First Ride of the Year

(photo shamelessly pilfered from Mike M.)

1 January

Mike M. beat me to the blogging today. Go read his then come back here. I'll wait.

***

It was Mike B.'s first day out on a mountain bike, and he took to it like a fish to water, white on rice, insert metaphor here. I'm flat-out jealous that he dares tackle things I only take pictures of.

Mike M. got the shot of me going over a log pile, and another of my shoe after I cleared it. Somewhere between the pile and the next turn in the trail I clipped out, and when I went to clip back in again I couldn't seem to do it. My left foot kept slipping off the pedal. I figured I had some dirt wedged in my cleat and stopped to take a look.

The cleat was gone. Vanished. Mike B. said, "Let's go back and look for it." Chris said, "We don't have to. It's stuck to her pedal." He wasn't anywhere near me when he said this, but we all looked down, and there it was.

I really wanted to try the see-saw ramp today, but there was no way I was going to attempt it with one foot slipping all over the place. What a convenient excuse. I watched Mike B. tackle the thing. That's when I got jealous.

Mary was shivering so we went back to the parking lot. Chris pulled out a vice grip and wrenched my cleat from the pedal.

I dug out an old pair of Spinning shoes I keep in the trunk. While I was putting them on (they're too tight!) Chris and Mike M. played with my broken shoe. When the cleat ripped out it took the sole with it. I'd been pedaling back on a flimsy insole.

We went out for another half hour with me in my tight shoes. We headed for the edge of the dam, where two years ago I'd gone down the big hill but last year I was too chicken to do it. I was in the lead this time and determined to get it right. So what did I do? I turned too early and missed the steepest part. Bok! Bok! Bok-aaawwwww!

Mike B., of course, did the whole thing the right way. Maybe you can't earn balls. You just have 'em or you don't. As I've been saying since I started this, you definitely need cajones to go mountain biking, but I only have uno cajon.

I still have a fine rubber chicken, though.


(photo swiped from Mike M.; you can see a bit of the chicken, a little yellow blob, under my left leg)