i killed the fixie...

so we had a cycling club meeting last tuesday. post meeting someone got the nice idea to go get some old chicago cheap pizza and beer. so it was on. 4 of us headed out on bike. yerke, steve, john and me. we were headed down by the river path, when john got the great idea to take off across a nice big park lawn. me, being the clever type i am, immediately entered "pursuit mode." so here we are, two fools sprinting across the lawn. i'm only a few feet from a glorious capture when... john makes a quick decision. he doesn't realize i was so close to him, and thus he decided to slam on the brakes and stop his bike perpendicular to his prior path. seems like a decent idea. except for the -- brian-is-less-than-5-feet-away-in-the-midst-of-a-dead-sprint fact. so, i did what anyone would have done in my shoes. well, maybe not anyone, but safe to say, other fools like me would have done... i t-boned the sucker. naw, i didn't really mean to, but i had no other choice. it all happened so quick there was no alternative. i was going to fast for any evasive manuever, and we were too close for stopping. i didn't even have time to hit the brake. i guess i just leveled him. steve and yerke were up ahead, and heard all sorts of comotion from the lawn, so came back. all i remember is flying through the air, and rolling when i hit the ground. laughing commenced before i even landed. john said he was relieved to hear me laughing. i love falling on the grass. we were both fine, i guess john hit the ground pretty hard, but nothing bad. and i didn't even get sore. i did however kill the fixie. we surveyed the damage. the front wheel was rubbing the fork. the brake was bent to $#*! yerke ghetto-trued the wheel with a few whacks on the ground, and we forced it back into what we suspected was a bent fork. and i commenced riding a very oddly handling fixie to the bar. good times. good times.

evidence:


i already miss the thing something fierce. must fix the fixie and get it back in action. the ghetto speed is no fun to ride around town. not to mention the fixie ride just isn't the same not rocking a fixie. speaking of fixie ride...new pics up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helpingfriendlybook/

labor day weekend is nice. rode sugar friday with john. a lap and a half when he broke a spoke and we called it a day. i had a nice crash. full speed @ss-over-teacups endo, whole right side of the body smacked the ground, including a nice head thwap crash. john was very obviously concerned for my apparent lack of concern and desire to continue the ride relatively quickly post fall. we got a kick out of my comment while on the ground as he came rolling up to me... "i know what i'm doing" i meant to try to convey to him that i was fine, just needed a second to lie there, but that's what came out. and funny enough, it makes sense. sadly, i must admit, while i may not "know what i'm doing"...i am getting quite used to crashing. i do it more than anyone i know. anyway, it was a spectacular fall, and miraculously only one small new wound on the elbow. so i called it a good one.

yesterday had a nice morning sugar bottom loop on the road with john. we met jeff for breakfast at the cottage, he had to work, so no ride for him. then later in the evening yerke and john took me 20" riding. which was all sorts of a good time. bmxer's are crazy. i waited till most everyone had left the skate park before i gave it a go. 1st go round, fine. 2nd go round, got too far up on a wall, and stayed vertical on the bike, so it slid out, and so did i, down the wall a bit. opened up the right side of my rump, and my knee gash again. both of those are injuries from back in the day, memorial day to be exact. q.c. crit crash wounds. healed by now, but the skin seems to be weaker there, so they keep opening up. this makes 4 times now i've torn the skin off the exact same spot of my knee. it'll leave a nice scar if the damn thing ever stays healed for more than 2 weeks at a time. anyhow, 20" riding is all sorts of fun.

ran the kayaking club pool session today. couldn't get in though. open wounds all over = not a good idea to get sumberged in the pool. showers hurt enough. so i got to watch a few people have fun. i was jealous. part of me can't wait for winter. a nice long chance to heal up... i did get to check out our new boats. they are pretty nice, and i fit in them, which is a plus. now instead of fitting in just one boat, i get to choose from 4. good good.