I’m pretty against the whole “bucket list” thing. Mostly because I already lie awake most nights obsessing about the life I’ve wasted and its inevitable demise, I don’t need to add in a list of unattainable things I want to do before I die to all that self loathing and mental drama. I prefer just to say “yeah, it would be neat to do that.”
Case in point: The Sudety Mountain Bike Challenge. This is a race that I think would be really “neat to do.” I’ve talked about it before here and on the late xxcmag.com but that won’t stop me from briefly doing so again.
Polish, Slovak and Czech folk are what I often jokingly refer to as “my people.” Everyone I am related to, and almost everyone I grew up with, back in Western Pennsylvania has a bit of bohunk in them (I use the term “bohunk” proudly and in the most awesome form of the word, so no complaints please). I suppose that, combined with my love of mountain biking, is why I have a slight obsession with the race (and a few others that take place in throughout Europe). There’s just something about the idea of racing my bike through the mountains of Poland and the Czech Republic that seems incredibly fun and badass to me.
As much as I dig the idea of doing races like The Sudety Mountain Bike Challenge and consider it on my list of things that would be “neat to do,” without finding some shred of the fitness I once had, winning the lottery and learning some of the local languages, I doubt I ever will. That’s fine, there are plenty of other things that would be “neat to do” out there, some of which I will highlight here on The Soiled Chamois in the future.
Plus, why obsess about doing the race, when I can just watch this badass video by BURGproduction.cz. Take a look…