These are videos I hate having material of, but glad when I can look back with no serious injuries sustained.
After a relatively smooth 2021, the trend was not continued early this year already with enough footage to know this edition would be plush.
Cyclocross was naturally going to bring some highlights, but my biggest concern was the clip in the opening title.
Riding at a high pace while taking footage is a skill that takes a lot of dexterity and awareness as my attention isn’t always primarily on the riding.
At last January’s Gravelstoke ride out of Lost Cyclery in San Marcos, we had just exited Lake Hughes taking an unpaved connector along the side of a main road.
The group had lined up and while my front and rear cameras were rolling, I pulled out my third to catch cyclists descending in the opposite direction when I thought I heard the group yell out, “Hole”.
Unfortunately, I only got 75% of the word right as I was half looking down at the ground when a second before I realized they were saying “Pole”.
I remember dipping my head down as the pole grazed my helmet which my collarbone taking the brunt of it all.
I’ve crashed (and played hockey) enough to know what a concussion feels like, but I felt fortunate I didn’t hit the pole with my head more straight on.
I gave myself a minute to reassess because the natural inclination is to hop back on, but after taking a few breaths I felt mentally fine on riding, I just had to see how my shoulder would take the rest of the ride.
We turned onto some rollers which was a good test to see that I was not in peak comfort, but felt steady enough to continue.
After a few more tumbles in winter, the mishaps tended to taper off and made for a relatively smooth rest of the year minus a few tire mishaps to finish things off.
All in all, 2022 was a fun year and even better with friends…who sometimes record action when you don’t necessarily want them to…