About 10 years ago I started going on long mountain biking expeditions.
I have a thirst for adrenaline and used to skateboards across the city while I was in high school.
Nowadays I’d rather be out in nature, so I bought a mountain bike on a whim several years ago. The first trip out was extremely fun, and I immediately became obsessed with mountain bike expeditions. I don’t live in the Rocky or Appalachian mountains, but we have large hills in the rural outskirts of the city. Many of these large hills have parks with miles of mountain bike trails. Whenever I was not busy at work, I put my bike in the back of my car and hit the trails for hours at a time. I did this for years without sustaining any serious injuries. Sure, I fell from my bike on numerous occasions, but it never resulted in broken bones or torn ligaments. Usually the worst injury I got on the trails was scuffed or bruised skin. But after I flipped over my handle bars last month and rolled down a hill, I ended up with a serious knee injury. Unfortunately, my job was in HVAC and now I can’t support myself on a ladder and I don’t know how long it will take to recover fully. I have no choice but to find a job outside of the heating and cooling industry. It’s terrible because being an HVAC technician gave me a sense of pride and a steady income. Now I’m trying to heal while desperately looking for entry level work in some kind job field that lets me work remotely. My savings from my HVAC job aren’t going to last for much longer.