This could be sub-titled; "A bad day riding is better than a good day at work"
A friend and I met up with two other local riders this morning to explore an area that I had never ridden. Hadn't met them in person, but had exchanged messages with one of them on our local MTBR forum. Very gracious of them to show me around. Not sure they'll ever do it again after today's adventure.
We got about 20 feet out of the parking lot when I had a problem with my rear derailleur cable. (Long story) No sense for everyone miss a ride, so they rode ahead. They were gracious enough to wait for me further up, so I caught up with them after I fixed it. (Cell phones are amazing things!)
They had to continue to wait up for me as I rode like a bozo. (Anyone know where I can get some big red shoes with cleats?) I think I hit every rock and shrub out there. Danged DHX-A was leaking air, so I was riding a chopper. Fixed that, but was still suffering. Finally figured out that one of my front brake pistons wasn't retracting, so the front wheel was dragging pretty badly. No wonder I was already feeling beat. ARRGH!
I was following my friend a little too closely on a great descent when we came to a rock garden. Didn't see it in time, smacked the biggest rock head-on, and barrel roll down a ravine. First major scratches on my Spot and a small gouge in my rocker. Good thing it's black, so I can touch it up with a Magic Marker.
Then a little later I smacked into a shrub, caught a stick in the rear wheel and tore my rear derailleur off. Not the hanger, the derailleur. At this point I was afraid that I'd get struck by lightning out of the clear blue sky and take everyone else out with me.
Because of me the other riders had to miss out on riding a great singletrack. I owe them a beer or three, that's for sure!
In the "I wonder what else could happen" category: We were driving back, passing a semi truck when my buddy suddenly slammed on the brakes and said "Oh, (expletive deleted), we've got a bike off the rack!" Not his, of course. Luckily the Spot touched the ground, but we had a good laugh thinking about how bad it could have been. "Uh, dear sweet wife of mine, I need a new Turner. You see, it bounced off the car, took out the rear windshield and then got run over by a semi!"
Besides all of that, it was an incredible ride. Learned about some great trails and saw three herds of wild horses. I'd like to say that I also met some great new riding buddies, but I'll have to wait and see if they'll ever ride with me again!
HH
A friend and I met up with two other local riders this morning to explore an area that I had never ridden. Hadn't met them in person, but had exchanged messages with one of them on our local MTBR forum. Very gracious of them to show me around. Not sure they'll ever do it again after today's adventure.
We got about 20 feet out of the parking lot when I had a problem with my rear derailleur cable. (Long story) No sense for everyone miss a ride, so they rode ahead. They were gracious enough to wait for me further up, so I caught up with them after I fixed it. (Cell phones are amazing things!)
They had to continue to wait up for me as I rode like a bozo. (Anyone know where I can get some big red shoes with cleats?) I think I hit every rock and shrub out there. Danged DHX-A was leaking air, so I was riding a chopper. Fixed that, but was still suffering. Finally figured out that one of my front brake pistons wasn't retracting, so the front wheel was dragging pretty badly. No wonder I was already feeling beat. ARRGH!
I was following my friend a little too closely on a great descent when we came to a rock garden. Didn't see it in time, smacked the biggest rock head-on, and barrel roll down a ravine. First major scratches on my Spot and a small gouge in my rocker. Good thing it's black, so I can touch it up with a Magic Marker.
Then a little later I smacked into a shrub, caught a stick in the rear wheel and tore my rear derailleur off. Not the hanger, the derailleur. At this point I was afraid that I'd get struck by lightning out of the clear blue sky and take everyone else out with me.
Because of me the other riders had to miss out on riding a great singletrack. I owe them a beer or three, that's for sure!
In the "I wonder what else could happen" category: We were driving back, passing a semi truck when my buddy suddenly slammed on the brakes and said "Oh, (expletive deleted), we've got a bike off the rack!" Not his, of course. Luckily the Spot touched the ground, but we had a good laugh thinking about how bad it could have been. "Uh, dear sweet wife of mine, I need a new Turner. You see, it bounced off the car, took out the rear windshield and then got run over by a semi!"
Besides all of that, it was an incredible ride. Learned about some great trails and saw three herds of wild horses. I'd like to say that I also met some great new riding buddies, but I'll have to wait and see if they'll ever ride with me again!
HH
i hope your new riding buddies can appreciate that...and if they don't...they're not worth the effort! 
