The Crash



The left Bar End does not seem to be positioned correctly - Just sayin'

 Sometimes it seems mother Earth just reaches up and grabs ya. 

Recently I was finishing an enjoyable ride through some of Duluth's finest trails when suddenly and without warning leaves were shooting into my face and my head was bouncing along the ground.

Approximately 4 minutes from my house I ducked into a little piece of trail that I love.  I've ridden this little 150 yard stretch of trail hundreds of times, yet this time things went very wrong.  Here's a little summary.

Why the crash happened from my perspective:

• Freshly changed tires pre-ride with quite possible too much air in them.
• 40 miles of hilly single track with zero calories (a little experiment).
• Last thought before the crash; "Let's see how well these tires will 'hook up' if I hit this sweeper with some speed".
• Sometimes I think I'm better than I am - clearly!

What the crash felt like through my mind and eyes:

• "Man, you're really flyin'.  Don't touch the breaks."
• (nano second of thought) "The front wheel is washing out.  The front wheel is seriously washing out!!  The front wheel is no longer effective!!!"
• "My head is bouncing off the ground like a tennis ball."
• "Leaves are shooting into my sun glasses."
• "Holy Crap!  A miniature ball peened hammer just slammed into my right shin!" (my right shin making contact with the little air nozzle thingy on the rear shock)
• "I hope my collar bone didn't break again."
• "Wow, I really skidded a long way."
• "I'm kinda hurt."

The aftermath:

• "My handle bars look funny.  Dang, they're backwards."
• "Oh My God, my left calf and right quad are cramping so bad I'm going to wet my bibs."
• "Walk it off, you're not going to the hospital."
• "My bar end is pointing to the sky."
• "My helmet is cracked."

The moral to the story is, be careful, you never know when you're mother's not happy with you.