Crashing still sucks…

This is an old post from the Lab section, but since I’m still crashing, I thought I’d move it over to the blog.

Okay, I’ll admit it—I’m not a tough-guy. Tenacious, yes. Tough, no. More than anything I probably lack the sense of better judgement to quit while I’m ahead. But that’s how dirt bike riding is… it get’s in your blood. It’s addictive. And, it’s so mentally disarming, it’s hard to think about anything else while you’re in the moment. Plus, I’m usually having so much fun I don’t realize I’ve mangled something until the drive home, or the next morning (part of getting old).

Having white skin makes bruises even more impressive. This one on my belly was from a minor get-off in a corner, but the bars swung around right into my gut. The cool thing is you can see a sweet imprint from the grip!

Blisters suck. And until I found Palm Savers I seemed to be plagued with them. Every rider gets them at some point, but mine seemed to be most impressive. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a computer dork who sits behind a monitor all day. Either way, it’s no fun trying to hold on to the bars in the middle of a race, when you feel those first couple tear open. If you get ‘em too, get a pair of palm savers. Best 6 bucks you’ll ever spend.

The upper right bruise occured during a head-on collision on a training ride in Aztec, NM. I wasn’t even the one involved in the accident—I was second in line, and trying to avoid the whole mess when I clobbered a nearby bush and the bike landed on my leg. Nothing broken, just looks fairly impressive.

About the only thing worse than blisters is burns. This one happend during the Bull Hollow race in Monticello, UT during a traffic jam on a hill climb. I tried to get around a stalled rider and got hung up on a rock ledge where I lost my balance and fell over on a fellow rider’s nice, hot CRF450 head pipe. It only took a split second to go right through my jersey and into my arm. Made finishing the race interesting with sweat, dirt, and melted jersey gnawing away at it. It also made showers interesting for the next week.

I learned a valuable lesson about buying cheap boots when I injured my ankle at the end of the season. This one occured while dropping into a sand wash through a rut on a training ride with some buddies. My foot got munched between the bike and the side of the rut. A good pair of boots (like Sidi’s) would have probably absorbed/deflected most of the impact, but the Fox Trackers I had on at the time, mushed like a fresh loaf of Wonder Bread. And so did my ankle. It wasn’t too bad until the area got infected, which forced me to miss the last WORCS race of the season. Bummer…

I think that’s the suckiest thing about injuries… time away from riding. It’s hard to let your body heal right when all you can think about is next weekend’s ride or race. Now, I like to ride fast, but I think Mark Blue put it best when he said “Ride just fast enough to not crash and you’ll save yourself a lot of time in the E.R.” Be careful out there.

- Happy trails – Chris