Yeah, I’ve been avoiding htis update. It’s just been an unpleasant month…what can I say? The day started out pretty good actually. Gary and Tom from Hertfordshire were on deck for a day at the bike park, and the Cove boys came out for a rip. Even Chaz was tearing it up on Garbonzo today.

Since it was the last dry day on Garbonzo, I started to ride really hard. Four NON-STOP top to bottom runs, plus a couple more at a slightly slower pace made it tough to hang out with anyone else. Riding by myself for a change was actually really refreshing.

Pete, the Angry Pirate, hung out for a run on the Manager…..

…and for a lap on this big scree slope near the TreeFort (he managed to clean it a couple of weeks later).

We ran a sweep run off the top together to close ‘er down, then hit the lower park for a few more quick ones. I managed to score a Dirt Merchant for lower sweep, and that’s when the shit hit the fan. Thinking to myself, “Geez, I’m kind of tired out, maybe I should slow ‘er down a bit” I tagged my brakes at that high speed shale section on lower A-Line and promptly chattered my hands off the bars.

High speed ejectamenta inot the boulders on the right. At least I got myself to the bottom of the hill under my own power, but I didn’t feel so hot. Kind of pissed off too.

Final tally on the injuries? Cracked ribs and pubic bone, a few hematomas, contusion of the liver (and a pretty good one too), whiplash, and my thumbnail got torn off. Oh well, in twenty four straight seasons of riding, this is only the third trip to the hospital for me, and as of writing this one month later I’m nearly 100% good to go.

Actually, I rode the Full boar Challenge on Greenstone Mtn. three weeks after this crash and finished the race in a respectable 25 mins (THATS a downhill), but I don’t think it did me any good.

Absolutely EPIC season. 150 days on the bike, and they were all stellar. Now it’s time to regroup for next year.

Watch out for changes to the site coming soon, and announcements regarding the Wade Simmons Experience ’06, as well as the possibility of more tours with other superstars of the North Shore.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and to all the support. I’ll have a proper list up soon of everyone who made it such a great year.