Busted Lip/Fighter Pilot Ride
Wednesday's night ride was pretty good. Sean and I met with the dogs at the Harmony Hill lot. We planned to do a bunch of intertwining loops (insures we don't have to cross too many roads with the dogs), while the rest of the group rode all over creation.
The ground was frozen and fast. The temps nice in the mid twenties.
Sean put together a nice set of loops that I never would have thought of - he's done this a few times solo with his dog.
Riding along at some point something got caught in my rear wheel and through me over the bars into an embankment. It happened so fast and unexpectedly my face hit the cold hard ground before I could get an arm up. My lip was busted and swelling in three places. My chin was bleeding and shin throbbing. Good thing it was cold. That would keep the swelling to a minimum. We rode on.
This was the first time I'd ridden with Sean and Yoshi while Sean was leading. It's a whole different dynamic when you're riding behind a dog. I guess it's a little like following a kid - unpredictable - but the dog has the fitness to keep up.
A little while later I got caught in a rut hidden by some leaves and slid down on my side hard. As I was careening into the frozen dirt and rocks, I was headed straight for a tree. This time I did get my hand up before my face, but my glove caught on the bark and pulled off my hand as I slid by. Took a minute to walk it off, then we were riding again.
On our final loop to the bottom and back to climb up Vietnam (old trail name), we ran into the rest of the group. Now all of us were switchbacking up the hillside with the dogs overly excited and running between us all. It was a beautiful chaos - everyone climbing, working and enjoying the night time trails.
Though I fell hard a couple of times, it was the best ride I'd had in a while. I felt pretty well in control of the bike and the trails - at least to the point where I could enjoy it. There's certainly room to improve.
I should make an effort to get out again while I'm off.
- b
ps. Mt. Washington observations/commentary is up here.
pps. Though the cold night air felt good against my busted lip(s), the hot wings and beer at the bar did not.
The ground was frozen and fast. The temps nice in the mid twenties.
Sean put together a nice set of loops that I never would have thought of - he's done this a few times solo with his dog.
Riding along at some point something got caught in my rear wheel and through me over the bars into an embankment. It happened so fast and unexpectedly my face hit the cold hard ground before I could get an arm up. My lip was busted and swelling in three places. My chin was bleeding and shin throbbing. Good thing it was cold. That would keep the swelling to a minimum. We rode on.
This was the first time I'd ridden with Sean and Yoshi while Sean was leading. It's a whole different dynamic when you're riding behind a dog. I guess it's a little like following a kid - unpredictable - but the dog has the fitness to keep up.
A little while later I got caught in a rut hidden by some leaves and slid down on my side hard. As I was careening into the frozen dirt and rocks, I was headed straight for a tree. This time I did get my hand up before my face, but my glove caught on the bark and pulled off my hand as I slid by. Took a minute to walk it off, then we were riding again.
On our final loop to the bottom and back to climb up Vietnam (old trail name), we ran into the rest of the group. Now all of us were switchbacking up the hillside with the dogs overly excited and running between us all. It was a beautiful chaos - everyone climbing, working and enjoying the night time trails.
Though I fell hard a couple of times, it was the best ride I'd had in a while. I felt pretty well in control of the bike and the trails - at least to the point where I could enjoy it. There's certainly room to improve.
I should make an effort to get out again while I'm off.
- b
ps. Mt. Washington observations/commentary is up here.
pps. Though the cold night air felt good against my busted lip(s), the hot wings and beer at the bar did not.
posted by JenBob at
8:21 AM
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