hear the snickers behind me. Tony has chosen a ride that is primarily jeep roads and easy single track. There are some pretty good climbs, but we stop, rest and make sure every one (Carrie) is not too tired and having a good time. At one point we have stopped by the river and are admiring Chris's new polar fleece sweatshirt. It is very cool, and the envy of the group. Carrie is asking him about his shirt and he has his chest puffed out is having a great time informing her of all the benefits and really cool things about his new prize possession. Then Carrie turns to Tony and asks about his shirt and the fabric it is made of. He replies… wool, as it is a regular wool tailored shirt, and how he recently picked it up at the local Goodwill store. We finish the ride and arrive back at the van we are all smiling, loading up the equipment, except Carrie who has handed off her helmet to Chris and pulled out her small suitcase and proceeds to put pretty-smelling lotion all over the bare parts of her body. This has drawn Chris's attention. She then pulls out her hairbrush and continues to brush and fluff her hair. Spraying hair spray. Chris is still observing and Tony seems to have missed the ritual. He gives the signal the bikes are in the van and for all to climb in and we are ready to head home. As we begin to pull out onto the road, I notice Tony is sniffing the air, turning his head and sniffing some more. I hear him say, "Do I smell hair spray?" Chris and I are now giggling.
Tony starts to roll down his window saying, I do not think there has ever been hair spray in this van. Carrie's face has turned pink but there is a big smile on her face as well as everyone else's. We head home teasing her on the way.
That was about 6 years ago. Tony and Chris continued to invite Carrie and me on future mountain bike rides. We have become good friends. Carrie wears her helmet willingly, adjusting to the fact it will flatten her hair. And continues to bring her small suitcase, lotion, brushes and hairspray. It has become the norm.
Recently I moved back to Maine, finding another group to bike with. Carrie continues to bike with Tony and friends she has encouraged to start mountain biking.
The last set of mountain bike pictures I received from Carrie were from slick rock, Moab Utah. She and some of her other friends that she convinced to go mountain biking are mooning me from an outcropping of rocks looking out over the canyon. We are still best friends.
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