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by Scott Moore |


'I was in a state of nirvana and couldn't quite put my finger on how it came to be.'


For me, and probably for others - the best moments happen when you least expect them. Maybe it's the lack of anticipation or the lack of expectation that allows you to just exist within that moment in time.

It happened to me yesterday and it's an invigorating experience. Just like many other things in life - it's something that can't be forced and just has to organically happen.

No matter how many bad rides I've had, it's rides like yesterday that pour gasoline on the proverbial fire inside me.

A week or so ago, my friend Timmy lent me his Cannondale Scalpel SE - which if you're not familiar with it - is a XC bike that has been juiced a bit to accommodate an extra 20mm of travel. So you get that light XC feel but with some extra plushness. Skeptical about the additional travel and (TBH) Fox 32 (whaat no OCHO???) I didn't give it much attention for a week. However, yesterday I got a wild hair and decided to take it out on my backyard trail network.

After the first climb I felt like I was transported to another dimension. It didn't take me long to feel 'in the zone' absent of any thoughts other than what fork to take next. I could feel the trail underneath me as the suspension soaked in every bump, always feeling as if I was pedaling on a smooth plane even though the trail was rocky and rutted.

It was kind of surreal.


Was the suspension this good? I've ridden some top end bikes including the previous model Scalpel and I've never felt like this on a mountain bike. Was it the Floyd's of Leadville CBD hydration mix (lol)?

It seemed I had reached a state of flow, of zen, of what ever you want to call it. I wasn't anywhere special, just the same old trails I've looped hundreds of times but for some reason this time it was different. This time, instead of riding up a climb as hard as I could or rode from one side to another with some set goal - I just rode. It was more like dancing than riding. You don't dance to a song to see who can get to the end of the song first. You feel the music and move however it inspires you to move. In the same way I was moving along to the notes of the trail and being inspired by every rock, root, turn, berm and bridge that vibrated through the bike to me. It was transformative, it was refreshing, it was an experience I find trouble putting in words.

I hammed up the serotonin rush as long as the sun would let me and all the while had no desire to stop and even take a photo (sorry). Maybe it was selfish but then again maybe that's what this is all about - disconnecting from the stories, the snaps, and vicarious and reconnecting with the infinite, the natural, yourself.