With current relationship issues and moving into a new apartment in a couple weeks, my stress level
hit a peak today after work. So I figured my fastest remedy was to go for a good hard ride (actually
there is one faster but I don't like drinking during the week). So I grab my HT simply because I
haven't been on it in a month or so and also because I can really push myself with it. I hit my
common trail that takes about 2 hours to ride, perfect amount of time before dark. I was on a
country dirt road heading to my stomping grounds when two girls on horseback suddenly pop out of a
wooded side road. The horses spook and I lock up my rear tire but we all manage to stay mounted and
no harm was done. So after that I am riding down a dry creek bed that has been converted into a
killer single track and a stick decides to jump and give me a hell of a gash on my leg. No big deal,
it bled for a minute or two then stopped. Then I climb my hill and push it like I knew I could on
the HT. So 45 minutes later I reach the top and feel great. I decide to not even stop and just point
her nose to the beautiful downhill run I so enjoy. Now granted I hadn't ridden the HT in a while and
my FS is sweet on this run, but I had a little less confidence than normal on my descend. It is
lucky for me that I did for halfway down I notice a strange rubbing noise being emitted from my
front tire. It was is a fairly technical section but I managed to get her stopped to check. It seems
my front QR had come loose! First time this has happened to me. Guess I should've done that PMCS
before heading out. So I tighten her and off I go. The last bit of DH is my favorite on this run and
I always pick up a little more speed, even on the HT, but this is the section where I have been
having problems with vandalistic hikers, so I proceed with caution. Luckily again that I did.
Halfway down the last section my back tire sudden leaps and I
was on the rim. Since this is my vandal section I automatically assumed foul play. So I drop the
bike and scour the area for nails or anything sharp which had been camouflaged there. Nothing, but
what I did find was an extremely sharp and very sturdy section of tree limb which had naturally
fallen on the trail, so this was the cause. At this point with a bloody leg, a near fatal accident
:-) and a popped tube all within an hour I begin to think maybe I should've just stayed home. So
then as I am removing my pump after successfully airing my tube it decides to be difficult and wont
budge. After some coercing it budges, but does it in a way that I scrape a good amount of skin from
my fingers as I catch them on the rear cassette. So now I'm thinking this is the worst ride ever!
Then as I am sitting there I can hear a storm coming in the distance and the entire hillside seemed
to become calm. I reached a level of tranquility at that moment just sitting there listening and
decided this ride was exactly what I needed tonight. This is the reason I ride. Then an image from
almost two years ago crossed my mind. I remember seeing this hillside in the distance being tore to
hell by lightning and promised myself at that moment to never be caught up there during a storm. So
I hurriedly get the rear tire back on and rip out of there like I was on a motocross bike. I get off
the hill before the storm hits, but not home. It actually was pleasant riding in the wind and rain
with the lightning striking in the distance. First time for that too.