An Oscar Moment Flying in the Air

Hammering down the hill to catch Rob I thought "man if I knew he was gonna hit it hard, I would have taken my road bike". And the subsequent climbs (albeit small) my bpm shot up quickly as I spun just to try and keep up with Rob's "Jan Ulrich" like grinding of the big gears pace up the hill. But then something changed. We got to the trail and it was just beautiful. One of those moments where you realize just how cool mountain biking is. Flying through the Bahia Twisties the fog steamed off the water. It's own reflection providing you light through the colorful poison oak ridden single track. Deer were dancing away, birds were chirping, and the sound of our mud tires carved up the scene. Lost in my own day dreams of filming this ride the next time I go out there, I found myself suddenly flying over my handlebars.
I slammed almost simultaneously into my left knee, hip and shoulder. My Oscar moment thoughts for best short film turned into a cartoon with stars flying around me and different aches attacking my insides and outsides from all directions.

Completely my fault of course. I was matching Rob turn for turn when I decided to take a turn more sharply to keep pace. That turn rode me straight into a rock that decided not to let me proceed, in fact it stopped my bike cold. I kept going of course...but impressive how a rock the size of a curbside can derail you in an instant.

About 9 miles later, we completed our 20 mile ride and I wouldn't change a thing. Seriously. I knew my number was up. I've had many friends going down on their bikes the last year. Some serious, others not so serious. I've already ridden more this year (about 4200 miles) than last year (about 3700 miles) and it's only July. There's a lot I encounter on the road, and most of my concern is weighed directly with distracted drivers, or drivers who have a thing against cyclists. Little did I know a tiny boulder would be my downfall. Maybe I should start a coalition to remove stubborn rocks from trails. But I'm thankful. My number was pulled today. And to be able to ride away from a fall, well I'll take that any day.