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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - - Passion -
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wrecks, gnats, unexpected rain, new shoes and... (9 posts)
|  wrecks, gnats, unexpected rain, new shoes and... | phishin
Jul 12, 2002 7:20 AM | | Basically just a ride summary here. Good short ride though.
5:00, work is over. Time to diobey the speed limit for about 15 minutes so I can make up enough time to change a tube, lube up my chain, put my cleats on my new shoes and still make it to the trailhead at the designated time. Bout a 20 second burst of the pedros in a can and the chain is ready to go. Couple swings of the poorly designed topeak hummer tire levers and the tire is ready to go, blah blah shoes, blah blah cleats, blah blah bike is in the car.
Fast forward to the trailhead after a quick drive across town. Im a little late and find my riding buddies camping out in the shade right by the start of the first loop. I get out of the car and hear an irritating burst of laughter as my friends make fun of my new shoes. Yeah, yeah, they looked red online but they are actually day-glow orange (this is the brightest color known to man). So what if my feet glow orange, they will soon be covered in mud dirt and scuffs. Blah blah helmet, blah blah bike, and were off.
The first trail is scheduled to be a nasty tech climb that we all make about 50% of the time. I am the only one who doesnt make it today, is that an omen, naah. Make it or not It still makes for a good warm up before we delve into the technical 15 mph rocky madness. As we blast through the "madness" there is an unexpected wind from the east. Just enough for us to stop and think to outrselves, that was an odd burst of wind. Hey, it smells like rain, damn there's the thunder. The ride is screwed. No one is stupid enough to ride around in the trees with lightning overhead, so we turn around and start making our way up the trail that we just came down. Actually its a little up and a little down so...yeah, anyway. Were cruising along and I see (by the way I forgot my glasses, so my eyes are exposed) one of those swarms of gnats. I follow my reflex action of dipping my head so the gnats dont fly right into one of the openings on my face (i.e. eyes, mouth, nose). To late, one has already flown, to its death, into my eye. Hes not coming out without a fight either so I close my eye at about 12 mph and proceed to take the curve that is coming up. Depth perception is underrated. My wheel finds a baby tree stump about 4 inches wide which somehow stops my front wheel on a friggin dime. So I get converted into a one eyed orange footed superman. As Im flytiung through the air I look back and assess the damage . Aparently my bars have been twisted slightly to the left, the wheel is out of true, tire is flat, the dreailler needs slight adjustment and the rear tire is about 5psi low. Now its time to look for a landing area that is not littered with little pointy rocks. I pick a spot, put the landing gear down and gracefully land right on a sharp pointy rock. It hurts but its all worthwhile because, in the adrenalin rush I opened both my eyes which caused the gnat to be set free by the impact, kind of like a contact lens. I get back up, go over to my poor twisted ride and fix it up with my trusty tool. We got back to the cars just in time for it to start raining sideways on us.
Blah blah wet, blah blah aaahhhh, blah blah drive, blah blah shower, blah dinner, blah sleep, blah work, blah wheres my coffee.
blah blah,
- JB |
| Really blah write up............ | BrokenBones?
Jul 12, 2002 8:06 AM | | LOL I liked it. Good write up, sounds like our luck runs about the same. Have a good weekend
Rob |
| LOL! Damn gnats! | kristian
Jul 12, 2002 8:12 AM | | Then again, I'll bet he was pretty pissed when he got hit by a biker...
Great recap! |
| Dog peter gnats. | Kitchenware
Jul 12, 2002 8:24 AM | | or that's what the 'good 'ol boys' used to call them when I was working in KY.
jim |
| Blah, blah, blah, *giggle*. [nm] | Bikebreath
Jul 12, 2002 8:35 AM | | |
| the shoes blah... | phishin
Jul 12, 2002 9:07 AM | | Told you they are bright. I adjusted the color of the web pic to how they really look.
See... |
| Blah, blah, blah, "ouch, my eyes! | Bikebreath
Jul 12, 2002 9:53 AM | | |
| You can get a job.... | wreckless
Jul 12, 2002 10:27 AM | | with the highway dept. or maybe work at the airport with those things. You can even ride safely during hunting season. At least no one will steal them! Nice post, thanks. |
| re: wrecks, gnats, unexpected rain, new shoes and... | Dude
Jul 12, 2002 2:29 PM | | Oh that was a good post......But you are joking about those shoes?? Why on earth would you not send them back?? |
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