"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns)
05/12/2015 at 13:08 • Filed to: None
22
7|
"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns)
05/12/2015 at 13:08 • Filed to: None | 22
| 7 |
I was reminded of a story this weekend... Years ago in high school, while my cohorts and I were all frantically trying to lose our virginity... My best friend started dating a girl and it was looking like his time might be at hand. Her family had a lake house about 3 hours from town. So one Friday night John told his parents he was staying over at my house, when in fact, he and Kristine met up to spent the night at her lake house........
I don’t know what happened at the lake house, but John, being worried that his mom might call in the am, decided to drive back to town early. So he left the lake house around 5:00 am to start driving home. Unfortunately, during the drive back, he fell asleep at the wheel and blasted through a barbed wire fence across a ditch and into a cow pasture. It didn’t total his (brand-new) car, but it came close. Needless to say, he was busted.
That afternoon, his Father sat him down and told him a story that’s stayed with me to this day.
The reason I remembered the story this weekend was because it’s been rainy and snowy as all get out here for weeks... But the precip stopped for a few hours on Saturday, so I thought I’d take advantage of it and blow the soot out of my Cagiva.
I had some epic fun on some 4x4 trails for a bit, then headed home down the mountain. As I was riding back towards town, my thoughts wandered.. to a certain woman... And because my mind was occupied with dirty, dirty carnal thoughts, I didn’t notice the patch of sand mid-corner in front of my bike.
I was shocked by how fast it happened. One second I’m on the bike doing about 40 mph, the next I’m on the pavement, and unfortunately, still doing 40 mph. I had on a big ballistic moto jacket, and a couple of pairs of pants (since it was cold and raining). I remember as I was sliding on my back I had the presence of mind to arch my back to put all my weight on my jacket with it’s back protector, and my boots... it worked. I came to a stop in the dirt after sliding around 100 ft feet across the road (seriously!). I was fine! My knee was sore from smacking the pavement, but all my flesh was intact!! In the top photo, the bike’s slide marks are obvious, but if you look closely, the green arrow shows my path across the pavement to where I slid home in the dirt.
The bike had slid a similar distance, ending up in a ditch on it’s side. After gathering myself up, I was able to restart the bike and ride/wrestle it down the gully till a point where I could pop it over the bank and out of the ditch.
Other than some scratched up plastics (which is no biggie on an enduro), a missing blinker and a slightly bent handlebar, all was well! I brushed off some of the dirt, tweaked the handlebar and drove home thinking how costly a few seconds’ worth of wandering mind can be....
But the story that John’s Dad told him after wrecking his car, that was resonating with me Saturday:
There once was a puppy playing by some train tracks. And as a train came by, the puppy got his tail caught in the wheels of the train and his tail got cut off. The puppy was so surprised he spun around, and got his head caught in the wheels, and the train cut his head off.
The moral of the story? Don’t lose your head over a piece of tail.
mazda616
> BobintheMtns
05/12/2015 at 13:17 |
|
Going to have to remember that! Good analogy.
I haven’t crashed due to “wandering mind”, but I have missed quite a few turns/exits before lol
Snuze: Needs another Swede
> BobintheMtns
05/12/2015 at 13:29 |
|
Haha, that’s a great story!
Also, cool bike. Glad you’re ok and that the bike isn’t too bad off either.
Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> mazda616
05/12/2015 at 13:43 |
|
I miss exits too... but usually it's because I don't like being "that guy" holding up traffic because I don't know exactly where I'm going. I prefer to go by and turn around :)
Baeromez
> BobintheMtns
05/12/2015 at 13:55 |
|
I’m a sucker for a story within a story within a story. Thanks for sharing.
JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> Snuze: Needs another Swede
05/12/2015 at 15:34 |
|
‘90’s ADV powers unite!
|
BobintheMtns
> JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
05/12/2015 at 15:59 |
|
Nice bikes! My other bike is a beemer..
functionoverfashion
> BobintheMtns
07/01/2015 at 09:15 |
|
Saw this on ‘best of Oppo’ and I have to say, when I’m out mountain biking by myself, I often find my mind wandering, especially during the long uphill climbs, at least the easy ones. That’s part of the deal, getting out in the woods to let my mind wander, right? But if it’s a technical section, I find that I fall way more often when I’m not concentrating on the task at hand.
Now, falling on a technical section uphill on a mountain bike usually consists of putting one foot on the ground and grabbing brakes, no big deal. But wow, going downhill on winding singletracks with trees close by on both sides, sharp corners and rocks everywhere... that’s a different story. And it’s another nice thing about biking, that it forces me to take my mind off everything else and concentrate on only this trail, right here, right now.