I ache.... I will be okay... but I think I will ache badly tomorrow

tonight i got on the bike
things were a mixture of opportunities
had initially thought that I had to head straight home to hang with Grant whild Lisa took Dean with her to a school function
in the end Lisa decided to take both boys
perhaps she was giving me some me time before the weekend
as this weekend she will be on a girl's weekend
while I will be playing Mr. Mom
this freed me up to ride until around 8PM

whether feeling like riding or not feeling like riding I had a window of opportunity to ride
had ridden the Surly Karate Monkey to work
considered riding home and getting on the Specialized Tri-Cross cyclocross bike and do some road miles
knew that my old and tired Jamis Nova cross bike was not an option... as I broke that frame earlier this week
the notion of riding home and swapping out the bike lost out to taking the single speed on dirt

spun through some traffic and warmed up as I got to the dirt
was not feeling like dirt
but thirty minutes into it I was pretty into it
mixing some road climbs with some dirt single track I worked the same stretch of trail

once saturated with that section I moved to the next
on the next section I was taking a turn at a fun and fast pace
guess the burms of wakefield had spoiled me
no burm
I try to noodle my way at high speed through a few rocks on the curve
the bike stops
I go flying
in an almost concious effort to protect my shoulder I retract my arm
nothing breaks my fall
nothing but my hip

as fast as I hit the ground I am up again and running down the trail
limping and running and trying to access the damage
the shoulder is fine
but what is this feeling on my hip
I feel at the other hip checking for symetry
nothing feels out of place
just very painful
I use the energy and adrenalin to head for home
I decide to turn back rather than continue forward
that is the closest way home

fort dupont in on the other side of town
there will still be a few miles to ride before I get to move to the Rest part of RICE
Rest Ice Compression Elevation

before I can start the pedal home I have to make it so my recently tacoed front wheel can spin in between the arms of my front fork
I take the wheel out and stand on it
try to spin it then stand on it again
with great force I slam the rim on a fallen tree on the trail side
once the wheel is wobbling without contacting the fork I am able to ride home
ah... disc brakes

I take a mellow ride home
avoiding speed and avoiding cars
I get home to a house without children
my window of opportunity got shattered by the crash
a hope for a three hour ride was cut short into two
hopefully it is nothing more than a bruise
things are already feeling tight
the ice pack is in place

will have to have that wheel rebuit
will have to take it easy for the next few days

tough week for me and the bike
a broken frame, a broken chain, and a broken me
hope I am not broken
broken was the theme of last year