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?

where's my yellow jersey?

View Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail in a larger map

sunday morning i left the house on my bike and told laura i'd be back in a few hours. 7 hours later, i came back. i rode the washington & old dominion railroad trail end-to-end. the map above is the gps track from my ride. it starts right across the street from our house in shirlington and ends in purceville, west of leesburg. the trail is just shy of 90 miles round trip. it took me about 6:45 of actual riding time and about a 30 minute break when i got to the far end out in purceville, va, where i pounded about 3 gatorades and two cliff bars before heading back to town. i averaged about 13.6mph round trip (again, not including stops). garmin says i burned about 5800 calories. suprisingly, my legs are not nearly as sore as i had expected, but i'm going to have to see how they are tomorrow. anyone wanna go with me next time?

random posts

* i have been trying to refinance our houses. rates are extraordinarily low, with 30 year fixed mortgages at about 4.875%. i've found that closing costs are generally more than i'd like to pay, and for some reason i have to pay local taxes when i refinance. i'm not entirely sure what i'm paying taxes on though. i'm having a hell of a time getting anyone to call me back. it appears that no one is interested in my business. one of the existing mortgages is with suntrust, so i thought i would just call them and see if i could renegotiate the interest rate without refinancing. i called them yesterday at 9:30am. i waited on hold for FOUR hours, at which point they stop playing soothing music and assuring you that your call is important to them. i left the office with the phone off the hook on speakerphone around 4:30pm, still on hold. when i came in this morning, i was still on hold. holding for 24 hours must be some kind of guiness record.

* yesterday i went mountain biking at wakefield park in annandale. for some reason, i didn't go all summer last season. i had forgotten how much fun it was and i'm glad i went. i almost ate it at one point crossing a narrow wooden bridge about 3ft above a gulley. i didn't have enough speed and rode off the side. luckily i was not clipped in and just tossed the bike away and landed on my feet. anyway, i also realized how fat and out of shape i am. at least mountain biking is fun enough that it doesn't feel like exercise.

* this morning i was listening to NPR and they ran a sound byte from an upcoming story. they were talking to a banker about how when the FDIC takes over a bank, it ends up costing other banks money. the guy they were interviewing made the comment that his bank was "paying for the sins of others". that made me laugh. welcome to the club blowhole.

"We were very angry that we were paying for the sins of others," Marranca says. "Obviously, the cost of this was because other people were doing silly, imprudent, criminal things. We never got involved in subprime loans. We would never do a loan with no documentation. We didn't cause this problem. Imagine if you had to pay for your neighbor, or your competitor screwed up somehow, and you had to pay for it." Yes, taxpayers, close your eyes and try to picture a scenario where you pay for the mistakes of others.

* on a related note, NPR ran another story on FDIC takeovers a week or two ago that was actually quite interesting. it sounds like the FDIC might be one of very few government agencies that is capable of acting swiftly and effectively.

* my accountant cannot tell me for sure which forms i need to file for MD. i was reading over the instructions because i wanted to double check everything again and it appears as though i might have to file both a resident and non-resident forms. i sent her a copy of the pdf instructions from the maryland website and she doesn't know the answer either. we're kinda running out of time here. also, according to our accountant, it appears that we have to pay taxes on laura's income in MD, despite the fact that she did not live in, nor make any money in MD in 2008. i find this hard to believe.

* last.fm is insisting that i will like the goo goo dolls, the bodeans and hootie and the blowfish. augh.

to the ladies on the arlington hiker/biker trails

it's wonderful that you are out exercising with your friends in this beautiful weather. i was out there too. and i know half the fun while you're out is gossiping about who is dating whom and what was on oprah yesterday and all, but you really shouldn't be power walking three people wide on the trails. especially in the summer when there are lots of other people out, some of whom are going the other direction and would appreciate more than a sliver of pavement to run/ride on and some who would like to pass without running into bikers come head on in the other direction. really, even two wide is questionable. thanks.