And I feeeeel like I'm sitting on a time bomb baby

Today's ride started off nice, got the mtb all set up with the ice spikers to ride on some ice, go figure. Getting the rear tire mounted I noticed what you see on your right. I quickly map out a good 2:30ish route suitable for the cx bike and since it's already 2:30 I had no time to waste. Felt good right from the start; good cadence, well-dressed, and the tank was topped up. Perfect. Before hitting the canal path The Coach and his Boss drove by with a running partner. Chatted with them for a couple minutes as their footprints followed my line and then I was off.

About 80% of the ride was on ice with a layer of snow on top. I felt like I could loose my bike and eat it at any time. A smooth pedal stroke was needed to survive this one. Got to the mill on Decew with only a few minor fumbles and went into the trails, same surface but a downhill ment for increased speed and decreased control and down I went, pretty hard. With hikers approaching I pulled myself together and even had a graceful cx carry and ran myself to some deeper snow. There are 2 decent climbs on this trail, managed to make it up both, the gravel one was intense with the road gearing in the back.

Back out on DeCew and I had to retrace my steps. The wind picked up and it was a little cooler with the sun covered by massive black clouds. Trying to get up a little climb my bottle came flying out along with the cage that was holding it, snapped off just like that. Once back on to the canal path safely, I thought I was in the clear until the Steve Bauer trail, but of course not. About 1:50 in, still feeling strong, I notice a big pile of dog shit that someone left in the middle of the paved pathway. A quick swerve to change my line is all that would be needed on pavement, since I was unaware of the black ice I had been riding on for the past 10min I lost my bike and complete composure. This time I went down hard with quite a bit of speed. Took a little longer but I managed to pull myself together again and pressed on very cautiously. Hit the left hip on the first fall and the right on the second. Decent bruising on both sides, the right one takes the prize with the integrated road rash.

The rest of the way home I managed to stay upright, finished with 2:45 ride time. Ate whatever I could find, showered, stuffed my coat pocket with food and water and went to go see The Leadville Trail 100 documentary with cx stars Neil and Aly Armstrong and a big group from the SHCC. Good time, thanks for the coffee and ride Neil ! Two things I'll never turn down; food and coffee.

The Frostbike is just over a week away, hopefully I'll get that spoke replaced to get a pre-ride of the course in this weekend. Plans for a ride tomorow with De Cal, definitely road.