I went mountain biking yesterday at Memorial again and something really cool happened. Besides getting lost in the secret trail (not so secret anymore) end ending up in a huge swamp of mud for which my drivetrain is thankful, someone helped me at a moment when it could not have been more appreciated.
Towards the end of my ride, I was getting a little tired and could feel my lungs struggling to find some air amidst the rampant humidity. I came to a dip in the trail littered with bulging roots snaking the dirt at angles just waiting to direct my wheels in the wrong direction, i.e., a tree, that would precipitously send my crotch into the handlebars.
I sought to avoid this unfortunate event and tried to get as much speed as possible to ‘float’ over the roots instead of letting them catch my wheel. Well, I didn’t get as much momentum as I wanted. Just my luck, I lost all momentum just as I was about to crest the other side of the dip. I let one hand go of the handlebar just in time to grab hold of the tree to keep myself from falling back down into the dip. The other hand held the brakes. Letting either one go proved problematic.
I should mention now that many cyclists invest in a set of pedals and shoes that “clip” together. That is, the shoe has a cleat that clicks into a spring-loaded mechanism built into the pedal. This makes for more efficient energy transfer because not only are you ‘pushing’ down on the pedals, but you can also ‘pull’ up, thus allowing you to make use of the entire pedal rotation.
So there I was, clipped into my pedals with one hand clutching a tree and the other clutching the brakes, precariously balanced on the crest of a dip. I didn’t want to let go of anything and I didn’t want to unclip from my pedals.
The moment I grabbed hold of the tree, I cursed (loudly) and the forest shuddered. But also, a guy on his bike standing 10 feet away from me noticed my predicament and came to the rescue. He shoved me up the crest, sent me on my merry way, and exclaimed “Keep going, dude!” as I thanked him profusely and cruised on through the trail.
Comments (5)
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haven't seen Breaking Away. and i have yet to watch the movie you gave me. i probably should have watched it over the break. oops.
Posted by p-man | February 10, 2007 8:15 PM
Posted on February 10, 2007 20:15
Why not just tape your feet to the pedals? It worked in <i>Breaking Away.</i>
Posted by Sam | February 10, 2007 8:15 PM
Posted on February 10, 2007 20:15
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ow. the nice things about unicycles is that that won't happen. there is no top tube.
Posted by swandive00 | February 10, 2007 8:15 PM
Posted on February 10, 2007 20:15
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it was like LOTR. the forest heard my words, it shuddered, and then the tree i was holding on to smacked me with a branch. yeah, the whole pedals-shoes thing takes some getting used to. they say to practice in a grassy field, cuz you'll be falling done quite a bit until you get used to twisting your feet to unclip from the pedals. but even now, like 6 years after i made the switch to the clips, i still screw up. it comes with the territory. the other fun part is trying to find your cleat when you're in a rush. for example, when you're heading down into a dip and are scrambling to find something to put your foot on. if you don't, your crotch will find the top tube of your bike.
Posted by p-man | February 10, 2007 8:15 PM
Posted on February 10, 2007 20:15
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did the forest shudder because of your cursing (loudly) or because it had a chill? i'm guessing that by attaching your shoes to your pedals you bank on the fact that you don't fall off of your bike very often. i fall very often when not on a bike so think it's a bad idea for me to attach my shoes to anything save my feet, and even then tenuously (hence my almost year-round prediliction for flip-flops)
Posted by swandive00 | February 10, 2007 8:15 PM
Posted on February 10, 2007 20:15