i crashed my bike

it finally happened. i used to crash pretty much on the regular when i was mountain biking up in laurel. mostly from doing something stupid, not having enough momentum, failing to unclip, tryintg to wipe some sweat away from my eyes and crashing into a tree, etc. never anything really serious though. until recently i've managed to not crash this year (though i did have on interesting get-off). either i'm getting better at biking or i'm getting older and more conservative. honestly, it could be either one. anyway, here's a video of one my previous wrecks attempting to break the land speed record. it wasn't as bad as it looks.



saturday i went mountain biking at fountainhead regional park, down near the occoquan river. i'd have to say that of all the mountain bike trails i've ridden in the area, this one is the most difficult. it's about 25 minutes from my house and about five minutes after i left the house, i realized i had forgotten my gloves, all but guaranteeing i would wreck, and land palms down in some really sharp gravel, but it didn't feel like turning around. the trail pretty much kicked my ass. i had to get off and walk a bunch and it took me about an hour and half to do 7 miles, but i amazingly managed not to eat it.

until this morning, riding my bike to work on the nice paved bike paths down through alexandria. it rained last night but the paved sections of path were mostly dry. i came to a curve on one of the wooden bridges and thought to myself, i better slow down, and no sooner did i think that than the front wheel slid out and i was on my way to the ground. i came down on my right elbow, tumbled, hit my head (wearing a helmet thankfully), rolled over my back and came to a nice comfortable stop sitting down on the trail. i scraped up my elbow a bit, but other than that no damage to me and the bike was fine except the chain fell off. my camelbak however, did not fare quite so well. it basically popped like a big water balloon when i rolled over it. i stood up and two liters of water came gushing out.



anyway, it's good to have a little crash every now and then, if for no other reason than to get a little hurt, just to know you're still alive. i find a little crash can actually build confidence too, because, hey, that wasn't so bad, i can take a little more risk next time and if i crash, so what?