Welcome to SIMBS' latest feature. This little blurb is going to be a regular fixture here, and I am only going to say this once: what you'll read in this column is just my opinion. Not everything that I'll write in here will necessarily jive with everything that SIMBS represents. I have lots of crazy ideas, and by all means, write my ranting off as the words of a mad man! Those of you who call yourselves mountain bikers; I want you to take a moment and think about something.

Imagine yourself as a middle-aged, upwardly mobile, non-cyclist. Got the picture? A little overweight, sedentary, maybe you play golf on the weekends. Your 2.5 children go to private school; you work lots outside of work. You have a very tiny recreation time, which rarely gets you into a lather. Sex may be your only outlet for a workout, and only then with the help of Viagra, and infrequently. You start to wonder if your values were ever of you own choosing. You flowed right along with the system. As you sit in your cubicle, or maybe even your very own office, you overhear the secretaries nearby discussing the beautiful shape of the bicycle courier's posterior. You wonder why someone would want to do a job like that- so dangerous and scary, but strangely alluring. You get to thinking about your own flabby buttocks. You get to thinking that maybe it was time to get the hell off of them for once. As you wheel your brand new bike out of the local shop, you think to yourself; "This is a new day". You start to meet other people just like you, who have taken up commuting, but the 25 pounds you've lost makes it difficult to ride slow, and the city is getting tired- you want FRESH AIR. Real air, the kind you find outside the city. Besides, your limits increase with every ride. Before long, you leave the security of the Galloping Goose, and find yourself in Thetis Lake Park. As soon as those tyres hit dirt, you have evolved, and that evolution will not cease, unless you quit, but most people don't.

Some of us had the good fortune to always have ridden bicycles. Maybe we grew up in the sticks, or just never took to cars. A lot of people gave up bicycles when they got their license. However, a good number of them are rediscovering THE RIDE. They are actively pursuing freedom of the two- wheeled variety. I just want you all to know that I know you're out there. I understand a lot of the reasons why you took this craziness up. I salute you people, I am gladdened by your efforts, and I look forward to meeting you on the trail someday.