from dirtblog / MG
dude is mostly metal and knows about breaking.

Last night’s ride was awesome overall, but our good buddy Beerorkid took a spill in a corner. Normally it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, but his collarbone was on the mend from a wipeout earlier in ‘06. I say was because he’s now back to square one in his recovery. It’s broken again. That little spill on his right side was just enough to snap the still-mending bone.

Steve, as always, took the turn of events with laughter and good humor, but in that moment we all felt the weight of his pain on our hearts. Luckily Steve got a hold of his girl and she met us at Old Cheney with amazing speed. As they pulled away, we turned our cycles Northward and rode in relative silence, stunned at the unfortunate turn of events for our friend.

2006 has been a cruel season for a lot of people. Just this past weekend, Sydney B. and Big Dave D. had a head-on in Wilderness that left both with broken bikes, not to mention the physical pain both sustained. CVO’s gotten his share of calls from the grim reaper too, and Emily… that was just a heart breaker to see her go down the night before the HFF. She’s on her way to being back on the bike now though. There have been others too… it’s been tough all around.

JP ditched on the ride last night, citing burnout with the park. And to a certain extent, I can’t blame him. We ride there a lot. A LOT. It’s our local trail. The one local trail we have that’s within easy riding distance. The park is incredibly awesome right now — traction has never been better, but sometimes an increased number of options would be awfully nice.

The only thing keeping me from the same condition as JP is the traction available in the park right now. It’s prodigious. You can hit corners with a precision and overall line choice flexibility that is unmatched any other time of the year. The cooler weather tightens the dirt up really nicely, and there’s just enough moisture in the dirt to let the knobs grab hold. I love it!

When JP called to tell me he wasn’t going to ride last night, he also told me that last night’s full moon had a name — it was the Long Night’s Moon — the closest full moon to the longest night of the year. And I have to say it was a spectacularly beautiful full moon too. It’s just setting now, in fact — at 9am Wednesday morning.

Have a super day!