Well That @#%&@*% Hurt!

I am not known for my great ideas. In fact, I am probably more known for plodding onward the consequences be damned, sometimes to the point of the ridiculous. I am certain that when I die, it will be a combination of poor judgement, stubborness and sheer determination that kills me.

Case in point. On my regular Wednesday ride this week, me and my riding buddies were having a great time. We agreed to not race each other up and down the mountain like we did the week before and to have an easy ride and just hang out. Since that was off the table, I had to find another way to punish myself and that came in the form of a tree down across the trail. Due to the way it was situated, it is very difficult to ride and I had never ridden it - yet. I popped my front wheel on it, popped my rear wheel on it and got tangled up in Rhododendron and went down.
Fortunately, I got my foot out of my pedal in time to save me from very imminent doom.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to plant it except air and I crashed hard. I hit the log with all my weight on my ribcage. The pain made me see 2 or 3 of everything.

The good news is nothing was broken and after I regained the ability to breathe, we rode on.

So, today was round 5 of the Mud, Sweat and Gears Series. I am sitting in 6th place with a microscopic chance at the final podium spot for the series. What do I do?

Well the smart thing to do would be grab a cowbell and hang out with my pals and cheer everyone on while I take some time to heal.

Of course I raced it.

It was the most painful 30 minutes that I can remember having lived through recently. I gave it my best but by the second lap, I was wimpering uncontrollably everytime I had to jump a barrier or push real hard on the pedals. I started near the front but faded pretty quickly to 8th or 9th, heck I don't know. By the final lap, it hurt so much to breathe it was all I could do to roll across the finish line where I flopped onto the grass and just laid there for a few minutes.

I was kinda hoping someone would come and throw some dirt on me and get it over with but when that didn't happen. I went to the awards/raffle and then home.

I feel pretty good now as long as I don't move, breathe or blink, the pain is almost gone.

I hope I am healed by next week. It's double points don'tcha know!!!!