Jen's Journal

Never having ridden the whole racecourse in one go, I was excited and nervous. How was the four to five-hour epic ride going to treat me? It all started as it should, up, up and up to Alice Lake. Here is where I managed to flat my tire. It took all three of us cursing and sweating to get the skinny tire, (2.1") off and then back on to the not-so-skinny rim. In retrospect it was probably just a slow leak. No hole was ever found, though we did get a nice breather.

Onward we continued. Following the course up the hike-a-bike, down the Corners, down the road, up the road, over the bridge, up the trail, past the Powerhouse water station, up Bonk Hill, past the rock blasting area, to the top of 9-mile hill, (HOORAY), and on to the Ring Creek Rip. At this point I was ready to enjoy the fruits of my labour, approximately 10 kilometres of downhill. We were 47-kilometres into the ride with only 20 more to go. I won?t lie, I was getting tired!

Like a shot I took off down the trail. I was hovering in the speed slightly below being out of control, and slightly above my usual comfort zone. I was loving the rush, thinking of all the other riders who wouldn?t dare go this fast. High on adrenaline and delusional from exhaustion, I spotted an exposed rock. I decided that I would hop it. That went all right, until I hit the landing. At that exact moment my right arm gave up. With my feeble grip I tried to brake. To the left of the trail I saw a fallen tree. As I have recently learned, your bike follows your line of sight.

KaBAAM, I hit the tree trunk square on. At this point I remember fear, air, and landing headfirst. I quickly tried to jump up, got half way up and collapsed back. I could hear Lars? bike screech to a stop behind me then his laughter, ?Holy cow, that, {ha ha ha}, was awesome! Are you ok, {ha ha ha}?!??

?No!?

That shut him up pretty quick. Luckily, and I mean luckily, when I finally got up and walked around to access the crash scene, there were no major injuries. My right ankle was bleeding, my legs and middle were bruised, and my neck was getting a bit stiff. I had landed a good 5 feet from the log. Using my investigation expertise I pieced together the crash. I had gone headfirst over the handlebars and log. The bike followed and was launched over me. It was found 12-feet down trail from where I had landed.

When we finally got going again I was a little more sheepish. At this point I had no desire to attempt the last few kilometers of the course. We took the Garabaldi Park Road out.

Thanks to Andrew and Lars for not making me feel too bad about falling on the easiest bit of the whole ride. Now I have something to do this afternoon, buy a new helmet.