Day 254 - Retaining Pond

Tweezer and I went out to play at the retaining ponds Sunday afternoon. The challenge is to ride a complete lap around these big mounds of dirt that circle a pond of water without putting a foot down or falling 20 feet into the water below. I had tried riding it a couple of times before on previous rides, but couldn't make the climb up the other side halfway through. It's technical riding that requires concentration, control, balance and no fear. Was this my day to conquor the retaining pond? Or would the retaining pond swallow me whole in the water? Check it out. Love the commentary and sound effects Tweezer. He would make a great golf announcer.

Day 240 - Riding the Berms

Finally got in a good, hard ride. Between the weather, work, and family, its been hard to ride. This afternoon I went out to Mission Trails to take some pics of the Cactus Flowers for our website. Took the pics and then caught in with Richard and we put in a half a lap. AC, Hector, and Jesus joined us later and we had a nice choo choo train of 5 guys blazing the trails. AC (see pic) was the lead steam engine as he put down a good, fast pace. Rode some new berms on Tweezer which were cool. I ended up putting in 22 miles at the trails. It was a great ride that I badly needed to get the blood pumping.

Day 239 - Windy and Wendi

My wife, Wendi, and I went out for an early morning ride on Saturday. A cold front had blown in the night before and the temperature was in the cool 60s and it was windy. The trails were muddy from the rain so we rode the Hike and Bike to Bentsen Park in Mission. It was tough sledding against what seemed a 20 to 25 mph wind that beat against every pedal stroke we had. Despite the wind, we made it to Bentsen and stopped inside the World Birding Center to warm up with a hot tea and blueberry muffin. Yummy! After warming up we took the canal road back past the Butterfly Park in Misson, then to Military Rd.,and back to the trails. My wife kept complaining about the wind which was against us on the way back. But we made it back to the parking lot. I enjoyed the time we spent together on the bike.

Day 236 - "It's Just a Scratch"

My wife finally busted me and my knee. After successfully hiding it from her for three days, she caught a glimpse of the scab. "What's that?" she asked. "Oh, nothing," I answered, trying to blush it off. "Come here...Let me see," she demands. "It's just a scratch" I say, trying to downplay the injury. She looks at it intently. Thankfully, the scab had healed up nicely and it didn't look too bad. She then asks, "how did you do it?" I decide to come clean and tell her about my little OTB incident the other day. To my complete surprise she doesn't ground me. It must be my lucky day. Or I think it may be because it she is relieved that it is not on my face, like my last cut on the tip of my nose,which looks like I am going to have a small scar. I make a mental note to myself. Keep injuries off of face.

Day 233 - OTB DVD

We had Mission Trails Club meeting Tuesday evening at the Mission High School. Harold got us into the Performaning Arts Center. I was excited since I had ordered and was going to show "Over the Bars" a compilation of mountain bike wrecks at the meeting. I was tempted to tell my OTB story at the meeting, but that would have blown my cover, since my wife was there and she hadn't found out about my latest wreck and injury. It was an awesome dvd. Full of nasty wrecks. My skinned and scapped knee was pale in comparison to the pain that these riders experienced in their crashes. Check out the Youtube trailer. Viewer discretion is advised.

Day 232 - Hiding My Knee

I managed to hide my skinned and scraped up knee injury from my wife yesterday in my OTB wreck. After I got home, I jumped into the shower, took off the bandaids and washed up my knee good with soap and water. After I got out of the shower, I put on a bandaid. My wife was in the bedroom and heard me and asked, "What are you doing? It sounds like you are putting on a bandaid." I flatly tell her no and change the subject. I grab a pair and throw on a pair of pajamas to cover up the evidence. She doesn't notice. I walk to the bed, trying not to hobble. It was a good fall. Upon inspecting my bike when I got home, I found I had bent the left brake lever. And I had fallen in the dirt. Looks like I might have to replace it. The brake lever that is, not my knee. So much for starting the new year out without any injuries.

Day 231 - Over the Bars (OTB)

Rode with Harold and Roland in the afternoon at Mission Trails. We did the new lap and then headed over to the retaining pond to goof around. The retaining pond is a bunch of large dirt mounds that run around a pond. The abrupt hills offer a technical challenge as we tried to ride a lap around them without putting our foot down. It requires a lot of balance and coordination to navigate the dirt mounds. I made it halfway round. I went OTB (Over the Bars) after hitting a dirt mound wrong. I ended up skinning my left knee pretty good in the fall, blooding up my knee in the process (see pic). Later in the ride, Harold went OTB too, after he rolled over a fence wire that caught his pedal, stopped his bike, and sent him flying OTB. He landed on his shoulder hard. I was following him and nearly ran over him. After a few seconds he got up and brushed himself off and we finished up our ride. On the way home I bandaged my knee up, trying to hide the blood so my wife wouldn't notice. She hates it when I wreck. She told me before I left that if I wrecked I would be grounded.