"It's like lightnin'..."

Hey people. First up for Fav Music Fri we have a reader submission (Thanks Rich Z!). This is so cool, at least check out the beginning-- an a cappella thunderstorm-- then a cool version of "Africa" originally by Toto.



Okay, now I have to fill you in on other SueNews: (and there will be more music too)

So I had my first actual mountain bike crash the other day and it was a doozie. I was at the top of this huge hill when I saw some guys coming up behind me (the trail winds all over so you can see someone pass in front of you through the trees even and they can still be coming from behind). I yelled to Pam that I was going to let them pass, because I knew they'd be bummed to have to follow chicken me down this big exciting hill.

This is the kind of hill that makes "Ballroom Blitz" fire-up in my head-- the part where he screams, "OOOOHHH YEEAHHH-- It's like lightnin'..." In fact, let's just take a quick break to check out bloodied up chicks kicking total ass to that song to get us all in the mood for my harrowing tale of mayhem.



Ok- back to the three bikey dudes.

One of them said, "Thanks, you didn't have to stop though." I go, "Well, I didn't want to become a ramp." Har har-- mtb guy joke-- If you fall down supposedly they can yell "ramp" and use you for a jump. Earlier in the day I'd also joked with my 94 year old grandma about riding. She said it seemed pretty "risky" of me and I said, "Yeah, imagine how hard it will be for me to find gals to ride with when I'm your age." (All I can picture now is 94 year old me exploding into a cloud of dust and moths if this were to happen to super old me.)

So these guys go zooming down and I thought-- "I should quit being such a chicken and just fly down this thing." Zooooom.

Yeah, well, there's a little jump near the bottom that when you're going slow enough is merely a hump. Right when my front wheel got to it I felt gravity piling into me from behind and thought-- "Holy crap-- I'm going to get way more air than I know what to do with." I have no idea how to actually land a jump and pictured myself sort of disintegrating on impact, so I hit the brakes thinking if I could just slow down enough before the apex I could maybe ride it out. Well, didn't have time to really think anything else because I immediately flew over the handle bars and the next thing I knew I was on the ground doing a systems check.

Pam said I basically Super-maned it-- giant, flying, head-first belly flop on solid ground, with Penny tumbling though the air behind me, and then landing on me. (Thank God I broke her fall! Poor Penny!)

I felt like I'd been hit by a car. First thing was, I could breath, and move-- I got out of the way in case anyone was coming. Then I saw blood dripping all over. Pam yells-- "You okay?" Me, "Not good." I know faces bleed like crazy. A facial injury can be not really bad at all and bleed all over. (I learned this when the framework for a dropped ceiling fell on my face when I was trying to trap a pidgeon with a broom at an old job I had once. Long story. Pidgeon-1 Me -0. )

My teeth hurt but they were all in. I didn't want to try to wiggle them too much though. I could see the tip of my nose so knew it wasn't smashed up into my head-- another good sign. I got a hockey puck in the nose once and this hurt at least that bad (another trying to play with boys gone wrong tale).

Pam came over and looked at me and went, "Holy crap!" and got me a leaf to wipe some of the blood off with. Then she goes, "Okay, how do we get out of here?" This was kind of funny-- it's an old joke between us, but is for real too. I always know where we are, but always get left and right screwed up (just saying them, I always know the right direction), and she never knows where we are at all. I was in major pain, shaking like crazy, and kind of spacey, but knew I had a ton of adrenaline on board and had better get moving and get out of the woods while I still could, so we started pushing the bikes out.

The scariest part was that everything went white-- I couldn't see anything. I told her, "Be sure to yell if anyone comes because we are walking against traffic and I can't see shit." Also I couldn't walk straight. I just concentrated on breathing and covering as much ground as possible. When we got to the road I could see better. She rode for the car while I staggered along with Penny.

On the ride home everything went white again and I was sweating and feeling like I could go out any second so I told her to take me to Fairview. By the time we got there and found out they no longer have urgent care I could see again and felt better. So she took me home. I took a super long shower and changed into clean good girl undies and clothes I wouldn't be too bummed to have cut off me just in case things went south and hit the sofa. Dan rubbed my ankle- the only non-hurty part of me and wisely didn't lecture me.

All in all I was lucky. The helmet totally saved my butt. I got a huge bruise on my forehead where it dug in, my nose bled on and off for about a day after but is basically the same shape it was aside from a little bump where I'm pretty sure I broke it again. I got some good bruises on my elbow, knees, hip, and one of my legs is all numb but works. I broke some ribs, but I'm already feeling way better. Luckily nothing had to be casted or whatever, and I didn't get black eyes or a fat lip like I thought for sure I would. Everything still works.

This was a good lesson. My usual mode is to be cautious. Right before this hill Pam and I had been joking about how-- "Better to be a big chicken than a paraplegic" "Yeah, any kind of plegic = not good." hahaha. Next time I ride this hill it will be at my usual "Driving Miss Daisy" pace. I'm sure my knees will feel a little wobbly but I will do it. This was just one of those learning things. All it takes is a split second bad decision-- but it's still the most fun I've had in years and I'm totally going back over there in a couple days when the ribs feel up to it. :)

Wow. Badass huh?

The only other SueNews is that I decided to have an art open house at the end of July, Aug 2nd that is, and you can find out more about that over on the ART BLOG. Check it out if you're into that kind of thing.