... and Insult.

I took a couple days off the bike to heal my sore behind and then hit the road again until I got an offer I couldn't refuse... Joe was meeting a group of regulars from Allaire(the cool place I had my "Lewis and Clark" expedition). He arranged for me to borrow his friend's wife's bike so I could really get a feel for MTBing with a bike that fit. After an evening of jamming with a bunch of close friends late into the night at Andrew's and a few of us camping out in the living room(cause it was more fun and it was halfway to Allaire anyway), I met Joe there. A quick fit to the bike and off we tucked into the woods. 13 guys and me. Joe said "This must be your fantasy, Sandie Reilly, all alone with 13 guys." I said, "No, my fantasy is more like keeping up with 13 guys."

We sped off into the woods and I stayed towards the front half of the pack. Swishing and swooping and crossing the road and keeping a pretty darned good pace until we stopped for the crazies to cross a log suspended more than 10 feet over a ravine... not for me today! I was searching my bag for my inhaler. I had forgotten to use it and breathing was getting tough, I was getting tired and my legs were screaming for oxygen. I couldn't find the inhaler. Apologizing, I told the guys I had to go back to my car for it. When we got to the lot, I insisted that the guys continue to ride and come back for me like 15-20min later when I'd have a better idea if I could continue or not. I'm really glad they did since 15 minutes of ripping the car apart was futile until I found it tucked in the corner of my pocket. How to feel like an ass?

Lungs opened up and back in the woods we went. More swoop and swish and lots of speed. What a blast! I was feeling my oats until I slid off the side of the path, clipped a tree and flew partly over the bars as the bike went down and in slow motion my face slammed into the dirt. Behind me I heard, "Ohhh!", "Jeez!!" and "Hold up!!" The air was suddenly heavy and silent. The thoughts they must have been thinking.... Tasting a tad of blood in my mouth and feeling a dull swelling I stood, turned to the guys and said. "Alright, I got the first fat lip, who wants the next one?"

That got a good laugh. The air was back to light and easy and we continued on for miles of twisty fun where I joked and poked at some of the guys and they at me. I had a great time!

I got to get my head around and over things I would not have thought possible. With a loaner bike that fit fairly well, I rode over a bunch of logs I never would have attempted on my soon to be replaced 1988 rigid and I felt capable... like I could really get the hang of this MTB thing.



Bryan rode behind me for a good deal of the time, encouraging and keeping me from getting lost. He was the one who saw me ride across a planked bridge that curved. As I rode across it I knew I was really, REALLY close to the edge and I didn't look down, just ahead to solid ground. When I got to the other side, it was one huge adrenaline rush!!! I said, "Man! that was close!!" Bryan said, "I didn't want to say anything, but half of your tire was off the side of that bridge." (I don't think I EVER want to be that close again) There was a log mess I cleaned towards the end, he yelled "NICE!" That was so cool! And the last run of downhill through what felt like a chute... I LOVED ripping through it and getting air every chance I could!!!
I had a great time.

This roadie went over to the dark side, and she wants to stay :-)
Now, I just gotta get a bike!

Later that week, the thick throat and chesty cough left over from not using the inhaler when I should have revealed itself as a nasty case of the flu. It caught me off guard and knocked me into bed for three days.

Injury...

Oh, where to start?
It's been a long, long time since my last post and that's not really because I quit riding... it's more like I've been so busy and having so much fun that I haven't had the chance! SO here goes....

Over winter I rode as much as I could when the roads weren't snow covered or icy. When it was too bad I used the trainer at home and when it was 28degrees or more, I rode outside. Most riding was on the road and I found a couple kooks to ride with who were not afraid of cold weather.

I did a lot of learning. About how you always wear biking shorts under biking tights, how wearing two pair of gloves is a great idea, how the right active shirt and a mid weight jacket is all you need out there if you're working hard enough. I found out the true value of winter boot covers cause, man, that's the one thing that can't get too warm!! I got a pair from Bellweather which were fairly good and really made a difference, but when it's below freezing and you're riding at 16 mph along a river with the wind coming in any direction, those toes get froze!!!

I had the opportunity to borrow an older Diamond Back mountain bike(MTB) from one of the guys at the shop. It was too big for me, but I adjusted everything I could to make it more manageable and thought I had an acceptable ride until I got on it in the woods. I took it out with Joe and Charlie to Skyline Drive, which is NOT the most forgiving of areas and Joe led us along the Cannonball trail. It was carnage from the start.

Every incline, every rock, every turn was perilous and I fell left and right and had that bike on top of me more than I was on top of it. I kept going on and on, falling on piles of rocks and beating the crap out of myself. Then one fall was really mean and I got so angry at my inability to maneuver the bike that I became even more determined. That's what happens to me... challenge me, say I can't and I'll prove you wrong even if I have to kill myself to do it. Possibly not the smartest way to react, but it certainly gets me to attempt things I would otherwise quit.

So, as the ride went on, I chose to minimize the damage and work on other necessary skills. One technique I had heard about was "shouldering and running". I understood that this was the way to make it through the toughest sections of a trail without losing too much time in a race(not that I have ANY intentions of racing, mind you) but it also worked to keep me close on the heels of Charlie who was executing the difficult and technical terrain on top of his bike. I wasn't about to quit and I was determined to not make the guys turn around for me on this ride.

We finally hit the fire road where I could put a little power into the pedals and redeem myself as a cyclist, if not a MTBer. All was well and good until we hit an incline of loose gravel. I lost momentum and lost traction and knew I was going down. I chose to make a controlled landing on a large flat boulder embedded into the roadway. Trouble is, I landed hard on the only bump on that rock and it hit just to the left of my tailbone.

Wow! Did that ever hurt! Un-fun for sure! Right there, I said "that's it". Time to pack it in before I really did some major damage. I insisted that the guys continue their ride, but I was taking the bail out option as I knew that the fire road led back to the car. I rode the bike to the incline and walked and rode my way up the long and winding drive. I don't know what hurt more, but every step I took, I felt a pull from my heel to my butt. And each step felt like another hard punch to the injury.

Ah well, I figured it was just me and my lack of skills. Later I found that there was no way to fit that bike to me and that trail was no place for a beginner anyway.