Lived!

I rode 3/4 of the mountain bike trail and lived to tell the tale! Woo-hoo ME! Some of you may remember my threats from last fall to get a nutcase 8-ball helmet and bling it out with rhinestone flames, and possibly devil horns. That never happened. Instead I got a modest little black number and glued words onto the back. "Rides like a girl"-- which I mean in the "as in totally pwntastically!" way, but in my case, for now, it is still kind of the "in your face you wussy girl" insulting way. For now.

I had some wins and some fails on my ride that break down like this:

Chickening out on some rocky downhill sections-- jury still out. Felt like a fail, but I didn't feel ready. Bravery fail-- Not getting killed win?

Screwing up my courage on a few downhills that looked scary, and one big bowl type deal with a swoopy s-curve running through it-- win!

Being overly cautious about my speed and chickening out on a big, banked downhill curve, causing my bike to slide down the embankment sideways and scraping my leg-- fail.

Dan's bike constantly skipping teeth and not shifting when asked, then suddenly skipping gears when not asked to-- equipment fail!

A bit of not cool waddling along, straddling the bike because I didn't quite make it all the way up the hill-- fail.

One girl-nad crunching incident due to slow reflexes-- fail.

Keeping going, even into one of the more advanced sections, heck, even trying this on a lame-o bike that doesn't fit all by myself-- WIN!

I talk all big, and do like being darey, but my self-preservation instinct is pretty strong. Plus, I know how eff'd I'll be if I get laid-up. It's not like I have Aflack, and I really go nuts if I can't burn it off every day. Nope, can't get big time injured. Have to be cautiously darey.

I have to say this is fun. I can tell if you have a bike that's responsive and you've had more hours in it could be really be a blast. I like the flowy feeling when things are going right, and how much it reminds me of riding horses. I like the feeling of my arms moving with the front of the bike, and my legs being shock absorbers. I REALLY like how you have to be constantly looking, thinking, evaluating. Half the time I didn't even know what was playing on the iPod, too focused on the trail. I think this will be really fun as I get better. I can't wait to feel confident enough to go down all the scary hills and go flying over little jumps and stuff.

Glad to be once again getting out of the box! Let me know if you ever want to try it. There are easy sections and harder ones, and like I said, you can always get off and walk through scary parts.

EDIT TO ADD;
The new miracle pants are a total success btw. They don't show sweat and seem to dry instantly, plus, didn't show the dirt from my one little spill. Later I was working and kneeling on the ground and they look totally clean and brand new! They are "rapid capri's" from Title 9, in case you're in the market.