Lesson learned...

Hi All! Well, the training and racing schedule has been slightly derailed again. Nothing serious, but enough. After five and a half weeks of having my mountain bike in the shop for repair (that's another story in itself that I prefer not to talk about), I went and picked it up this last Tuesday and decided to take it for a quick one hour ride when I arrived home. Not a good idea! Considering the upset frame of mind I was in, I should of just went to the gym with my wife and called it a day.

I geared up, and rolled out of the garage with a plan to head a little ways up Discovery Hills, then back down and home. As I rode down the dirt walking path through Discvoery Hills neighborhood, I came upon a stream crossing that I've ridden through a few times prior. This time was slightly different seeing as how the stream was running deeper and faster now due to the recent rains we had not too long ago. I made the decision to ride through anyway. It wasn't the water that posed the problem, but rather the algae covered rocks that lay beneath the water that was the challenge. That, and a single large rock that lay above the water line on the opposite side of the stream.

Your bike will go where your eyes are looking. My eyes were glued to that large rock! I managed to wheelie the rock with the front tire, but the rear tire hit it, popped up, and as it came back down my left foot came unclipped from my pedal, effectively taking away my ability to drive forward. With all forward momentum halted, the fall was inevitable.

Unfortunately, the fall was in the direction of a piece of jagged concrete curb (why there's a piece of concrete curb by a stream???). I knew the fall couldn't be stopped, and I saw my head was headed for the concrete, so I threw my left arm out to take the blow. It did.

As I lie there, in a stinking, slimy algae covered daze, the first thought that almost all cyclists have after a crash entered my mind...how's my bike?! I gave the bike the once over, nothing wrong. Good news! Now me. Everything was moving ok. Good, no breaks. No noticeable pain, that's normal, numbness seems to go with crashing fortunately. As I picked myself and my bike up out of the stream (before anyone noticed), I saw blood dripping from my left arm. Crap!

Right in the middle of my left forearm, was a large, deep gash that had to of been a result of my arm hitting that concrete curb. It didn't look good. Game over, time to head home.

Long story short, (too late!), a trip to urgent care, and five stitches later, I sit here typing this. Not upset it happened, crashing is a part of cycling, but bummed that I won't be racing this Saturday, and even more bummed that the training has taken a detour, but not for long. The biggest change as a result of the crash is the fact that I've decided to sell the mountain bike.

What! Call me a wimp, quitter, whatever you want. I've decided that although I do like riding in the dirt, it does involve hitting the deck a lot more then riding on the road. At least in my case. It's funny how time erases bad memories. I've had three total rides on the new mountain bike, two which have ended in bloody crashes. I remember now why I hung up the fat tires and traded them in for skinny ones eight years ago. I've never had good balance.

All my life, my lack of balance, and bad feet (one of the causes of my bad balance), has kept me out of many sports. It wasn't until I came across road riding that I found a sport I was able to excel at. I started out on mountain bikes ten years ago, but always struggled with crashes, coming home bloody quite often. My technical skills weren't good, but what I did have was a good motor, and the ability to out ride my partners in distance. This is where the road bike came in to play. I thought, take out the rough terrain, and all you have left is your fitness as the obstacle. That I could do! Made the switch, and never looked back. Until recently. Enter the crashes. Lesson learned. Game over. Back to the road.

Sorry for the long post, but I needed to get that out. Hope all is well with you all! Until next time...