New Trail

We rode a new (well, new 'this year') mountain bike trail today.  Yes, it's a trail I have ridden before.  And yes, I have pretty much been kicking ass so far with my bike.  So it was only logical to think that I could ride the 'hard trail' at this park.  I mean, come on!  When you add the easy, medium, and hard trails together it only adds up to just over ten miles.  I can do that.

I had it in my head that I was going to kick ass on my time and I started out great.  The easy part of the trail was exactly what it said it was...easy.  I got to the medium part and I walked my bike over the first obstacle.  No biggie.  They put these crazy first obstacles out there to scare the pants off you.  I was not scared.  I took the first turn of the course just fine and then there was the second turn.  Fail.  I quazi wiped out and as I did, I felt a stabbing pain in my left quad.  Crap.  Okay, no biggie.  I can ride through a bit of pain (actually I could ride through a lot of pain).  I continue the ride, cussing up each hill, and decide to hang out by the hard trail interchange until Nathan and The Brainiac comes along.  I'm injured and it's okay if I just finish the medium trail with the kid.

I got to the hard/medium interchange and decided I would stretch.  After stretching I felt much better.  I can do this!  I hopped back on my bike and took off down the hard trail.  OMG! The hard trail was fucking hard.  The hills were unreal and the obstacles were intense.  My thigh was burning up each hill, but I'm stubborn.  I figured I could make this.  I cried a lot during this ride.  Some for my thigh, some for my friends (which is not a future post, but still it's something to cry about), some for me.  This whole ride was a mess.

I'd love to end this story something like: "and with thigh pain, sweat, and tears I rode on and finished the trail!"  But that's not how this story ends.  At just over the six mile mark I wiped out again and pulled the quad really bad.  A road was visible from the trail several yards back.  I limped my way back to that part of the trail.  I got my bike, and my ass through the fence and rode the gravel road back to the trail head.  I gave it every thing I had...it just wasn't enough.  I may be pretty freaking good, but I'm not quite the shiznit yet...

 (I took this picture after I pulled myself together from one of my crying fits.  I think it's pretty.)