Anatomy of a crash

There are 5 easy steps to every crash.

1. The Unbeknownst
2. The Anticipation
3. The Brace
4. The Impact
5. The Consequences


The Unbeknownst
You feel calm, collected, and confident as you blitz into each obstacle at mach seven. Your mind races, struggling to keep up with your pace. Everything is within your limits, so far... except this time you slide a little further than expected, you can't stop in time, or you didn't take into account that one rock. You feel your plan starting to derail like a loaded down freight train. There is just too much inertia to deal with in too little time.

The Anticipation
The train is derailing and you know it. You can feel the ground coming at you like a speeding bullet. You know this is going to hurt... a lot. You get mad that it came to this. At this point you are trying to limit the damage. Observe what is going wrong and try to create the best plan of attack. Do you ditch it or try to ride it out? Quick, make a decision, the ground is coming up fast.

The Brace
Zero G as you are free falling. You feel the contents of your stomach drift upwards. You lose your sense of balance. It's quiet peaceful, but, this is just the calm before the storm. You know it's coming, you can see it, you can feel it. You're getting closer to the ground. Hopefully you have put yourself in the best position to survive what is about to happen. Brace yourself.

The Impact
There it is, the ground. You've been dreading this moment for the past 900 milliseconds. You feel your body compress as it slams into the ground. Close your eyes and try to relax, it will all be over soon. Each rock and root punish you as the massive amount of kinetic energy you are carrying is converted to heat and sound. You bounce off the ground like a child's basketball. Everything goes limp as you are free falling again, this time it's only a brief release from the oncoming pain. The ground is coming up again.

The Consequences
You're still sliding as you open your eyes. You can't make sense of anything. You can't tell which way is up. Once Newton's first law has run its course you come to a stop.  There is a sense of peace that washes over your body like a cold wave, it's finally over. The dust settles as you begin to check each limb. Wiggle your toes, wiggle your fingers, okay good, those still work. It can't be that bad. Where does it hurt? Are all my bones still in one piece? Pain signals crawl up through your nervous system towards your brain. You feel the damaged parts of your body engulf in a non existent fire. FUCK. The only four letters you can muster up. This is where your recovery starts.

Bar Bikes, Shit Bikes, Townies, and Beaters

People call them lots of names. Here is my shit bike. I think its a 1997 Gary Fisher Wahoo. It's a size too small and pretty ugly. I have something like $150 into it so far. It's got the cheapest slick tires money can buy, some fenders, a FAT saddle, swept bars, and a BADASS folding basket.  It's pretty enduro too with the single chain ring up front and wide range 7 speed cassette in the back. This beauty scoots me to class, work, the grocery store, and the bar. The saddle and handle bars force you into a completely erect riding position which has been optimized to make you appear like a total boner. Who is the boner when you come rolling up on this bad boy with a basket full of shitty beer and ringing your bell? I am. My friends make fun of me while I'm on it, but when I offer them a ride they can't help but smile. With all of these amazing features I can't help but recommend building a cheap bar bike of you own. Make it shitty, but not that shitty. Like functionally shitty.

2014 A Year in Review

With only a few days left of 2014 I thought I would take some time to look back at the year and see where I have come from and where I want to go. The season had an amazing start. My friend Dalton was graduating and had this epic grand tour of the US planned as a last hurrah before he started work. He would hit all the Meccas of mountain biking and he was looking for friends to share the journey with. My friend Andy and I immediately jumped at the opportunity and decided to join him for the first 2 weeks. Houghton was still snowed in at the end of April so no riding was to be had here. I loaded up the car after final exams and headed back home. After the long drive home I met up with Andy who lives just down the road from me. We set our sights west and started to drive. We had an amazing time and met lots of new and old friends along the way. There isn't a day where I don't look back on those 2 weeks.

Photo: Justin Barber

The trip really jump started my season both physically and mentally. I was on a big slow bike and out of shape. Andy and Dalton were much better pedalers and on much more pedal friendly bikes. I got beat up to say the least. After getting back into Houghton I started working back at the local bike shop Rhythm and riding consistently after work. I was getting faster. I could feel it. The first race of the season rolled around and I brought my A game. The Miner's Revenge race is known for its gnarly technical XC course and flatout DH course. I raced the short XC and the DH. DH was up first. Practice was solid and I did the things I needed to do to feel comfortable at speed. I ended up finishing 4th. I was dreading the XC race as I was pretty spent after the DH race. The course was wet, slippery, and deadly, so I decided to go really hard at the start and stay ahead of the shit show that would quickly develop behind me. I was 3rd off the line then picked off the 2 leaders on the first climb. Behind me were 3 really fast guys. We got to top of the first hill with a huge lead and we all stopped for a breather as the pace was pretty insane. We all looked at each other for a second then continued I dropped back to 4th and held on. I slipped back to 6th by the end of the race. I am really proud of these results.

Photo: Christopher Schmidt

After Miner's Revenge my friend Noah and I started to film a promotional video for our cycling club. He managed to capture one of my hardest crashes in glorious HD. He is planning on releasing the video in 2015 sometime. 

Then I managed to bruise the end of my femur in a small fall which almost took me out for the rest of the season!

Photo: The X-ray tech with the mustache at Portage Health

The summer came to a close with the Bell's Beer Trails Festival in Copper Harbor! This race was the focus of my season. I wanted to put everything I had out on the table and try to hang with the fast guys. I chose to focus on the long enduro which was 4 stages long. I had a few small mistakes here and there and didn't have the legs for one of the longer stages. I managed to finished 11th out of 49 competitors. After the enduro was the Dan Wissman Memorial Dock Jump which has been a long time favorite of mine. The water temp was 51 and the air temp was 56. I volunteered to go first. I started way back in the parking lot and came sprinting around the corner and down the dock. I leaned my head back and watched the world slowly turn upside down. The water was violently cold. I surfaced and immediately saw stars as I gasped for breath. After getting out and warming up a bit I hopped on the bike for round number two. I went for the classic superman seatgrab. None of this would have been possible without my trusty socks and sandals.  

Photo: Hayden Henderson

With school ramping up in intensity and the weather quickly changing I was able to sneak a few more fun times in before the snow hit. The Copper Harbor Trails Club created a photo contest titled Capture the Keweenaw. I recruited my friend Eric to take some pictures. The joy was short lived as the snow quickly blanketed the ground soon after.

Photo: Eric Issacs

Photo: Eric Issacs

2014 has treated me well. I have learned a lot about myself through the highs and the lows of the year. I've gotten leaner, more aggressive, and focused. I have big plans for 2015. I won't be spilling the beans yet though. Stay tuned. Once the snow melts it's on.