“You’re just going to have to go for it, man,” Casey shouted through his helmet.

Sage words from our trail guide for the day, Casey Conte, about how to tackle the huge, almost vertical boulder about 10 feet ahead of me on the trail. My bike was already pointed up at what seemed like a 40-degree angle as I glanced over at Casey’s brother, Jesse, who was off to the side of the trail looking for another way around said boulder. He gave me a slow shake of the head. I knew the longer I hesitated, the worse it would be, so I eased out the clutch on my borrowed bike, put my trust in the bib tubes, and gassed it up the face of the big rock.