Mountain Biking Adventures of Paul & Heidi

This last Saturday Paul and I headed out to go mountain biking for my very first time. We went to Sycamore Canyon located in Santee. It was so nice to escape the city and get some fresh air. I wish I would have taken before and after picture of us, oh man were we filthy after. We had some nice mud tans going on!

Here I am pulling a face...thinking I look so tough!

Here is my handsome hubby...looking mighty fine I must say!I am not going to lie I was a little nervous mountain biking since I had never done it before. There were times where I did let out a couple screams. But man it was a rush, the first hill we pretty much went down was so steep. I didn't know if I should have braked a bit or not but I was so nervous. I made it up the slope that followed the steep hill and asked Paul for a couple of tips. He told me that I never wanted to use the left hand brake (front wheel), he said if I used any braking that is should be with my back wheel. Good thing I didn't brake down that hill...otherwise I would have been in for a crazy crash.

We went through streams, over jagged rocks and up some slopes. Since I had never mountain biked before I had a lot to learn. But it was fun and such a great workout. It was so nice to look out beyond the trail and see nothing but bare land...I never knew such a place existed in California.

On our way back was quite a challenge because I had a pretty bad crash that I am still trying to recouperate from. I will spare you the picture since it is pretty nasty looking. This is how it happened; I was heading down a somewhat steep slope but the tricky part of this spot was there was a very narrow bike trail you had to follow surrounding the trail on both sides was mounded up dirt. I happened to lose my balance a little bit and then all of a sudden I was smacked in my leg by the handle bar of the bike. I was in some definite pain and when Paul rushed back to meet me we both noticed my inner thigh of my left leg welted up and it looked like I had a softball in my thigh! Luckily, I was still able to ride back alright but to avoid any stree on my thigh I walked through parts of it. I definitely got my battle wound. I am so grateful that it is finally starting to bruise...it is still swollen but with the bruising comes the healing!

Even though I had what Paul called a "freak accident", I still thoroughly enjoyed the day and am looking forward to going mountain biking again! It is such a fun couple's activity. Oh and I forgot to mention on the trail I heard a rattle snake for the first time...good thing I was on my bike!