Brews you can use

I think I’m finally healed from those darned wisdom teeth, and the double case of dry socket they led to. Not the most fun couple weeks of my life, but now I’m able to yawn without yelping, and eat sesame seed bagels without needing a follow-up cleaning (though I admit the reactions of co-workers walking into the bathroom while I’m sticking a huge syringe in my mouth were quite amusing).

So, of course it was time for some more pain.

I got an opportunity to take the Humu on an off-road ride. Answering (against my better judgment) an ALL CAPS POST ON AN INTERWEB FORUM, I showed up at Theo Wirth park at 7am today. One other person showed up early, and we went for a ride on the short loop. I climbed up OK if slowly, then the first small drop went over a rock, followed by a sharp turn to the right. I caught air off the rock, but didn’t quite catch ground in time to make the turn. My front wheel hit a downed tree, the bike flipped, I did a three-quarter somersault, and landed on my back on the forest floor about 8 feet away. The other rider was far ahead of me, and I heard “Are you OK? I saw you flying through the air and got worried.”

Surprisingly, that crash didn’t lead to any injuries. I landed on my back with an upturned branch poking me, but it was a short one and doesn’t seem to have even left a bruise. It did give me a heavy injection of trepidation though, and I walked down quite a few sketchier descents. No, the road rash was from an anticlimactic wipeout. A rock caught my rear tire and pushed the bike out from under me. I hit the dirt. I bled, end of story. But oh, what a pretty picture it left on my shin. I especially like how the ordinary abrasions are embellished by that elegant, serpentine flourish of a laceration to the right…

Having a rather sedentary life and generally safe sedentary hobbies, it’s nice to get out, play in the dirt, and bleed a bit. Almost as nice as getting out and playing in the dirt, without bleeding

After that, I stayed careful and remained upright. A couple other riders showed up, and we moved over to the main loop. The others left me with the advice “don’t turn left” (that’s where the more difficult sections are), and I wandered around the “maze of twisty little trails, all alike” enjoying myself thoroughly for another hour. About when I was ready to leave, I ran into the rest of the group and got directions out of the trails, headed back to the car, and into work, getting there just in time for a lovely 9am conference call.

Yeah, I’ll probably give this mountain biking thing another go sometime, after I’ve healed a bit…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Bike.