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8:00 a.m. - Having put Ben on the bus to school, I arrived at the start of the West Orange Trail for my morning skate. Five miles to the Winter Garden station and back again, enough to get the sweat flowing and the blood pumping. We had thunderstorms pass through last night, but the pavement appeared to be pretty much dry aside from some shady spots. The first two miles were uneventful, although my pace was slower than usual due to some slick patches.
The trail is largely isolated from any roads, but in the five miles I usually skate there are perhaps half a dozen places where the trail crosses a street. Two of those, passing through Oakland, aren't even paved roads; just hard packed dirt access roads with the paved trail passing over them. Sometimes the dirt blows up onto the paved area. This can be a problem if it has rained recently. I approaced the crossing travelling at 10-12 mph when my wheels hit a thin patch of mud over the pavement. Suddenly my feet were only travelling at 2-3 mph while 275 lbs of body mass obeyed Newton's first law of motion. After about ten feet the force of friction overcame the force of inertia, and I came to a stop. If I hadn't been wearing wrist guards my hands definitely would have been severely damaged, possibly with broken bones. If I hadn't been wearing elbow pads and knee pads I would certainly have left a swath of raw flesh painted onto the pavement. As it is, I came to a stop and sat there thinking, "well that's not what I meant to do..."
I did scuff my left shin a little bit, but not enough to draw blood. Aside from that the only damage caused was to my dignity as a mother and her three kids rode by on their bikes.
They avoided the mud.
The trail is largely isolated from any roads, but in the five miles I usually skate there are perhaps half a dozen places where the trail crosses a street. Two of those, passing through Oakland, aren't even paved roads; just hard packed dirt access roads with the paved trail passing over them. Sometimes the dirt blows up onto the paved area. This can be a problem if it has rained recently. I approaced the crossing travelling at 10-12 mph when my wheels hit a thin patch of mud over the pavement. Suddenly my feet were only travelling at 2-3 mph while 275 lbs of body mass obeyed Newton's first law of motion. After about ten feet the force of friction overcame the force of inertia, and I came to a stop. If I hadn't been wearing wrist guards my hands definitely would have been severely damaged, possibly with broken bones. If I hadn't been wearing elbow pads and knee pads I would certainly have left a swath of raw flesh painted onto the pavement. As it is, I came to a stop and sat there thinking, "well that's not what I meant to do..."
I did scuff my left shin a little bit, but not enough to draw blood. Aside from that the only damage caused was to my dignity as a mother and her three kids rode by on their bikes.
They avoided the mud.
From: (Anonymous)
Ouch!
Be careful, Baby! Can't have anything hurting those hands of yours, how will you type? Maybe you should call Lloyds of London and get them insured?
Good for you for hauling your, heh,I mean *my* ass out there and hitting the trail.
~Kris~