a great bad idea...

so, yesterday i went on my first ride since my little crash on memorial day. a week and a half off bike. for the record, it was painful.

first things, i went to northetowne to pick up the road bike, all fixed. trued up rear wheel, and derailleur hanger bent back. new hanger on order...hopefully it'll hold for this weekend, tomrv. i'm sporting the torn jersey both days! make do with what you have...

upon my return i recieved a none-to-polite invitation from steve and sr. (mainly just steve..) to ride sugar. i believe the term "nancy" was thrown about... so i made the mistake of taking them up on it. however, i did have a stroke of genius and told them to go ahead and do their first lap, rather than wait for me...that way i could keep up for lap 2! met 'em out there. oggled sr.'s new bike (hot!). steve quit on us, so sr. and i went out for a lap. skipped a bunch as i was riding pretty conservatively...gotta be cautious of my scrapped up self. felt good to be riding again. was overly cautious though...so i was going slow. and on the gravel downhill (lake side) i saw a tree hanging over the trail to the right side, and had the great idea to use my right hand to swat it out of the way...with the intention of protecting my leg from branches ripping it open. that part of the plan worked. although the, stay-upright-on-the-bike portion of the plan failed miserably. up over the front i went, and landed a few feet ahead of the bike, full on frontal. ie) some scraps on my chin, a couple new bruises, and dirt everywhere. i haven't fallen of the mtn bike for a long while now. and, seeing as i didn't do any new damage to my current state...i remembered just how nice a good fall is. all in all, a good ride. i'll wait 'til i heal a bit more, 'til brush whipping my leg is less of an issue, before my next lap though.

verdict: another reason mtn is better than road. a fall at 15 on dirt, and you're usually back on the bike in a matter of seconds ready to go again. a fall at 15 on the road, and you're laying there bleeding and sniveling like a little girl (at least you are if you're like me!)

hopefully the rain will calm down in time for tonight's friday night fixie ride.
i should probably work on getting some form of rain gear for this weekend...