Can You Say Faceplant?

Finally I have something exciting to blog about. Went out for a Tuesday night ride with a group. Since it was a "no drop" ride I thought it was going to be a slow and easy ride, so I brought my singlespeed and my 10 watt helmet light. A group of 12 riders showed up for the night ride. We started the ride with Jesus in the lead. Just as I expected, we rode at a slow pace for most of the ride, having fun, talking, stopping to shoe an armadillo off the trail and to look at a spiderweb. It was a nice, leisurely ride until Champain Run, when Marcos and Nico, two fast riders, took off like race horses exploding out of a starting gate. I stood up and mashed my pedals in a sprint to try catch them. Because I was running only one light, I couldn't see that well and I misjudged a roller which threw me off balance. I narrowedly missed hitting a cactus at full speed and went flying OTB (over the bars). I smacked the ground hard with top of my helmet first and then my face. Ouch. Can you say faceplant? The impact knocked my helmet visor off. After lying on the ground for a few seconds, I slowly got up and checked my face, feeling for blood. To my amazement I wasn't bleeding. My top lip was a little swollen, and my face felt like I had taken a hard right from Mike Tyson, but for the most part I was ok. Shaken from the fall, I finished my ride on the Hike and Bike, carry my broken off visor in my pocket. So much for my leisurely nightride.