What it takes to climb a mountain on two wheels
This movie captures the essence of determination.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
“Saying this three times in the morning turns the mind on and gives it direction,” said Craig Manning, an Adjunct Professor of Performance Psychology at Brigham Young University, in a movie produced by Canyon a couple weeks ago.
I don’t know if there’s anybody who needs to hear this today, but just know you can do it. Whatever it is.
Brayden Bringhurst climbed The Whole Enchilada on a mountain bike recently and shot a movie that captured his journey from bottom to top.
I had always known of this trail, from reading different articles about it over the years. But it wasn’t until this movie that I got an idea of how monumental of a feat it is to climb. The trail, located in Moab, Utah, is almost universally descended. It’s 34.1 miles in length, and there is 7,400 feet of descent from a high alpine zone to redrock desert. It typically takes people up to 6 hours to descend, and there’s a shuttle service that takes riders up to the top everyday.
This movie is pretty cool. Set aside the melancholic music and somewhat lengthy diversions into Bringhurst’s childhood, the movie shows the true grit and determination this dude has. It sorta reminded me of Free Solo, minus the climbing doc’s compelling storytelling arc of Alex Honnold’s literal battle between life and death on the mountain.
Craig Manning shares some thoughts about what the mind does during challenges like this. And probably the most compelling part of the entire movie is not the end — when he finally makes it to the top, in the dark.
It’s about 41 minutes in, when Bringhurst clears The Snotch climb — a seemingly impossible wall of a climb. The dude had been training for months. Lifting, running, stretching, riding. And he had already attempted to climb this section before and failed.
At this point in the film, Bringhurst had decided to go back out a few weeks before ride day to clear it. Because, he said: “Once I get it … I got it. I can repeat this thing.”
It took him several attempts that afternoon, like around 30, but he did it.
Climbing the whole thing is a feat of mental and physical toughness. I applaud him, as we all should. But what I find most inspiring is his commitment to completing the goal that he set more than a year before accomplishing it.
And that moment on the Snotch captured the essence of determination.
See you Friday, cycopaths. Here’s to climbing up your mountain.
P.S. Don’t forget to send me your bikies! You can submit them to brazdill.25@gmail.com. Include the year, make and model of the bike and where + when in the world you were when you took it.