Someone, somewhere or something does not want me riding my Pugsley. But I am going to fight it and keep on pedaling.
Monday night was my triumphant return to biking, and not a moment too soon. I was starting to get a little antsy and cranky, plus my legs were getting twitchy, because of my 10 day spell off the bike. So to test the back and see how it felt, I just got on the trainer and did a quick hour of zone 2 pedaling. Sure, it wasn’t the most fun, or maybe not the most productive workout, but it was needed to see how I felt. And I felt. No pain while on the bike and less than usual once I got back off. Seems like I was good to go.
Last night was a horrible night back on the Pugs. I got on, turned on all the lights and headed down to the train tracks to use the sled trails. The trails were in great shape for riding because of the recent melt, rain and solid freeze. I could have easily ridden a regular mountain bike with no issues. About 10 minutes in, there was a bad patch of super soft snow. It looked like a sled got dug in and tore everything up. I braced myself and thought I would just float over it. Well, it was significantly deeper and softer than I thought and my front wheel went straight down. I went from 13 mph to laying on the ground in about 2 seconds. When the dust settled and I finished giggling to myself, I picked up the bike, but my light was dangling. Somewhere in the 2 flips I did, the handlebar mount hit something and broke.
I was not about to let that slow me down. I got back on the bike, put the light in my hand and just held the light. I got out about 20 more minutes and on a wicked downhill and went down hard on a slick spot of ice. I would have been better prepared for the ice, bit I couldn’t see it. Darn broken light bracket. Another fall going 13 mph again. Plus, I lost another water bottle in the crashes.
The land on the ground sent a shock up my spine and after laying there a bit, I decided it was not meant to be. There was no way I was going to go out there and give it another shot with a busted light, so I limped my way home to save myself from falling again and really hurting myself.
That makes 3 out of 4 rides on the Pugsley bad news. Let’s hope that ratio changes quickly..
