The Daily Grind

By Rob Manning

Where's the gauze?

Ever hear of the expression “curiosity killed the cat?” I’ve heard that all my life, and while I’ve found it to be true, I would like to amend it to include something else. Not only curiosity, but CONFIDENCE also kills the cat (2 lives down, 7 to go at this point.) There’s a deadly combination of confidence and curiosity that can easily get the better of us out on the trail, and it is this combination that deserves a little more attention.

Having said that, gather around kids, for it’s story time. A few weeks ago I was out for a nice long ride with a few regular riding buddies, on a gorgeous spring day (really one of the first good ones of the year.) The trails were quite dry considering the recent rain, and in pretty good shape considering the rough, windy winter we had suffered through. The trails were flowy and technical, but nothing to cause any sort of problem. It was a rough, anaerobic ride that really pounded the hell out of us, but I sucked up singletrack, roots, rocks, berms, puddles and drops with divine courage and utmost confidence; thinking back on it, that confidence may have been my downfall in the end.

As we got into the end of our brutal ride and we all started to bonk, and I mean really bonk bad, we jumped onto the fire roads for our ride back to the car. I paused about 200 yards short of the parking lot, knowing that there was a really bitchin’ rock jump into the parking lot. In effort to maximize the exposure factor, I let everyone get there ahead of me, built up a full head of steam and blasted onto it. Little did I realize that my confidence let my mind wander just a microsecond during the approach. I say little did I realize because I didn’t really notice that something was wrong until I was in the air, and positioned incorrectly for landing. I managed to get the front end down safely, and get the rear end down to the ground, but the rear wheel washed out from under me and I fell hard on my left elbow.

Keep in mind that I don’t wear pads or body armor of any kind (not for XC riding, no chance). I skid a good 5 feet on my exposed elbow. The first thoughts in my head were “is the bike ok?” and “is the camera ok?” When both were satisfactorily answered, I stood up to realize that my elbow was pouring blood onto what looked like a crime scene painted on the pavement- Thrilling.

A trip to the ER revealed a sprained left shoulder, deep unstitch-able abrasions on my left elbow, a bruised left elbow, bruised left hip, road rash on my left upper and lower arm and left ankle, and a sprained right thumb. Bike damage was very minimal, with just a funky chip in the paint.

So, for the past 3 weeks I’ve been a non-rider, and I’ve had a lot of time to think. I’ve come to the conclusion that not just curiosity but confidence can certainly kill out there as well, but also what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I don’t think I’ll be hucking that jump again any time soon, but maybe I’ll go find one that’s bordered by nice soft dirt somewhere. Oh….wait. There’s the curiosity I spoke of. I’m doomed either way.

In the mean time I have a new quote that’s becoming part of my daily vocabulary: “Where’s the gauze?”