Why Triple Crown?

I wrote this in 2023, but it still feels relevant today.

Walking for breakfast, my dad asked, why does it have to be harder than last year? It’s quite a reasonable question. The question is simple and so is the answer: growth.

The whole recovery process is about growth. Putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to walk the path towards an ever changing destination. The first year, I rock climbed. I found my way back to something I had before all this. The next year, I did my first triple crown. That first one was so hard, I didn’t think I’d get through it. Less than halfway and my head was pounding. The next year, I came back stronger, with more calories, more water, and completed the biggest ride I’d ever done. This year, if all goes to plan, will be much larger than last.

So where does that end? There’s only three mountains to ride on the north shore. What do I do when I’ve completed the biggest possible triple crown I can plot out? Why triple crown at all?

I do it to remind myself that it’s a gift to be here. To remember how much that limit, that edge, has changed for me over each new year.

At three days, it was getting out of bed. Three weeks, walking with a walker. Three months, walking to the top of grouse. Three years, three north shore mountains. The edge moves every year. The day serves so many purposes. It’s not just to discover where the edge lies now, but to be grateful for all the experiences that led up to this one. None of this was guaranteed. Every single one of those edges took all my effort to find.

It’s important to remember that. Important to remember the immense gratitude I felt when I could shower for the first time. When I got to move my neck again. When I walked around the block, unassisted and experienced freedom in movement again. All these simple things that I do so many times a day now. They are all worth remembering.

I can think of no better way to remember those moments, than 12 hours spent spinning wheels in the place that makes me feel most alive. Most at home. Most at peace. Most grateful. To be here. To be able to spin at all. To be Alive.