stupid is as stupid does

I've been riding without gloves for the past couple of rides. Why? I don't know. Guess gloves in this heat have been bothersome. Guess I have the wrong gloves in that they bunch up where my fingers meet my palm. Today I learned a lesson. Or two.

Lesson #1:
When its pushing 90F and 80+% humidity you want to wear gloves. My hands were all over the bars. It didn't really matter for about the first hour but after the first hour my hands and bars were so wet I couldn't really get a good grip.

Lesson #2:
Loose hands on the bars and very rocky and technical terrain (like Michaux State Forest) are not a good combination. We were riding up this gentle incline (but chock full of rocks) and Andy downshifted a few gears and upped the pace. I pedaled my 49.3 gear inches faster to maintain pace (was about 10ft behind Andy). Next thing I know I'm laying in a pile of dirt on my left thigh and shoulder. Bruce (was behind me) said I clipped this 3inch tall stump. It happened in a split second. Pretty much exactly like when Lance Armstrong clipped that spectator's hand bag in the 2003 Tour De France.


[Side Note: I still can't believe the pace at which they were riding up that climb. I watched it live in 2003 and just watched it again tonight. WOW]

I was also tangled up in the bike and now had a good layer of dirt all over the left side of my body. Damn. Haven't fallen like that in quite a while. 1FG was perfectly fine. Not even a minute later I bounced up onto my feet, brushed the dirt off my body, and got back on the bike to finish the ride out.

Next ride: I'm wearing gloves.