Local 4th of July ride

[RhinoDave]

Not quite as great as Terry's pictures but it's only a mile from my house. Thought I would snap a few pics of the 856 out in the woods where it's supposed to be. Trail is in Bald Mountain State Park and is about 11 miles long. It passes through mostly woods with numerous creeks, ponds and small lakes. I apologize in advance for the crappy picture quality. Combination of a cheap camera and lousey photographer. The ride didn't end the way I expected. Details to follow:
Nice downhill section

Bridge across a small creek

Through a nice section of older Pine forest

Open section of trail around a small lake

Aftermath of the sudden end of ride. Slight disagreement with an unexpected tree down across the trail in a fast downhill section and just around a curve. Too much speed to stop and not enough ability to completely bunny hop it. Front cleared but not the back. After the Superman OTB.

The bad news. Totaled helmut. Dislocated ring finger( I popped it back in place) and a very sore shoulder where I landed.
The good news. The bike is Okay.

[jeffhop]

sad to see the demise of a helmet but it means your head is ok, cracking looking trails you got there dave and only a mile from your house! i thought i was well off with  my local traisl 10 miles away.

[AndySV1K]

Thats such a missleading thread title!

Its not local to me at all, in fact its thousands of miles away! 


Nice pics by the way 

Andy.

[orange]

glad you're OK - our rule used to be if you get the chance save the bike - your bones will heal for free, but the bike costs!

[shovelon]

Ohhhh NICE!!!!!

Those pics are the bomb! I love them
Any skitters around the lake?

Funny how these mishaps just jump up and take you out.

Glad you did not hurt yerself more than you did. 
Terry

[RhinoDave]

First ride after the crash today. Just did a twenty mile out and back on a rail trail on my cross bike. Shoulder's still a little sore and theres no way the finger will tolerate any single track yet. Any little bump or jolt hurt but otherwise it was nice to get back on a bike. I'm pretty fortunate here in S.E Michigan. I live right in the middle of urban/suburban sprawl and can still ride my bike to three very nice singletrack trail systems and to over fifty miles of rail trail. We don't have Skeeters here. We call them Michigan Hummingbirds that bite. They are actually worse in the woods than around the lake in the open sunlight. You learn to change a flat like a NASCAR pit crew or end up dizzy from blood loss I got quite few bites taking the pictures I posted. Luckily I don't swell up like a lot of people.
Couple more pics just fer fun. Rest of the pictures are at

http://www.putfile.com/album/195108

[dcarr1971]

Glad to see you weren't hurt too bad...dislocated fingers aren't too serious, but they definitely aren't fun.

  Looks like a sweet bunch of trails you've got access to...I think I jealous of how flat everything looks.  Pittsburgh and SW PA in general is so hilly that you spend more time climbing than anything else.  When you're a big fat guy like me, that cuts into the enjoyment a little (but not enough to keep me from riding though.)

 The only upside to the hills is that most of the local ski resorts leave at least one lift on in the summer and for a nominal fee you can get a ticket to ride to the top of the mountain then ride down some pretty technical DH trails.  I think NORBA had races and even one of their championships here in the mid-to-late '90's right after I got my first Proflex (a 754 in the spring of 1996).  Its been a while since I followed that stuff, but I remember hearing that the professional riders complained that the DH trails were too tough.