FUCKING WEEDS!

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

All motorcycles go down. It happens to everyone. I think like most, I didn't really think it would happen to me.

And now, as I sit here writing this entry from a wheelchair, I realize how arrogant I was...

Ok... that was an exaggeration... I'm not sitting in a wheelchair, but I easily could be!

I have a friend who races his bike from time to time. A few days ago he and I were discussing this road where all the hotshots hang out and do their riding. "Lime Creek Road..." he explained, "is not for the timid or the newbies! Make sure you lemme know before you go out there."

I'm not timid, but I definitely qualify as a newbie and so as I was riding around yesterday afternoon I got the wild hair up my ass to go take a look for myself.

No... I didn't call him.

It's definitely not for the timid or the newbies...

This stretch of blacktop winds it's way in a series of single-laned, tight, blind curves through Volente where it ends up at Anderson Mill road. The first time, I took it nice and easy. I just eased my way around each curve and tried to get the feel of it.

It's like the first time you ever have sex with someone... you know.. you know don't really know her body... you just wanna kinda go easy and make sure there aren't any weird bumps or pot-holes or anything like that.

So anyway, I did fine the first time out, and as I came to the end, I noticed about 37 bikes all parked on the side of the road. The riders were standing there, chitty chatting and whatnot. As I went past, a couple people took off going the way I had come from.

I turned myself around and went back for another shot. This time, I noticed a couple bikes behind me. The pressure was on.

I knew I had to balance the adrenaline rush I was getting w/the fact that I just don't know how to ride curves very fast. As I approached each curve, I took a nice, slow, relaxed, deep breath and let it out.

It's like the first time you ever have sex with someone... you know... it's like you can't believe it's happening and you're afraid if you get to into it too much, too quickly, something might happen to bring it all screeching to a halt... so you try to control your breath and stay relaxed...

So anyway, I'm going around these twisties, and I can feel these guys behind me. I can tell they wanna go faster but there's no way I can push it any harder. I just don't have the skills. Finally, as we are approaching the last curve I decide to open it up a little bit more. I twist on the throttle and ease into it, only to find I'm already in the oncoming lane!

I don't remember how fast I was going in this last curve. I figure it was around 50 or 55 or something. What I do remember was thinking, "Oh shit... I gotta get out of here!" I figured an oncoming car might be just around the other side of this thing and it was gonna suck to meet it head-on.

I made the decision to head directly toward the wall in front of me rather than take the time to get back into my own lane. I figured I might just have enough time to come to a stop before hitting the wall. Basically, I was right! I was able to get the bike down to a crawl and was thinking it was all good when...

It's like when you're having sex and ...

I fell over.

My front tire dropped into a little ditch on the shoulder about 5 feet from the wall I had been trying not to hit and my bike literally just fell over w/me on it.

The guys who had been coming behind me stopped and helped me up. I had a scraped hand and torn jeans. Other than that, I was fine. The bike has a dented tank and a bent rear brake pedal..

Once the guys knew I was okay, they started talking to each other...

"Too eager... "
"Yeah... First timers... "

I thanked them and got back on the bike. It was weird. I didn't feel shaky or nervous. I guess I just felt a little embarassed. I really wanted to slink away. But something told me it was the wrong move. How was I going to maintain any self-respect if I left at that point?

It's like when you have sex with someone for the first time... sometimes it doesn't go the way you want it to. "Too eager... First timers... chuckle chuckle... snicker snicker..." If you sneak away... don't call back... don't try to make it right... it's gonna make it worse the next time... It's better to just shake it off and try again.

So, I turned the bike around, climbed back on, started it up, and headed back for another go. I took it that 3rd time w/o incident and was able to ride home knowing Lime Creek had not conquered me.