- Jan 25, 2000
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As I headed toward Victorville it was raining like mad, so my first thoughts were “What kind of lunacy am I getting myself into?” However, when I arrived at Deep Creek, conditions weren’t too bad, so it looked like a decent day for riding.
Heading out on the first loop, speeds were pretty low. I went through the first check looking at my differential time instead of my key time (I wonder how many times I’ve made that mistake)? The second check was a surprise, as the checkers were hidden in a clever location.
Near the beginning of the second loop, I decided that I would ride off to one side of the trail, as there was much less mud there than on the beaten path. The first thing I hit was a sharp looking thing protruding from the ground (I could almost feel the tire puncture as I went across). It wasn’t long after that I could hear the pitty-pat of the flat rear tire.
My arms were like limp noodles already, so I didn’t need the additional clutching, directional correction and traction in the more technical sections that the flat tire gave. Everything went downhill from there. I crashed twice – once in the V dropoff before the second check and once again in a rocky uphill that had me fighting the bike (baweeeee-bawweee-burp).
Unfortunately, the second crash had me landing face first into a cactus/palm tree (the ones that sorta look like a punk rockers spikey hairdo) and one of the spines poked a decent sized hole in my face. The first thing I noticed was a numbing sensation similar to that of a dentist’s freezing. But this was an enduro, and in enduros you must endure. Good thing we had rain, otherwise there may have been coyote urine on the cactus. When I got back to camp at the finish, I could see that my face had swollen to look like a lop sided (bloody) chipmunk. :yikes:
Overall, the course wasn’t too difficult, it’s just that I was a dime short of a full dollar (in more ways than one). :joke:
Heading out on the first loop, speeds were pretty low. I went through the first check looking at my differential time instead of my key time (I wonder how many times I’ve made that mistake)? The second check was a surprise, as the checkers were hidden in a clever location.
Near the beginning of the second loop, I decided that I would ride off to one side of the trail, as there was much less mud there than on the beaten path. The first thing I hit was a sharp looking thing protruding from the ground (I could almost feel the tire puncture as I went across). It wasn’t long after that I could hear the pitty-pat of the flat rear tire.
My arms were like limp noodles already, so I didn’t need the additional clutching, directional correction and traction in the more technical sections that the flat tire gave. Everything went downhill from there. I crashed twice – once in the V dropoff before the second check and once again in a rocky uphill that had me fighting the bike (baweeeee-bawweee-burp).
Unfortunately, the second crash had me landing face first into a cactus/palm tree (the ones that sorta look like a punk rockers spikey hairdo) and one of the spines poked a decent sized hole in my face. The first thing I noticed was a numbing sensation similar to that of a dentist’s freezing. But this was an enduro, and in enduros you must endure. Good thing we had rain, otherwise there may have been coyote urine on the cactus. When I got back to camp at the finish, I could see that my face had swollen to look like a lop sided (bloody) chipmunk. :yikes:
Overall, the course wasn’t too difficult, it’s just that I was a dime short of a full dollar (in more ways than one). :joke: