Wrap Up

Aside from numerous distractions this morning, including one incessant reminder on my wife's phone and two calls from my boss, I did get to sleep in more than usual today.

I got to laze around, I got the house to myself and enjoyed the peace and quiet while I fiddled around online and had a late breakfast.

I opted to head out for a ride thinking the trails and the park itself would be mostly deserted. And I was right.

I took this during a river crossing (the park service puts up temporary bridges across the waterways). I ended up doing two loops in the park, taking my time and enjoying the scenery, listening to music and having fun on my bike.

Not a bad way to spend a birthday at all. Sure beats working!

Brushes with Nature

I got out for a bike ride on Saturday morning to take advantage of the great weather and to get a little exercise in before my day of daycare kicked into gear. I rode out to one of my schools to shoot some more handlebar cam video to use for a project at the school.

And then I headed out to the far end of the slough. On my way there, I came across an egret on the trail and was able to shoot some up close video. The result is what you see below:

Not too shabby for a little pocket cam.

Veteran's Day Family Fun

We had a fun holiday today and took advantage of the amazing fall weather we get in Santa Cruz. It took some effort but we loaded up the car with two bikes, the Wee Ride and the Trail-a-Bike.

We parked outside of Natural Bridges on the northern end of town and pedaled down to West Cliff, followed it all the way down to the lighthouse (with the wind) and then back out to Natural Bridges.

Due to technical difficulties, both Sully and Grady rode with me. Sully in his perch on the Wee Ride with a great view and well protected inside my arms. Grady trailing behind me on his one-wheeled Trail-a-Bike. His legs aren't long enough to pedal but he's trying. And he gets to learn how to hang on and lean and get comfortable on two wheels. But he is alot closer to needing his own bike to learn on his own.

But we'll cross that bridge when we have to. For now, it is alot easier to keep us all moving in the same direction together.

We had a nice snack break in the crow's nest above the beach and both the boys were ready to go riding some more. Which makes this two wheeling poppa very happy! I shot some video of the ride but it doesn't get us with on the bike, just the path in front of us.

A quick thought about walkers, they seem to tend to expand all the way across a path if they can. And single walkers will almost invariably walk down the middle of the path regardless of oncoming or overtaking traffic. Kind of odd but it was alright. No close calls at all is a good ride (and no scratches to allow the skin eating bacteria in to eat me alive, Su).

Really a perfect way to spend a day off for Veteran's Day.

We Have Launch!

We got out for a good ride through lower Nisene Marks yesterday, withthe two dogs and later hooked up with a buddy and his dog too.

We also exploredsome tails that I'd never run before that were quite spectacular. Technical singletrack along the side of a hillwith sweeping dropoffs down to the creek below. Loads of fun and only partially sucky because I rammed a branch into my rear derailleur early on. It made my shifting a little wonky but workable.

After someloops and a good deal of sweating, we headed back out to the trailhead. Because we haven't gotten any rain in a few weeks, it was dusty and I was already parched. Distraction, tiredness and a root conspired to turn my ride into a short flight with an abrupt landing.

I was riding last in the group and had too much dust in my eyes so I couldn't see the root too well. And that was all she wrote, I went sailing over my bars which had suddenly turned sideways on me. My left shoulder and hip bore the brunt of the fall but I rolled through it and ended up back on my feet about five feet down the trail from where I started.

After a quick damage assessment, I straightened my bars out, tested my brakes and took off after my pals. Both bar end caps broke off so now I had two sharp holes pointing out front. My shoulder was abraded up a bit, my hip was purpling but I came through it pretty okay and happy as I've not wiped out in a good long while and figured I got off easy.

I'm fairly sore today but that was to be expected. A couple of Advil seems to do the trick. And I'll need to get some time fixing my bike back up again. But I'm looking forward to our next ride already!

[Update: I got forwarded a news blurb about a serious accident that took place in the same area we were riding, just a few hours later. Check it out.

Mountain biking couple fell 80 feet in Nisene Marks
A husband and wife were riding down the fire road on mountain bikes in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park Monday toward nightfall when the woman lost control of her bicycle, left the road and went down a sheer vertical cliff about 80 feet to a creek, according to Capt. Greg Hansen of the Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District.

The victims were flown to an out-of-county trauma center, but Hansen was not sure of their status. He was uncertain whether they were a local couple or from out of town.

The man thought he could slide down to reach the woman, but he ended up falling down the cliff as well, said Hansen.

The couple sustained major injuries, including a broken hip and dislocated or broken shoulder for the man, and broken ribs and a broken nose for the woman. Both had possible back fractures, said Hansen.

A state park employee was riding his bike by the scene, heard calls for help and rode to a phone to call for emergency services at 8 p.m., according to Hansen.

Fire crews, an off-duty park ranger and a civilian worked for four hours to retrieve the victims, using a rope system and baskets.

Very scary stuff. It sounds like they were unfamiliar with the area, it was getting dark and they didn't have lights. Still, I hope they are alright and live to ride another day. I'm not sure I know where this happened but there are plenty of places with 80 foot and more dropoffs. Its part of the beauty and fun of riding there. But it is also pretty dangerous in some places.]