It just so happened that Labor Day weekend was a 4-day weekend for both Mr X and I. Since we had the Friday preceding Labor Day off as well, we decided to take advantage of the fact that the mountains would be slightly less crowded that day and we went up to ride a trail that we've been wanting to ride for some time. It's not a mountain biking trail or anything. Just a peaceful and beautiful paved trail that runs from the base of the Copper Mountain ski area up to the top of Vail Pass. I didn't bring my camera but I scoured the interweb for other people's camerawork of the trail. Here's what it looks like:
It's only 12 miles, round-trip, but the first half is uphill the entire way and it's rather exhausting. The way back down is exhilarating - you hardly even have to pedal and you just fly down! When you're going that fast though the turns can be a bit sketchy. Mr X is much more brave than I am - he zooms past me and then has to actually stop so that I can catch up because I am a big chicken and I ride my brakes a lot on the way down.
The funny/dumb thing about this particular outing was that once we had pretty much finished our ride and we were meandering towards our car we decided to try to see if we could 'pop wheelies' on our bikes. Getting the front tire was pretty easy but then we decided to try to get the back tire in the air. Mr X could do it but that's no surprise because he's better at everything than me. He got to the car first and was getting it opened up while I was still behind him trying to get my stupid back bike tire in the air.
Eventually I was successful in my efforts to get my back tire up. So successful, in fact, that I somehow managed to get my back tire entirely above my head because I almost completed a back flip on my bike. I say almost because I certainly didn't land it - rather I landed us (me and my bike) on my side. My bike and I suffered only minor injuries, thank goodness. I walked away with palm-fuls of gravel and gruesome looking bruises all over one thigh and knee. My bike's chain fell off and the guard around the chain was mangled so badly the chain wouldn't go back on. And the bike seat had somehow turned pretty much 90 degrees so whoever rode the bike would have been sitting "side-saddle" so-to-speak.
I was just glad I pulled that dumb stunt at the very end of our excursion rather than the beginning, or the middle for that matter. And Mr X, to his credit, didn't point and laugh as he watched my acrobatics. He actually came running to my side to make sure I didn't just kill myself. Of course, after he'd ensured I was all in one piece he let himself laugh.
1 comment:
Are you crazy or what? Tires were meant to stay on the ground! You really could get badly broken! Then you guys couldn't have all those fun excursions. I think your bike needs to see the bike doctor before the next excursion. The riders ought to see a shrink. I did like the old lady picture. Maybe it is Grandma G.
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