Best laid plans… 6 weeks of riding, exploring, and having adventures, all gone after one simple mistake.
Riding a trail blind.
A mixture of scattered attention, overconfidence, and a general laid back approach ended up with me over the handlebars. Landing hard and my left wrist taking the brunt of the fall.
As you can see, this drop isn’t big, is wasn’t steep, and I could see it from my approach. What I couldn’t see was the hole dug out on the other side to build it up. It fit my tire perfectly, and because I was rolling into it the wheel stuck. This was a wild trail, built by someone I didn’t know, and we were riding it as a group for the first time.
There is nothing wrong with stopping and looking, ever!
I thought I was being cautious and approached the drop at rolling speed, reckoning my bike and my skills could handle it. Without the hole on the other side they could have.
This isn’t a post to tell you know to ride wild trails, or explore something you have never been on, it’s to keep in mind that both of these things means unknown variables. Go into them with your smart and conservative brain, the next time you ride it you can let loose a bit more.
My break was a simple partial fracture with some sprained ligaments. I didn’t bang my head, or damage my bike. I was mostly lucky. I lost out on most of my summer though. A trip to Yorkshire and to Torridon (the 4th time due to previous Covid cancellations). Essentially, my life was put on hold.
Those 6-7 weeks off of my bike did give me perspective. I made a couple of big changes including leaving a job to do more of what I love.. riding, leading, and helping other small businesses… I also picked up the gravel bike above to give a mix to my riding. Silver linings and all.