As the years roll on, so does Luc’s skill and fortitude. Watching him ride today was cool to observe how his experience has stacked up over the years. But I learned today that it wasn’t just his riding, it was his ability to keep a positive attitude in the face of challenges and adversity..
We might’ve been a little ambitious in our trip planning today, and somewhere around mile something-just-past-halfway, I was feeling a little tired and frustrated at the condition of the trail. I was tip toeing into that parental mindstate of “enacting the contingencies,” and the intense, high desert heat only exacerbated the situation. “If I’m feeling it, what’s he feeling?”
The trail just kept going and going, giving us bombed out sections and loose sand and rocks. Just as I was about to check in and give him some words of encouragement, I turned to hear him singing a song, looking up at me with a smile as if we were on a Sunday stroll through the park. We pulled over for a water break and tore into our second bag of Haribo gummies. After a couple minutes of looking over the map and getting our sugar fix, I looked him in the eyes, put my hand on his shoulder, and gave him the classic “son, I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
