Outside.

If we get things together (including making some adjustments on my bike so it will be in TransIowa arrangement) we'll be leaving for California something this evening... though maybe tomorrow morning.

We were suppose to leave yesterday night - but the AZ Spring Fling stole the weekend. We had a bit of a slumber party at our place Saturday night and it's hard to sit around with eight other people excitedly talking about the rides they've done and the ride they'll be doing and not want to ride yourself. After determining that Sunday's ride wasn't really technical and there was a 60% chance of rain with highs in the 50's - it seemed like I should go. (You don't get weather like that a lot around here - so it's a great chance to test TI clothing arrangements).

When everyone went to bed I asked D a little more about the trail and decided I'd go - D and I also talked a bit about what we wanted to do during this coming week in California and about my riding and plans and TransIowa - all things we should talk about more but don't.


In the morning we drove down to the Black Canyon Trail and on the way - D told me he was going to give me his back wheel for TransIowa... PomPom is a three speed 29er with disc brakes, the only other wheel we had that fit that and was geared was the one on D's Lev (which he planned to use extensively in southern Utah during the time I'm in Iowa). While I've made improvements both with my knee's strength and my cycling style - the extra three gears D's wheel gives me will make a difference I certainly won't entirely appreciate until I'm out there - but what means so much right now, is the awesome show of support his offer embodies. And it really took me by surprise.


So we got started on the Black Canyon Trail. About a mile in we took our shoes off to cross a very cold, calf deep stream, and that was the last I saw of the rest of them as they climbed the big hill, up out of the stream bottom. It's a very hilly region and the trail has some stiff switchbacks from time to time and a decent number of long, slight uphill or downhill, side-hilling stretches.

Going up that first hill my shifting kept acting up and wouldn't let me get into my easier gear, but I said Heck - and pushed up it in the middle of the three- I quickly realized I was tweaking my left knee too hard and ended up finishing the hill with some walking to keep things reasonable. On the second big stretch of hill I finally managed to get it shifted and rode the rest of the ride in my easiest gear to make up for what I'd already done to the knee. I rode almost seven miles in - and then figuring my speed, the happiness of my knee and the speed the rest of the group would presumably be going at - decided to turn around.

I actually managed to get up to 14 mph during the ride - which is somewhat unheard of for me on single track (besides on the J.E.M. which is so smooth and sweat). Plus - despite some serious clouds and a bit a minor precipitation - the weather was wonderful the rest of the day - and really didn't help me evaluate a thing clothes wise... but I'll take the nice weather anyway!!!

In the last two miles - as I came back around the ridge, up above the stream bottom, I ran into three other riders, waiting for their forth to catch up - we chatted for a second and then I started down the long sidehill descent to the river. As it was downhill I started picking up some good speed. The trail is reasonably smooth there - though it's only about three feet wide and then slopes away several hundred feet to the river bottom. I thought - I'm going a little fast, I should slow down. And I slowed down. And I thought - this is a good speed - then I fell.

I didn't fall like I tipped over, I fell like my front wheel hit too close to the edge of the trail and I must have hit the brakes or over corrected or Something - but I don't actually remember anything besides riding and then realizing I was falling.

The next three tenths of a second went something like this.

My Mind: You're going to cartwheel two hundred feet down this very steep hill.
My Body: There's a ledge right there, the ledge with stop my fall.
My Mind: Not if you fly right over the ledge like you're doing right now.
My Body: Point. Just don't let me hit that cactus.
My Mind: Fine. But by the way - you're going to cartwheel two hundred feet down a very steep hill - action might be in order.
My Body: Yes - okady - feet down, head up - no rolling - grab something!!! Not the cactus!!!

At which point I lifted my head uphill and tipped onto my stomach and came to a halt about 10-15 feet below the trail - with my bike to one side, between myself and a pointy plant.

I laid there evaluating the security of my position - what hurt - and how much it hurt. Then I stood up to see three little heads looking down at me in shock... the people I'd passed had watched the whole thing unfold - aghast. They waved and yelled and I waved and yelled back that I was fine - no problem.

I looked around at where I was and where the bike was and realized that I couldn't just sit there hurting or those three people weren't going to believe me that I was really alright. So I grabbed the handle bars and dragged the bike back up to the ledge - and then finally dragged it from the ledge back onto the trail. The back wheel was squeaking oddly - but I eventually figured everything would be fine and got on and continued down the trail.

Crossed the river again - and in the one mile between the river and the trail head the rest of the group caught back up to me. The ones in front had stopped for a minute to wait for the others and ran into the three who'd watched me tumble - and heard the story from them.


In the end PomPom seems fine - I have a good scrap on my ribs where they hit the edge of the ledge in their attempt to arrest my fall - my left knee got beat and bruised (which is making it difficult to determine which percentage of hurt is over-use and which is bruise) and a few other scraps - but I'm in pretty good shape, I think, for having fallen like that.


D has taken a couple good falls in the last few days and isn't being very sympathetic... I believe the phrase "Baby's First Crash" got used :) Despite the fact that I have crashed before - and it was worse... but I wasn't going very fast that time and I was on perfectly flat ground, and I was knowingly attempting a rock garden in a stupid and conceited manner. So when I look at that crash I see what I did wrong and I know it couldn't have been any worse. When I look at this last tumble I have no clue what I did - so I don't know how to avoid it in the future - and it could have been much worse - which I think always leaves us feeling unnerved.

So now D and I are both aching and packing and retooling bikes - and we'll be off on Spring Break in the next 24 hours!!! D's got the Coyote 2 Moons 100K at the end of the week - we'll be in Joshua Tree tomorrow and hopefully do some nice biking along the way as well.


If only there had been a Llama on the trail - the day really would have left nothing to be desired!!!