White Springs, FL - Biking

Andy's threatening to take away my mountain bike (again). He says if I can't play without getting hurt, he's not going to let me play anymore. It was our second day of mountain biking, and my second day of some blood-letting. Oh, nothing major. More scrapes and bruises. We were biking the Swift Creek Conservation Area (accessible from our doorstep) and I was really enjoying this area called "Rollercoasters". I came down this steep grade, hit the sand pit at the bottom, which sent my front wheel towards the left and I realized I was heading straight for this little tree (the one next to me in this picture). I took my foot out to prepare for a stop when my pedal spun back and smacked me in my shin. I think "embedded" might be a better word because I did have to remove its toothy edges from my skin. A little blood, a big bruise. Here's my problem: I would like to say I'm a Mountain Biking Momma (skilled, aggressive, confident); instead I'm a Mountain Biking Baby. Most of my accidents and minor injuries are caused by me being overly-cautious. I lose confidence on rocky, rooty uphills causing me to slow, lose my balance and teeter over. My first reaction when I doubt myself is to bail-out. And bailing-out on hills, next to ravines, heading towards trees, riding over log towers, etc aren't always the best place to try and put your foot down. I find more often than not that the ground is just not there. Practice, practice, practice. As with anything in life, everything gets easier the more your practice. Lap two around this area proves my point. This is me loving the Rollercoasters again - and this time I stayed straight thru the sand pit.
The Swift Creek Area is a little more challenging than Gar Pond, in my Mtn Biking Baby's opinion. Tons of fun - don't get me wrong. I'm just glad we did Gar Pond first as a warm up the other day.

"Walk bikes"? When you get a warning sign like this, it is usually recommended to comply. They are not posted frequently. At this marker you could've gone clear off into a dry ravine once you got the speed and power to get up this short, steep, rooty slope and failed to make that sharp left.

(Sorry, Blogger is giving me grief with my photos. I'll revisit this page to try and fix pic#2 when I think its working again. Blogger has been giving lots of people problems. See Chris' post for more information on why.