STONE
You learn things on a seven-day bike tour across the Scottish Highlands with a bunch of old BMX pros. You learn, for example, that your friends might not always prioritise your personal safety.
As you straddle your burly adventure bike at the precipice of a steep, rock-strewn descent, covered in rainslickened moss, your friend will yell, “Ride it!” Another will encourage, “Yeah!” A third will photograph it.
The words of your wife – ‘Don’t do anything stupid’ – run through your head. You push hard with your right leg, throw your ass back over your saddle, and go.
At the bottom, you’ll turn to your friend, the photographer, and say, “Did you get it?”
Sometimes the stones we find are between our own ears. But for the first two…
