Rubber Side Down?

... I KNEW I was forgetting something today when I went for a bike ride. It was a hot one on Sunday and I had already been riding with a buddy for an hour or so. But he took off and I decided I'd go for another 30 minutes to get a final burn in.

I rode up this hill to go check out a circuit I've been thinking of proposing holding a small crit style race on. The course has a solid uphill portion where you can get the HR up, but it's not too bad, then drops down into a long gradual descent. I softened up the suspension about as far as it would go as I came over the final rise and just let her go. I was having a blast flying down the trail when the trail had a bend to the right. It was a pretty smooth trail though covered in loose top soil. I probably entered the bend at about 35 mph.

I exited significantly slower, and was 0 mph for a while.



I managed to earn my first case of solid road rash, ironically, not on the road. A nice 4x4 patch on my right hip, a snapped front brake lever after the bars spun 360 degrees, and the bars were pushed waaay off center. A fun 5 minute cruise to the car (thankfully the bike was rideable and I was ok other than a slight stun) and I'm on way home with a kit that's got a few holes and blood starting to soak through.

Shower, gauze, tape and I think I'm patched up. We'll see what tomorrow morning is like.