No Use To Cry About It

I dried my tears and started riding my bicycle again.  Our experience last week trying to become foster/adoptive parents left me with a broken heart and mixed emotions, emotions strong enough that I did not even want to ride.  I'm not one to give up easily on anything.  It's a strength and a weakness.  So, I am trying to comprehend that there are challenges and people that may be beyond my abilities.  That's a hard lesson for me, and Patty is helping me to learn it.  The bottom line is this:  The child we were working with will probably get residential treatment and Professional Parents.  Like most things in life, we may need more training.  For now we will keep Lupine safe and our family the way it is.

It's funny, but the theme of never giving up and needing more training went through my head for nearly six hours yesterday.  I rode the geared cyclocross bike from home to Blacksmith Fork Canyon to Left Hand Fork all the way to the Bear Lake Summit.  I survived.  I hiked several miles, broke a spoke, tried to share the road/trail with hundreds of motorized recreation assholes (I'm not kidding about their numbers or demeanor), and ran out of food and water.  Left Hand Fork turned into a rock-boulder strewn hike after Herd Hollow (who knew).  I did know that it was Labor Day weekend and the mountains would be slap full of people and their machines.  I did the route anyway.  Stupid.  The good news is that I'm just a little bit physically stronger than I am stupid.  I don't give up easily on anything.

I do need to say a few things about ATVs, RVs, motorcycles, diesel trucks, toy haulers, and motor homes.  This is my blog.  These are my opinions.  So, Vickie, and anyone else who has anything to do with this type of motorized recreation, stop reading now.  Did you stop?  You were warned.  There were thousands of people in the mountains yesterday, all driving things with motors.  I only saw one person other than myself using their muscles to propel themselves.  He was six years old.  On more than a dozen occasions yesterday my life was endangered.  Riding far to the right, people in trucks, jeeps, and ATVs continually took their half of the road from my side, and without slowing down headed right for me.  I think motorized recreation is unhealthy and unethical.  Our public lands are being over-run and abused.  Quiet self-propelled recreation has become impossible.  In general, people who drive big diesel trucks, motor homes, ATVs, and motorcycles on public lands are selfish, self-righteous, oblivious, polluting, unthinking, natural resource-destroying, shortsighted, carbon-spewing assholes.  There.  I've said it.  What will they do when the fossil fuel is gone?  They may have to learn to walk again.