Albert Flynn DeSilver has been an obsessive mountain biker for over 30 years. He is a trail advocate and wilderness explorer. Albert is also an internationally published writer, speaker and teacher who has worked with thousands of kids as a California Poet in the Schools, served as a county Poet Laureate, and taught writing workshops throughout North America at places like the Esalen Institute, the Omega Institute, and the British Institute in Paris. He has given a TEDx talk and bombed spectacularly, and then dusted himself off to go on to host and share the stage with writer-luminaries like Elizabeth Gilbert, Cheryl Strayed, Maxine Hong Kingston and many others. Albert writes, rides and resides in Northern California.
We talk about:
Reaching a transcendent state on a bike [6:03]
The taboo of ecstasy [9:33]
Moving meditation [12:45]
How family history/upbringing can inform our practice [14:27]
Using mtb to check in or check out [20:12]
The art of mountain biking [24:36]
The demand of mtb to pay attention [28:20]
The social component of the sport [32:30]
Grief on the trail [37:42]
Dancing and doodling [44:09]
Referenced in this episode:
Singletrack Mind by Albert Flynn DeSilver
Writing as a Path to Awakening, also by Albert
“Miracles” by Walt Whitman
We also referenced this episode with Melissa Gill
Let’s connect!
Book a lesson with SimplyMTB or work with Danielle’s project-based growth model at You Need a Thing. Please don’t forget to rate, subscribe, and share this if it resonates!
24. The Art of Mountain Biking w/ Albert Flynn DeSilver