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Ruby Hill Halloween Jump Jam

 I have a special kind of injury right now, it's caused by traumatic impact to the bottom of both feet. I'm trying to think of other ways this injury could occur. The only thing that comes to mind is soldiers in a Humvee when an IED goes off beneath them. I've heard their feet get slammed pretty hard, but also their spines. It's probably not a great idea to  start my post  off with some stolen valor. So let's reset. 


I am limping a little, and it's been years since I've done this to myself. I over shot a jump by so far that I fell out of the sky into the flat bottom between jumps. The impact drove my pedals hard into the arches of my feet. Technically I didn't crash, I rode it out. So I made sure to officially crash a short while later. I came up short, cased the landing and went over the bars into the dirt.


There's a moment when you know you're going to come up short on a jump. You're left with two choices. One is that you accept your fate and brace for impact. You center yourself over the bike, fully extend your legs and prepare for the impending contact between your back wheel and the flat top of the landing.


Let's call option one The Realist. Option two can be called The Optimist. The Optimist thinks that maybe there's still a way to manipulate the situation just enough that you can get your back wheel past the landing lip and into the transition. The Optimist doesn't give up, this was the option I chose that day. I leaned forward, I dumped my front wheel as far as my arms would stretch. I puckered my butt trying to pull the rear of the bike higher and just a little further to clear the danger. 

By doing this I was actually in a much worse position when the back wheel clanged into the hard sculpted clay of the landing lip. It launched me over and I hit the ground crumpled up with my bike. But I didn't have time to savor my predicament, I had to move fast or the next rider might land on me. So I quickly grabbed my bike and got to the side. Phew! A woman my age said, "I don't think anyone saw that so, so you're ok, if it's not on film it didn't happen."

This was my experience at the Ruby Hill Halloween Jam.  There is something really fun about attending a jump jam. As I've mentioned before, I suck at competitions and races. But if the event is just a gathering of the tribe I'm totally in. I love pushing my bike up to a group of strangers and immediately feeling excepted. I don't think that happens in ever sport. Maybe a fifty year-old dirt jumper gets a pass into the cool kids club, or maybe there is no cool kids club. For one thing it's a public park so there's no territorial pissing, but also anyone who's lining up to drop in is already in the club. We all know the consequences, no one fakes being a good dirt jumper.

For the upper crust riders it was a bit of a competition. There was a Highest Air Comp, A Whip Off, Highest Bunny Hop Contest and Best Trick. I wish I was feeling confident enough to throw my best tricks. They wouldn't have won the Best Trick by a long shot, but it would still be fun. Alas I was struggling just to consistently clear the jump. Still it was fun to ride with my friends and watch the good riders.

My buddy and his son were there. Someday his son will be one of the top riders. The bmxers were throwing massive style and of course they were super chill. I talked with one of the bmxers about his trip to Swampfest. I just love this culture and all the experiences I get out of it.








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