arthur richards

Two weeks ago, I was mountain biking in Redwood Regional Park, up in the Oakland hills. I was doing the standard 8 mile loop - a ridge trail along the western side of a canyon with a steep descent to the canyon floor, followed by a steep ascent to a trail along the eastern ridge. Almost all the way down to the canyon floor, I saw a nice clear line - let off the brakes and went for it fast. I can't totally recall what happened - I think there was some sort of lip or ledge I couldn't see from above. Going over it, I think I threw my weight forward in surprise. When my front wheel hit the ground, I flipped over the handle bars. One of those "oh. shit." moments. I landed on my left shoulder. Fortunately, some poison-oak broke my fall.