My Experiences with the Dark Side

After my epiphany about the nature of the dark side of mountain biking, I concluded that it would be best to just keep biking in order to keep the undesirable side effects at bay.  However, as we all know, it is not always possible to "just keep riding."

Mechanicals
It seems like I am constantly breaking something on my bike.  If I go a month without something going to bits, I begin to wonder what's wrong, or if my frame is going to suddenly deconstruct itself. Hopefully soon I will be the proud owner of a second mountain bike, with one to fall back on when my main ride breaks down.

I have waged a vicious war against broken parts and repair costs, and right now I'm loosing as my Jamis is out of commission.  I am supposed to be getting a brand new Airborne bike any day, and when that arrives, I will be on top of the battle yet again!

Injuries
Injuries have taken me off the bike more times than I'd like.  Sometimes it's been little thing like stitches in the wrong place, a nasty crash leaving me seriously banged up and bruised, and others.

The most significant time was when I crashed jumping my mountain bike, earning myself an ambulance trip to the E.R., an MRI, and a massive concussion.  That took me off the bike for two precious weeks out of my summer in Colorado, and cost me the ability to lead one of the wilderness trips I was scheduled for at the camp I was working at.

Injuries happen, and I hate being held back by them!

My Current Malady
"Malady" may not be the right word, but what has drawn me to the dark side of the sport recently has been my back.  I have been fighting back pain for the last two months, and save for one week when it let up for some odd reason, it has only gotten worse.  About two weeks ago I decided I had had enough, and saw a chiropractor several times.  He informed me that it was a muscular issue resulting from overuse.  He was right, but the chiropractic care wasn't helping.

I saw a real doctor at the beginning of the week, and now I'm on muscle relaxants and prescription pain pills.  Too bad the pills aren't strong enough to mask all of the pain I'm in.

As a result of the bike issues and the back issues, I have not ridden a mountain bike in over two weeks.  I have been experiencing the full power of the dark side of mountain biking. I am there. Exactly what I wrote about the other day--that's me.

I have found it difficult to write daily about a sport which I have not participated in in some time.  I mean hey, two weeks off the bike, it happens, right?  Well this is what I've been doing for the past two weeks:

This, and work.

Yes I've been depressed, wondering how much longer I'm going to be off for.  I will do my best to keep a steady stream of blog content, but I have to confess, I'm losing inspiration.  I do still have a lot of footage to sift through from my riding exploits in Wisconsin.  Some of that may pop up here soon.

Your Turn: A little sympathy and encouragement would be much appreciated.

PS After proofreading that post, I realized that that's a horrible picture of me in the morning right after I woke up.  Should be good for a laugh though, so it's going live!

PPS Don't forget to VOTE for GregRidesTrails!