crashtime....

ive posted quite a bit on here last 2 days,well because ive had an enforced lay off from cycling...
so i went out the other night on the karate monkey with the new maxxis ardent tyres,i expected a bit drag on the road despite having got the harder 70a compound and still pumped up to 40 psi as they are after all mtb tyres,i was rolling along fine on them,not much worse than the semi slick halo twin rails,yes there was a buzz from them but there not a drag on tarmac, i decided to do the 23 mile loop that takes in the local ridgeroad and river tyne pathway which is often a nightride for me in winter,climbing up to the highest point of the ridge road i stopped for a breather as its a mile of moderate climb,also into a headwind from home (4 miles to here),took a photo...

although it was an overcast evening i had still brought a camera with me so i clipped it onto the mount above the front tyre,rolling down the road to cut into the sweet bit of singletrack descent alongside the road i recently cleared with the chainsaw...



i thought that i should drop a bit air out the tyres then thought `oh it will be fine as it is` ....,i wasnt going that fast and you can hear i was mostly freewheeling...,there was quite alot of loose leaves in the trail,about halfway down the front just washed out and i went down like a ton of bricks knocking the wind out of me,you can here the groan caught on the minute long film,ive slowed the crash down 4 times too and you see its after ive come out the corner it slid out..,weird,pity i hadnt had the camera on my helmet then maybe be a better view of the crash!
48 hours later and my waist is swollen up and sore to touch and a cracking bruise has come up (thats swelling.. not a love handle!!)

and the usual skinned elbow..

i had to sit a bit after to get my breath back and i felt sick,funny how the relief of nothing serious done makes you feel a bit better even though your slightly in shock!!,a crash like that could of been alot worse after all,cracked or broken ribs,broken collerbone,teeth knocked out hitting a tree,or worse still damage done to the bike!!!,it was fine as was the tachyon camera that did hit the ground and was unscathed,maybe a front fork would have saved the front end washing out..,probably just letting 10 psi out the tyres would have made the deference,oh well..one things for sure-the older you get the harder the ground gets...