Sunday, February 19, 2012

My First Black Eye!!!

First picture taken to see the damage!


 I don't usually wear my helmet gansta style.



Getting home from the doctor's office


and no, I didn't go to the doctor for a cheek implant



 The night of day one.


 The morning after...

The second night and ready to go out on the town to show off my black eye.


 Day 3


 Day 4


 Day 5


 Day 6

4 weeks later...

I went mountain biking with my sister a few weeks ago.  It started out as a normal ride.  I asked my sister to bring her camera so we could take pictures of ourselves attempting to do some of the tricks along the trail.  The trail that we ride is, for the most part, fairly easy.  There are some technical parts that you can avoid, but this girl, likes a challenge.  When we came to the fork in the trail, I told my sister to take the easy path and I would meet her at the bridge where the two trails meet again.  


As I started off on my own, I was hyping myself up for what was about to come.  There is one dip that is covered in rocks and I have only made it through successfully one time.  I was bound and determined to do it again this time.  I had one dip to go through before the dip in question.  I was in *the zone, and started to go down the dip.  I was looking ahead to see how I had to maneuver to go back up.  I had some speed and started to turn when all of the sudden, I did an *endo and decided to take a *soil sampling.  After a minute of figuring out how to get my bike off of me, I got up and look to see what made me do a *superman.  When looking at the ground, I noticed that I could see my cheek.  I freaked out because after my *auger, I slid about a foot.  My initial thought was that I scraped my face and I was seeing all the skin bunched up.  So before I yelled for my sister, I took a picture so I could see the damage and warn her.  I saw just a cut but was still freaked out.  Oh, and the only thing I saw that my bike could have possibly flipped over, was a tree stump that was about three inches above ground and five inches wide. 


 After I found my sister, we rode back on the levee.  I figured it would be easier than going the rest of the way on the trail, but I did think about finishing our ride on the trail.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be because we ended up having to ride into a 20 mph wind.  We were about four miles away.  With the wind, it felt like we were going no where.  It was so bad that we got off our bikes and walked for a little bit.  It felt like we were walking faster than riding. We finally made it to my vehicle.  I dropped off my sister and I went to the doctor to see if I needed stitches.  I didn't need stitches but I did have my cut glued so it would heal properly.  


When I arrived home,  I looked to see what other damages I had.  My hand was pretty scraped up.  I have a few scrapes on my shin, arm, and shoulder.  I had a huge bruise on my inner thigh, probably from my handle bar.  The next day my whole left side was sore.  It hurt to raise my left arm.  It has been about four weeks after my wreck and my cheek is still sore to the touch but other than that, I am completely recovered.  I will be back on the trails next week for some more action!


*The Zone- The state where you don't think, you just do.
*Endo- The maneuver of flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike.
*Soil Sampling - a face plant
*Superman - a rider who flies over the handlebars and doesn't hit the ground for a long time.  This may result in injury, and when it does, it's really funny for everyone else.
*Auger - to involuntarily take drill samples of the local geology, usually with your face, during a crash. 
Definitions found at http://www.trails-edge.com/bikedic.htm

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Slow Growing???

Hen and Chicks





Euphorbia Horrida V Nova
aka
African Milk Barrel





My hens decided to produce chicks.  I was a little surprised since it is the middle of winter.  What was more surprising to see was that my African Milk Barrel decided to bloom.  I thought winter was a resting period for cacti and succulents. 

I didn't even know if I was taking good care of my African Milk Barrel.  Since it was given to me, it hasn't produced more thorns.  It has grown taller but I was still a little leery of the care I was giving.  It is really hard not to water a plant for three months, but after a couple cacti dying in my possession I learned very quickly not to over water.  Over watering is the number one killer of cacti.  I had a cactus that looked fine and then one day it collapsed because it had rotted from over watering.  So seeing the blooms puts a smile on my face and lets me know that I am doing something right.