Well, I have been having so much fun this past year on my mountain bike and my road bike. I gave up on the small undeveloped wooded city park near our home because the trails were always too rutted and possibly dangerous. A group of riders has spent hundreds of hours this summer expanding and improving the trails at Legacy Park in North Arlington. I have ridden this 4.7 mile loop dozens of times by myself without incident. I took Steve out today to show him the loop and because he was behind, I set a new personal best on the first lap. Then Steve led the second run. I called ahead to him to go the fourth bank drop at the back of the park by the river. The boys have created four levels of drops, from a little 5' sloping runout to the third that is about 10' down and you get a little bit of air on the the way out. We dropped into the fourth bowl and I quickly found that it was a double ramp. I skirted the second jump on my first attempt. Twenty five minutes later we came to this drop and jump again. I had forgotten what it looked like and I hit it hard. When I came up to the top of the jump in the middle, I was unprepared to do what was needed. The hump in the middle was just a sharp point with no place for the bicycle. With hindsight I can understand that I need to pull up the front wheel and fly to the bottom. I was going to just roll over it, but I go hooked and fell to the bottom on my head and right side. I was knocked out briefly and did not remember the ride back to the parking lot. The damage to my face doesn't hurt. I'm concerned about my right elbow. We'll see what this next week brings. Anybody want to come to my park for a ride?
Well, I have been having so much fun this past year on my mountain bike and my road bike. I gave up on the small undeveloped wooded city park near our home because the trails were always too rutted and possibly dangerous. A group of riders has spent hundreds of hours this summer expanding and improving the trails at Legacy Park in North Arlington. I have ridden this 4.7 mile loop dozens of times by myself without incident. I took Steve out today to show him the loop and because he was behind, I set a new personal best on the first lap. Then Steve led the second run. I called ahead to him to go the fourth bank drop at the back of the park by the river. The boys have created four levels of drops, from a little 5' sloping runout to the third that is about 10' down and you get a little bit of air on the the way out. We dropped into the fourth bowl and I quickly found that it was a double ramp. I skirted the second jump on my first attempt. Twenty five minutes later we came to this drop and jump again. I had forgotten what it looked like and I hit it hard. When I came up to the top of the jump in the middle, I was unprepared to do what was needed. The hump in the middle was just a sharp point with no place for the bicycle. With hindsight I can understand that I need to pull up the front wheel and fly to the bottom. I was going to just roll over it, but I go hooked and fell to the bottom on my head and right side. I was knocked out briefly and did not remember the ride back to the parking lot. The damage to my face doesn't hurt. I'm concerned about my right elbow. We'll see what this next week brings. Anybody want to come to my park for a ride?
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