An unexpected crash of a different sort

What a beautiful day!  Jim and I took our two youngest for a trail ride.  My youngest daughter (we'll call her daughter #3) is a good rider with a good bit of experience. Daughter #2 is new to the mountain biking scene so we weren't sure how she'd do. We picked the trail I learned on - nothing drastic, dual track, very scenic, all wooded area beside a creek.  The only thing a little hard is the gradual climb, but the reward is the coast back down! It's 6.5 miles round trip.

Jim appointed me the leader (the person with the shortest legs and the smallest bike), the girls came next, with him the rear.  Everyone in the family is taller than me.  Daughter #3 (the tallest daughter out of my three girls)  was in the rear with Jim.  She kept running into her sister, who would inform me that I needed to go "just a tiny bit faster".  I had to pump my stubby legs pretty hard in order to keep ahead of the gang!

Daughter #2 is a like me in a lot of ways, and we're finding out that includes riding skills.  We both have trouble pushing off and getting the bike started.  We both find railroad ties a challenge, single tracks are scary, and we don't always have the most graceful stops.  Today was no exception.  I had lots of trouble getting started after we'd take a break.  Everyone else would push off and then I'd hop back off.  I'd hear them brake, stop, and run into each other (with a few groans, as in, "Oh not again."). It was actually kinda funny, I got a kick out of that. 

On the railroad ties, I guess I went too slow (Jim says I've still got to get more momentum) and they were all struggling to stay up. I heard a few grumbles there, but I was looking ahead to the group of people waiting for us to pass, not wanting to look like a fool and wreck in front of them.

The trip was a success all around, though.  No one wrecked, we enjoyed the coast back down, and stopped to check out the views of the New River below. 

Upon our arrival back home, Jim told us all to ride around in the driveway to check our gears.  Mine had been knocked out, so my chain was loose.  The girls were behind me on their bikes, my parents - who were walking the lane - heading towards me.  I tried to hurry up before mom and dad came near enough for me to run them over (they're getting tottery, they don't need any help).  I pushed off, distracted with the chain.  When I looked back up, I was headed off the pavement, over the bank, and towards 2 bushes tightly clumped together (one of them full of long briars).  I yelled, forged through, all the while thinking, "I never ever would've picked these bushes to ride through intentionally".  I felt thorns rake along my arms, one long rope-like strand stretching from both bushes catching me under my chin.  I imagined that "rope" snatching me off my bike and keeping me suspended like in the movies.  I could hear my girls giggling and I was too as soon as I got through the mess.  Jim just stood there shaking his head, my mom worrying about my scratches, while I rode off down the lane laughing hysterically.

Talk about random, it looked like I just took off and decided to squeeze myself through bushes just for the fun of it!  I'm still laughing as I write this.  Talk about ridiculous.  I bet my mom is going to worry now every time I get on that bike...if she only knew, huh?!?  She hasn't taken a gander at my bruised legs from last weekend's single track fiasco! (She doesn't know about the blog, nobody tell her, please!)