This sort of thing may be why my arms aren’t all that hairy.
I went back to JB today, to put in a couple solid (not hammering, but not being lazy either) laps on my mountain bike. The next big challenge I’m getting ready for is the 6 hour enduro there, so I thought it would be prudent to start getting in as many miles as I could.
What you see above is the result of an almost-crash. Sometimes, even at 90% pace, you pick a line just a hair wrong, or enter a corner just a hair shallow, and have to really squeeze past a tree. I just barely squeezed past the one that left this scuff on my arm, but avoided banging it with my bar and crashing violently. It’s a minor bruise, but it’s a reminder to never lose your concentration on singletrack, because something may just jump out and bite ya’.
What’s more amazing to me is how often this sort of thing happens, and how seldom I crash as a result. It’s a rare ride around here that I don’t bang my arm, or shoulder, or my bar end, or brush my pack against a tree, just trying to squeeze everything I can out of a corner, or flow a section a little faster. But, despite coming as close as one can come, I don’t crash very often. I guess I’ve finally reached the point of riding instinctively, where I can bend body and bicycle around without thinking, and where my vision and my body can work together to make it all happen. It’s a cool feeling, almost like being invincible. But my bruised forearm will remind me that I’m not.