Sweet trail maps at almost every intersection.
Julie and I rode over to the Telegraph Trails. I wanted to get a good, hard workout in and because the Telegraph Trails have trail maps at almost every intersection, I figured that it would be a great place for Julie to ride on her own while I go out and beat myself to a pulp. I told her that if she needed to stop to take a load off, to make sure that she stopped in an open space and not to converse with any strange snakes, especially if they have a rattle.
So, I rode the Telegraph Trail to the top and started ripping it up down the descent on Crites Connect. I’ve ridden the trail probably 30 times before and was familiar enough with it that I felt comfortable letting it all hang out. As I was rounding a fast corner, I saw a very large rock sitting in the middle of the trail that I’d never seen before. As soon as I saw the rock, I knew that I was screwed. I tried to go around it, however my front tire clipped it enough that it sent me flying OTB. The next thing I know, I’m sliding down the trail head first on my back. I had a Camelback on and I remember waiting for it to burst from my body bouncing on and off of it while I was sliding down the trail. When I finally stopped, I kinda laid there and waited for the cloud of dust to settle. I moved my arms and legs, nothing seemed to be broken, so I got up, picked my bike up and gave it a once over. Everything seemed to be fine. From what I could tell, I only had a few small cuts on my legs and some scrapes on my elbows and shoulders. I dusted myself off and motored on.
About an hour into the ride, I noticed that my front wheel was a little out of whack, though it wasn’t enough to prevent me from continuing on. I rode for another hour or so and headed back to the car where Julie was waiting for me. I got off the bike and almost fell over. I didn’t really realize just how beat up I was.
If it wasn't for the Camelback, my back would look like raw hamburger...stop looking at my underwear.
Technical, rocky uphill.
Technical, rocky downhill.
The Anasazi Descent in the distance. If you crash there, it's not going to feel very good.
Durango goodness. It would suck to crash here too.
When I replay the incident in my head, I really can’t believe just how lucky I was. As fast as I was going, I should have broken something on my body. The bike actually came through it all pretty good too. A partially taco’d front wheel and a cracked stem. I had another wheelset with me and I found a stem at a local bike shop for $40. Two hours later she was as good as new!
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