ENDO!!!

Endo - short for "end over", used in biking when one goes over the handlebars. often results in broken parts, bloody face, general humiliation and chingus. (Chingus - Spanglish slang; a pronoun used to define something that it isn't worth describing or left unnamed due to laziness).

Endo - that dreaded word in the biker vocabulary; it usually means something bad. In my years of riding I had never experienced one...until yesterday. Thankfully nothing was broken, just bumps, bruises, raspberries on my legs and elbows, and damaged pride. That's about it.

Another bad word in the biker vocabulary is "tentative", as being tentative can cause you to endo. I was riding a trail along a dry creek bed that I had ridden a few times before. As I descended down the side of the creek, I was mashing on my back brake to slow my descent. My back wheel started to slide on the rocks, so I started feathering my front brake. As a result, I slowed too much and hit a large tree root in the trail that refused to budge, so my bike did.

Physics will tell you that when one object (bike) hits an immovable object (root), something has to give (me). I flew over the handlebars and landed with my arms outstretched. My head hit a rock, but fortunately I was wearing a helmet with a visor, which took the force of the hit and popped off.

As I mentioned before, I skinned my shin, bruised my left quadriceps, and banged up both my elbows, but I survived. After brushing myself off, I got back on the bike and rode another half hour, until my front tire went flat.

This morning, although still sore, I decided to go for a Turkey Day ride. The weather had turned brisk overnight and was about 45 degrees when I left. I was still able to break a sweat after an hour and a half ride. Michael Jr. called this morning and said it was snowing and sleeting in Odessa; I'm glad our weather wasn't that bad.

I hope everyone enjoys the day today and gives thanks for all of our blessings!