hard beginner to intermediate

i went hiking a couple of weeks ago and when i tried to find a map so i could give directions to a friend who was coming to meet me, i found out that the park i was at had just added a new mountain bike trail. that reminded me that i used to love mountain biking. so i decided to get back into it. after several weeks of bike shopping and a few test rides, i bought a new bike. later that day i went and rode the trail that i had just learned about. this trail was rated as beginner to hard beginner, and i rode straight through it with just a couple of problems. well that gave me a false sense of confidence and i decided to go to another trail i had learned of that was rated hard beginner to intermediate. it was also billed as one of the most technical trails in nashville. i know... i should have known better.

but i tried anyway. i got started fairly well, hardly having any trouble with the creek crossings or slight climbs. well, a little ways in, i came to what i think they called the "rock garden". when i first came up to it, i realized it was more than i should take on, and i stopped. i spent some time looking at it, and found a good line, and decided to try it. i backed up the trail a little so i could get settled on my bike before i hit the hard stuff. as i got close, i realized i was on a slightly different line than the one that i picked out, but thought i could still make it...


i was wrong. i got about half way down the rocks, and then my front wheel stopped. since i was on about a 40 degree downhill, the rest of the bike didn't stop, and i ended up vertical over top of my front wheel before falling over sideways. honestly... it was a pretty good wreck. all that really happened was a bit of blood, and a few scrapes and bruises... and a bit of scrapped paint from where the chain came off.

the best part was that as i was coming up and realized i was off course i thought, "maybe i shouldn't be trying this". then, as i started to wreck, i started to giggle and, when i hit the ground, i laughed out loud. it was really funny to me that i knew i shouldn't have tried but did anyway.