Ask and you shall receive, Kyle

Last night was Tuesday night MTB ride, which turned out to be Tuesday night MTB photo shoot. After all the bitching about the lovely scenic views in AVL, I deliver you some "action" shots. It ended up being just Jim & I since Eric was out of town (AGAIN, STILL) and I never heard from Fuckin' Gary or Tsunami.

I requested that the ride not be a "death march" because I know that's what Jim likes to do. He said he wasn't in the mood for that tonight, so it'd be fine. Then we turned and headed up the road towards "The Wall". How is that not a death march? Up the wall to Side Hill Trail, up Side Hill, down Side Hill.

This photo is blurry because Jim said "go faster than you think you can go." Or maybe it's blurry because Jim can't take good photos, like me.

Jim had never jumped this rock before (because he's a wuss). Since the mission was to get some good action shots he decided to hit it and risk his life. About 15 times.

At the bottom of the Side Hill we were stopped to take some photos and who should roll up but Andrea (of Chandrea) Storck and her bright yellow jersey. Remember, she did Hoffencross with her husband Chad? Kenny used them for directions and pixi stick powder. Andrea said she wasn't on her game this week and showed us the damage to her knee from falling in the parking lot. No she wasn't doing tricks (like Eric), she was turning. And fell.

We counted the other day and Jim actually has 10 bicycles! This is his color-coordinated red/yellow/turquoise SS Spot. You can't see the saddle, but it's also annoyingly yellow.

Too bad I didn't have the camera ready when he started to attempt this and fell repeatedly.

It was getting dark at this point so after a few lessons on doing wheelies and manuals we headed towards the lake to loop it and make our way back to the parking lot. We got to a small uphill with a rocky/tech part at the top (that use to haunt me) and Jim asks if I can get over it. Yes, I say, I always get over this. Not tonight. I hit the rock without lifting up (because I'm not capable of doing that while actually going over an obstacle, just on pavement or gravel) and the front end went way up, turning the bars perpendicular to the frame, I over corrected and lost my balance and fell. Since I'm not accustomed to wrecking I didn't clip out and put my foot down to save myself from falling. Instead I held onto the bike and fell, but since I was on the edge of a cliff (fine it wasn't a cliff, but a STEEP drop off down an embankment to the swampish part of the lake) i didn't just land and stop - I landed and slid backwards down the 90 degree embankment, my ankle trapped between the bars and top tube, dragging the bike along with me. Luckily my bike got lodged between two tree limbs on edge of the trail, which kept me from tumbling into the swamp. Instead I tumbled halfway down the embankment on my back, upside down, suspended in the air, dangling by my ankle. Traumatic. Unfortunately the camera was in my camelbak and couldn't be accessed and then wouldn't work to document the aftermath. Once Morrison pulled himself off the ground from his hysterical fit, he untangled my ankle and lifted me back to safety. I managed to pedal back to the parking lot, but had to limp into Papas and Beer. To soften the blow I had a coke with dinner. The bruises seemed to wake up in the middle of the night having a party in my left leg that I wasn't invited to. Photos to come once they turn purple and black. I blame Kyle for this, since he was the one to request action. You wanted action, you got it. I almost died.