Dog Day Night

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around..." went the song on the radio as I pulled into Wakefield parking lot last Tuesday night. A stark contrast to the easy, cool down ride I was planning for the night. I had chosen to ride my cyclocross bike just to make sure I would keep it nice and mellow. My, my how things can change...

As I pull into the lot I see Evan and Charlie (his dog) gearing up. Evan is one of the local hammerheads. "Oh please leave ahead of me..." I say to myself, thinking of how my poor legs will suffer if I ride with this guy. No such luck. In fact, he takes his time to wait for me. Damn. Well, if it's on, it's on. I get my stuff together and off we go. Woosh. I lose sight of him on the fireroad going down to the creek, but I can at least keep him in sight on the twistier parts of the trail. All this time, Charlie is running along with us. This dog is cool. When he's in front of me and he senses that he's slowing me down, he'll pull over and let me pass. As soon as I go by he's on my rear wheel giving chase. No complaining. Who could ask for a better riding partner?

As we head into the bowl area we run into Crashmore and Peter, who are putting on the official MORE Tuesday night ride. It was my original plan to hook up with these guys but I was late. No worries, Evan and I push on ahead of the group, this time with me in front. I throw caution to the wind and ride hard. My skinny-tire bike is handling much better than I thought it would. This encourages me to push harder. As we rail a series of turns and quick downhills, I start to feel it. That trance-like feeling that comes from riding at edge of your abilities. I'm in my happy place. I'm at peace with the trail. Everything's fine, just fine... WTF!! A branch in the front wheel sends me over the bars and into the ground, hard. Evan slams the brakes and avoids running me over. Charlie the trail dog looks on inquisitively. I slowly get up and check for missing body parts. Everything's ok except that I took a pedal to the back of the knee and I'm starting to hurt. Both of us needing a bit of a break (me more than Evan), we decide to join up with Peter's group for a melower ride back to the cars. As I pull out of the parking lot, that Talking Heads song creeps into my head again. It was a good ride.