Night Ride report...

Well, it's about time I got the Rock Star Crash Trophy (RSCT). I've had a couple of close seconds this year but, last Tuesday I took it fair and square. It happened at the first climb on Jelly Roll, and it happened in slow motion. Shayne and Nic where waiting at the top and I was making my way up the rock face when my front wheel started to lift of the ground... At this point I thought it was kind of funny but I did not think too much of it. I managed to blurb out the internationally recognized "uh oh," as my wheel kept creeping towards the sky. It was at that point that I remembered that I had tightened my spd's earlier that day. Yes, they are apparently a bit too tight. The result was a dead sailor over backwards. Or as some would describe it, a half a backflip. I landed on my camelbak and thank god for camelbaks, they've saved my bacon more times than any other "armor" except for helmets. The camelbak softened the blow, but it was still a pretty hard landing (as most back-landings are) and I felt rather unintelligent laying there on my back, still clipped in and looking up at the stars through my frame. I came out of that one with a sore back but no other injuries, except for the horribly bruised ego. The bike sustained a bent brake lever wich made the rest of the ride sort of interesting.
The ride was epic though and the conditions at the park are kick-ass these days. We rode all the way to the top and shayne was "laying ze powah dooown" (insert German accent). Apparently giving Shayne a gentle tire rub at the bottom of the hill is like giving him some "Boonen powder." He was pedaling like a mad man and the hills seemed easy compared to our hangover Zoo-ride on Sunday. Tyler and Chevy did great on their 34,5lbs (TJ) and 38lbs. (Chevrolet) beasts and soldiered up those climbs, kudos to them . It was great to have Nic back as well since the nightrides just don't feel the same without him. Sadly Ryan blew apart his Crap Brothers pedal (oops who said that? What what!?) just after the tta and had the world shortest nightride, at 1 minute and 53 seconds.
All in all a great ride...can't wait for next Tuesday.

The Crew at the top of Jelly roll...soon after this photo was taken the undersigned went down.

Shayne and Nic doing the Lumpy pants drop