The Bible

I have not failed to notice that the one standard requirement for a well stocked nightstand is a bible. This book is the one constant between hotel and motel rooms. It takes many different shapes, some are big and thick and hardcover, other smaller and paper back. They don't always have the same name or chapters but they are all called the bible. People read the contents of this book, recite parts of it back and try to abide their lives by it. It is with great pleasure that I can now say, my nightstand at home is no longer lacking. I now have my own bible to read last thing before I close my eyes and first thing when I open them. I can already recite many lines from it, and have random numbers memorized. I believe it is already getting dog eared from so much handling. My bible arrived in the mail last week.

The Leadville Trail 100 2010 Mountain Bike Race Bible

Now I am pretty sure that we won't see this particular bible version popping up in motel nightstands worldwide. I am also pretty sure that I am not the only person who is having bible study sessions with this book. Instead of the 10 commandments we follow the four 'H's'. 1- thou shall huff and puff because hypoxia is real at 10,000ft. 2- thou shall hydrate, relative humidity can be as low as 5% and you are going to lose fluid breathing (and since I will be breathing rapidly, I take that to mean I will lose fluid rapidly) 3- thou shalt be aware of hyponatremia (sure, that will be the only reason I am confused, blundering and experiencing severe muscle cramps) 4- thou shalt respect the mountain climate and the chance of  hypothermia (is this the part where we strip off our clothes and climb into a sleeping bag with another naked person -hhmm, not sure that should be in the bible;)) Hypoxia, Hydration, Hyponatremia, Hypothermia - wow sounds like a super duper good time!

Sir Edmund Hillary said "I believe that if you set out on an adventure and you're absolutely convinced you are going to be successful, why bother starting". I must be on the right path, I read this in the good book.