The late George Sheehan once said, "The person who descends from a mountain is not the same person who began the ascent." As an avid road bicyclist, these words ring true. I love nothing more than a long arduous climb up a mountain highway. I figure, anyone can ride down a mountain or on the flats, but it takes a special frame of mind to want to tackle a long steep climb.
I have enjoyed many fantastic climbs on my bike. Last year, as part of a century ride, I rode my bike up Mount Palomar before turning around for the second half of the ride. On the way back, at the 81 mile mark, stood the climb up the back side of Couser Canyon. This climb is only one mile; far less than the 12 mile climb up Palomar. However, after several hours in the saddle pedaling, and 9,000 feet of climbing, I was not sure I could complete the climb up the ten to eight teen percent grade. It took every bit of effort in me to make it to the top; an effort I did not know I possessed.
I love to ride from my house in Hemet up highway 74 through Mountain Center and Idyllwild before stopping at the peak in Pine Cove at 6,200 feet elevation. I rarely see another rider so I know I am doing something most people would never consider attempting.
Next month, I have the climb up Mount Diablo and then this summer I return to Lake Tahoe to tackle several passes in the area. With any luck, I will also get to return to Big Bear and ride to the top of Onyx Summit which is over 8,000 feet in altitude. These climbs are punishing but rewarding at the same time for, like George Sheehan says, I am never the same person on the way back down as I was when I started out.
However, these are not the only mountains worth climbing. I believe it is important for people to choose mountains to climb or risk having them selected for you. Setting a challenging goal should make a person feel alive and include some risk. The mountain can be professional or personal but should be challenging enough to cause you to celebrate upon successful ascension, or pause for self reflection upon failure. Too many people choose to avoid mountains for risk of failure. However, it was Edison who said he never felt like a failure when he created more than a thousand light bulbs that did not work. Instead, he claimed to have learned something new with each attempt.
The mountains we attempt in life are great preparation for the ones thrown at us. The mental resolve we develop by choosing to tackle mountains makes it possible for us to face mountainous events like job loss, illness, or the loss of a loved one. Four years ago, after a bike accident nearly killed me, I faced months and months of painful physical rehabilitation. I never asked for the accident but it was thrown at me anyway.
While in physical therapy one day, I bumped into a former colleague of mine. She could hardly turn her neck from the elective surgery she had a few years earlier. Later, my physical therapist told me she should have full use of her neck but she rarely came in for treatment. She was actually worse off than if she never had the surgery in the first place. She just couldn't get herself to climb the real mountain -- therapy and all its pain.
There is something to be said about being battle tested. Life is not always easy no matter how many mountains we manage to avoid. Sooner or later you have to scale some. It only makes sense to prepare yourself by selecting a few of your own challenging peaks before one is selected for you that you are unprepared to climb. For as George Sheehan also said, "Our lives must contain mountains or marathons or their equivalents or else we will not be sure if we have reached our potential."
