Survival Instincts of a Mountain Biker
Two roads diverged upon slick rock
And Tom knew gravity governed both.
Having once fallen, he took cool stock
To choose the road that would cause less shock,
Less likely to wrench from him an oath;
Then took the left fork, with red rock bare,
And having perhaps the better grip,
Because it was solid and had less wear;
There were no sand or pebbles there
To cause bicycle tires to slip.
Adrenaline junkie though he was,
Tom did not want his head to crack,
So into his helmet he stuffed some gauze
And avoided ruts in the rocks because
He valued the vertebrae of his back.
So now I tell you how Tom Wright traveled,
Showing a lot of his good sense:
Of two bike paths, one of them unraveled—
But Tom took the path less graveled,
And that has made all the difference.
- Dick Hacken, 2015
with apologies to Robert Frost