Mountain Bike Story Starter: Paying Attention
Image by © LuckyBusiness from Getty Images via Canva.com
Mountain biking isn’t my sport, but it is part of how many people experience the PA Wilds. Trails wind through the forest, riders arrive with bikes strapped to their cars, and conversations about favorite routes and challenging sections surface again and again. It’s a way of moving through the landscape that asks for focus and care.
When I was creating illustrations for the PA Wilds Collaborative Series, I chose to include a mountain bike image for that reason. The drawing is based on a photograph taken by Jeremy Bickling of Stratos Media on the Jakes Rocks trail system in Warren County. The trail system is an asset to the region, often spoken of with admiration by those who ride it.
What pulled me in wasn’t the possibility of speed or thoughts of the skill required to maneuver the trail, but the carefully crafted plank bridge.
Left: Mountain Bike postcard Right: Drawing detail
That small span of lumber, tucked into the forest, made me think about the thought and effort behind places like this and the people who design, build, and maintain trails so others can move through them safely and thoughtfully. These moments in the Wilds don’t happen by accident; they’re shaped with intention.
And it’s right there, at that point where the trail narrows and attention sharpens, that this Story Starter begins.
Prompt Excerpt
...Around the bend was the stretch where people slowed, not because the trail was dangerous, but because it asked for attention. A moment to steady yourself. A moment to decide how you wanted to move forward...
Will your story keep to the trail?
Or wonder somewhere completely different?
Download your “Mountain Bike Story Starter: Paying Attention” printable here.
In Flow
This Mountain Bike Story Starter is designed as an invitation, not a finished tale. The downloadable PDF includes the full prompt along with a set of image-inspired companion questions — meant to spark storytelling, imagination, and outdoor curiosity for individuals, families, or groups.
This piece is part three of Tell Me a Wilds Story, a six-week series inspired by images from the PA Wilds Collaborative Series Postcard | Greeting Card collection. New Story Starters are being released weekly throughout January and early February.
From rugged trail systems to quiet forest paths, the PA Wilds offers countless ways to move through the landscape, each has its own stories waiting to unfold.
Learn more about the Trails at Jakes Rocks here.