Lessons in Character from Death Valley

Last week, one of my riding buddies and I headed out to Death Valley for a two day ride with a group we belong to: Sierra Nevada Adventures. On the way down from the Bay Area, he got a flat tire, and we gamely pulled over and attempted to repair it. In doing so, we were caught out by the infamous “pinching the tube” problem, meaning we spent three hours replacing the flat tire with – yes – another flat tire. We then resorted to what we should have done in the first place and had the bike towed to the nearest town where a professional could do the job right. I pushed on at 4:00 am the next morning, while my friend waited for the shop to open, which ultimately caused him to miss the entire first day of the ride.

No matter, this is adventure, right? After reconnecting in the desert town of Beatty, Nevada – we set off on Sunday morning with spirits renewed and ready to make the most of the weekend. However, two hours into what had thus far been a gorgeous tour of the Valley, my friend’s motor decided to call it quits. This time, there were no false illusions of roadside repairs. We limped into a tourist junction, where he had the bike towed (again!) to a town where he could rent a U-Haul and drive it back home. All said and done, he spent a pretty big chunk of change for a pretty small bit of fun.

I tell this story because it offers a lesson in character, or at least in one’s outlook on life. You see, if our roles had been reversed and my bike had had the problems, I would most likely have been boiling over in frustration, cursing the gods at my misfortune. But my friend took it all in stride. His attitude was, “things can always be worse”, and he even managed to smile at the absurdity of the situation.

How to account for such a disparity in perspective? Well, my friend has endured some major challenges in his life. He lost his wife to cancer a few years ago, and he himself is a cancer survivor. These are things he almost never talks about, not because he is in denial. but because he seems to have made a pact with himself not to dwell on the past and instead embrace the present and all the goodness life has to offer. In fact, it was this friend who coined the name of this blog as a reminder to himself how precious life is and how important it is to take advantage of the time that we have. And he does have very good things in his life: two great children, a nice home in the hills, money enough for two-wheel toys, and of course his motorcycle buddies 😉

For me, this star crossed weekend was a reminder that our attitudes are not so much formed by what happens to us but rather by how we choose to react to the adversities that life throws our way. A good lesson indeed.

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