Things We Will Do

On Saturday I called up Boone and asked if he wanted to go mountain biking. Of course he did. I printed off a map to a pretty out-of-the-way and lesser-traveled trail and picked him up, and off we went.

I got a new fork for my bike, switching out the old 80mm SID Race for a burlier 100mm Reba RL, so I was pretty excited to try it out. Improved bike, new trail, lots of excitement… right? Well, it doesn’t work like that. We were on strange trails with no idea where we were going. Strange trails that twisted and turned more than a pissed off snake. And my fork just proved too much for me. I couldn’t get in the groove. I couldn’t ride fast. That was sad.

But what really got me was I lost my sunglasses. I took them off when we were in the deep woods, and later when we were in an exposed area I went to put them back on. They were gone. I really became a brat about it, trying to not only find the trails we’d ridden (almost impossible) but the glasses which could be anywhere. I pouted and I might have even cried. You see, I broke the piggy bank to get my new fork, and new sunglasses just weren’t on the horizon. We went home a little discouraged with the day. But we both know that not every mountain bike ride is 100% epic awesome. The truth is, sometimes a mountain bike ride will just suck. Saturday sucked.

So what was there to to but take advantage of Sunday? I woke up early, packed up, and headed back to the same spot. I rode the same trails over and over, stopping to scour suspect areas. I was alone in the woods with several large, curious deer. I could hear them coming while I scoured the grass, plantain, and nettles for my glasses, and I’d warn them away with a thwack of my big walking stick. It was colder than Saturday, and damp, but so quiet and beautiful. I gave up looking after a couple hours and just decided to ride. There was an adjustment I knew I needed to make on my bike (move the saddle forward a bit to compensate for the new geometry of the longer fork) and I kept thinking I’d stop at the next hilltop to do it. Next hilltop. But then I kept finding new and more fun trails.

SLAM.

Oops. Shoulder-checked a huge tree. I laid out for a while on the pine needle forest bed considering the possibility of a broken clavicle. It stung, and the stinging rang through my whole chest, taking the breath out of me. My usual modus operandi, no matter how bad the injury, is to ignore it for a while and then complain a whole bunch later. So I made the saddle adjustment, got on my bike and got out of the woods, painfully. The bike rode perfectly, the devil.

Here’s the complaining. Ow, it hurts! That’s the abrasion on my shoulder a day out. Doesn’t look like much but I’m pretty sure it’s a minor shoulder separation. Lots of popping, cracking, and discomfort. But it’s nothing, really. I’m just glad it’s on my left side this time! Last year I tore my right elbow UCL (crippling) and broke my right foot. I’m right handed and use my right foot for pedaling (everything – bikes, sewing machines, cars) so that sucked!

It was a bummer leaving the woods injured and without my sunglasses. I took my time changing into clothes in the parking area. Meanwhile a fella came down off the trail. I struck up conversation with him because I was just really curious about the trail system (that’s a whole ‘nother story – really fascinating trail system). It turns out he was up there to do some quick trail work to remove a log he feared other riders would turn into a trail feature. While he was up there he found my sunglasses. Aha! Amazing! Happiness! Completion! Sneaky little sunglasses.

No weekend is complete without finding what you’ve lost, and a little biking injury. Or as they say, “You win some, you lose some.”