So my number one bike, the Fisher Sugar 1 (Blue Sugar), has a crack in the rear triangle of the frame. No problem, it's under warranty and currently is in the shop having the rear triangle replaced. Good thing I still have the trusty Fisher Hoo-Koo-E Koo to keep me going. Or so I thought.

I was embracing this cracked frame as a way to renew my 10-year relationship with the Hoo-E. Seems like the Hoo-E is not too happy about being my number 2 choice though. On Saturday, during a high-speed descent of Mt. Tamalpais with Romulus, Bonzai, and Dr. FrankenKlein, I took a little side track around one of the corners, hit a couple of partially obscured tree stumps, and had a spectacular crash. The first stump stood me and got me off balance, and the second stump flipped me completely upside down and deposited me on the ground. Spectacular, not only for the speed in which I was flipped and hit the ground, but also for the facts that the bike did not even get a scratch and that I was basically unhurt except for some scrapes and bruises.

The Hoo-E was not satisfied though. Last night, while traversing my home trails out on the Fitz, I had another HUGE crash. This time on Bonzai's Bane, the steep little downhill right by the Air Force installation. It has become much more rutted since the last time I rode it, and when I started down it, I immediately noticed several new ruts. This caused me to make the cardinal error -- I braked. Because of the steepness of the trail and a little too much front brake, I was catapulted right up and over the bars. I kid you not, it happened in slow motion, and at one point, I was in a full superman position looking down about 10 feet to the ground below me. I actually had time to think, "Oh man, this is really going to hurt." And it did. Tweaked my left shoulder and landed with the bike underneath me and one of my bar ends square in my left thigh. Can you say DEEP, DEEP muscle bruise. This happened at mile 2 of my ride. After several minutes of walking it off and making sure all body parts were intact, I limped through an additional 14 miles before calling it a night. Again, the bike was unhurt in any way and seemed to lay there mocking me with its headlight while I rolled in the dirt making sure the pain in my leg was not a femur bone sticking out.

So, suffice it to say, I'm really looking forward to getting Blue Sugar back. Hopefully it'll be ready before too many more rides on the Hoo-E. At the rate I'm going, I'll be in the shop with a cracked frame by the time the bike is ready.