Be in the moment, in the right gear

The program devoted mornings to yoga and meditation, and afternoons to guided mountain biking through the Kingdom Trails, a network of scenic backwoods paths through the pristine woods of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom in East Burke. Though originally planned as a weeklong retreat, the pilot program was limited to a weekend, with 12 participants and three leaders.

The group arrived at Karm Chling on a Friday night. After dinner, we gathered in the summer pavilion, a recently renovated dairy barn, to introduce ourselves. Most participants were from the Boston area and either had some connection to the Boston Shambhala Center in Brookline or knew one of the group leaders through mountain biking.

The introductions drew a clear distinction. There were some serious mountain bikers and there were some serious meditators; except for the three leaders, no one could claim expertise in both. I was the only novice in both activities. Though I am an avid road cyclist, my days of mountain biking ended years ago when my bike was stolen from my South End apartment. And my days of meditation were even further away. After hearing about the program from Flynn while chatting about cycling at his bookstore, I decided the combination might be a good way to get back to both.

Katherine Adams of Brookline, who practices Buddhism at the Boston Shambhala Center, thought meditation might decrease some of the bragging that goes on in the mountain-biking community.

''Meditation encourages modesty," Adams said, ''so you don't have to hear everyone's one-up story at the end of every ride."