Old guys rule, but they also chicken out, I know, I are 69. Our group ride tonight was at a hunt/fish camp on a private mb trail, posted as such. One guy, a 4 grade teacher, went down a big hill, a highway cut through a hill, with a big sand slump with a 15 foot drop at the top. These are our A riders so I thought I would go up and do it to. Wow, it had a big drop off at the top and and then it was really bumpy, something you could not see in the low light from the bottom. He went down and in the first 20 feet he crashed and wiped out. He did it again and made it to the bottom, except there was 90 degree angle at the bottom and he went over the bars and sprained his wrist. All the 9 other riders were giving me mixed messages, most saying don't. Others, the cruel ones, were egging me on. Several threatened to leave. They finally prevailed on me not to try as I was their only trauma certified rider and they would be forced to leave me in a heap if I crashed as they were incompetent in trauma care. I walked the bike down, no mean feat, to the last 1/8 of the cut and joined 2 others who were going down the last berm. I did it to, but it was more difficult than a novice expected. I put my weight back over the seat and the force of the bumps put my butt on the wheel and banged my family jewels. What was I ever thinking? I can't do this stuff anymore, hard to accept. We took a 230 degree F sauna after, which was a lot of fun, but I felt really defeated for not having a better grip on reality.
