Robots Don't Sleep

Imagine one of the hardest activities you could possibly push yourself to do. Now, imagine that you’re having the time of your life while you’re doing it.

For the past two weeks on Friday, my company’s CEO has been inviting all the employees to a mountain biking ride on these trails around his house. The Huckabee Mansion, we call it. Anyway, I’ve gone on both of these biking adventures, and so far I have yet to be disappointed. I have to admit that it has been extraordinarily difficult, but at the same time, when I find myself at the top of this beautiful hill overlooking green valleys and the pacific ocean in the distance, I can’t help but feel like I’ve made it.

I’ve made it.

Allow me to explain. There are two distinct and extremely bi-polar aspects of mountain biking. The first is the hill climb – the hardest part. You’ve got to use every muscle in your lower half to push yourself up this steep incline while trying to keep your balance (which is extremely difficult at a very low speed). You find yourself at a point where you’re spinning your pedals furiously, only to find that you’re creeping ever-so-slightly up this hill. The end never seems to get any closer.

Now, I’ll admit that during both of these outings, I’ve reached a point in my climb where I’ve given up. My legs simply cannot push me any further and I am forced to dismount my bike and walk it up the remainder of the hill. I remember these moments not as failures but as learning opportunities. I know there’s been plenty of times in my short career as a developer where I’ve reached a point when it seems like I can’t go any further. I mean, I didn’t have the strength to make it up this hill, so why try going over the next?

The truth is that with every hill you don’t make it up, there will be a time when you can try again.

The second aspect of mountain biking is an extreme polar opposite to the first – the downhill cruise. This requires no physical effort from the biker other than quick thinking and fast reflexes. Don’t get me wrong, there seems to be some strategy to this, but I haven’t seemed to figure it out quite yet. Honestly though, I can’t come up with anything to compare this experience to. Your adrenaline is pumping, you’re exhausted from exerting yourself to your full potential to get to the summit, and now you’re trying your hardest not to offset your balance or lose control. Of course, this would most likely mean that you would fly over your handlebars and roll down a steep decline lined with rocks and brush.

In my opinion, this is the best part. However, I can’t help but hang on to the brakes for dear life and take the fall slowly. Hopefully that means I won’t lose control, smash into a rock, and die. However, I like to imagine letting go of the brakes one of these times and riding out the decline straight to the bottom, without a scratch on me.

I can only hope to be so lucky.