A Walk in the Woods

There is nothing quit like watching a good mountain biker rip through technical terrain, rail a corner or muscle up a steep climb. These riders appear as if they are floating over the terrain and not feeling any of the pain that is often times a major part of mountain biking. Let me state this loud and clear, I am NOT one of those riders. I don't know if I ever will be, someday I hope to come close, but as of right now I am not.

I am more of what you might consider a "Bull in a China Shop" style rider. I tend to point my front wheel at obstacles and try to muscle my way through. I don't pick out the cleanest lines and I definitely don't float over anything. While fun, this style of riding often comes with the occasional crash. Okay, occasional, might be an understatement. I crash a lot, in fact it is one aspect of mountain biking that I can probably claim to be an expert at. I crash on downhills, in technical terrain, on flat corners and somehow even going uphill I manage to eat dirt.

Case in point. I went out this past Thursday on a night ride in preparation for next weekends Salsa Two-Four Mountain Bike Race at Afton Alps. It was my first night ride of the year and everything was going great. My lights were working great, my legs felt good and dare I say I "felt" fast. I ripped through the Beginner and Intermediate sections of Murphy-Hanrehan and headed up the short but semi steep climb that leads into the Expert loop of Murphy. I powered up and over the small rock garden without any problems. Thirty seconds later I had the all too familiar taste of dirt in my mouth. I still have no idea what happened. I was riding well, the climb wasn't affecting me too badly, I hadn't hit a rock and been bounced, but somehow I was lying face down in the trail and my bike was behind me upside down balancing on the saddle and handlebars.

No big deal I thought, this is nothing new. I have been here many times before. I got up, flipped the bike over and then realized my night was over. This is what my front rim looked like after my latest crash.




Not only was my night of riding abruptly cut short, but I had a solid 2.5 mile hike to get back to the car. All the while pushing my bike listening to the front rim bounce between the right and left fork leg.

Needless to say this is not the ride I wanted before the most grueling event of my bike season. I am hoping to get out on another night ride tomorrow to try and dial everything in. With any luck I will keep the rubber side down this time...