Apologies to Munge for he has already seen this...
I was riding the Coyote Trail at Steven's Creek/Fremont Older yesterday. Lesson #1 - don't go do hill climbs in 90+ degree heat right after eating a bunch of frozen yogurt. I cleared each hill section fine, but had to stop a couple of times on the way up because I felt like I was going to hurl.
On the way back down, I was going a bit too fast around a blind corner and came upon to hikers in the middle of the trail. Lesson #2 - don't go too fast on those trails on a weekend.
I had 6 options:
1) Deftly maneuver around them (but I suck, so that one was out)
2) Slam face first into the cliff on the right
3) Fly off the cliff on left
4) Hit them both and take us all out (and receive a heavy fine from the rangers and face a possible law suit)
5) Apply the breaks in a smooth, controlled manner and pray that I slow enough to prevent hitting them (out, see #1)
6) Slam on the breaks and take a low end slide
I "opted" for #6 - although it was more a reaction than a premeditated strategy - hit brakes too hard, front tire rotate, body slam on gravel, bloody mess. I've got a lovely road rash on my right arm, back, and lower right leg, and a bruised left palm. All in all, I got off light. But the crash was spectacular! Dust and gravel everywhere and two terrified hikers. A definite youtube moment. I got right up and took off before they could finish asking "are you OK?". Kelly almost puked when she saw my arm.
I love it!!!! Can't wait to get back out there!!
