Today Eric the Fireman and A1 came out to the house for an epic ride. We were all on our cross bikes as we headed out over Green Valley and Harrison Grade into Occidental. As we headed up Bitner, Eric had some mechanical problems. We tried to fix things by making his bike into a single speed, but the roads were so steep that the chain just wouldn’t stay where it was supposed to stay. We bid farewell to Eric on Willow Creek Road, and A1 and I headed on through the state park and dropped down to Duncans Mills where Claire was waiting to meet us. We then rode over Duncan Road and over Old Caz. A1 and I decided to push ourselves a bit on the climb. At one point my heart rate was 197 and his had broken the 200 barrier. On the way down Old Caz, I got a little out of control in one of the corners and went ass over teakettle. I managed to land on my head and crack my helmet as well as scratching up some other parts of my body. It was a pretty funny fall, I had passed A1 on a couple of the sharp bends, and I was going a bit faster than I should. At least this is what I realized as I over shot a corner and went into some soft dirt and rocks on the side. I remember my head hitting and then watching as the bike flew over the top of me. My main concern was that my wheels would still be straight enough that I wouldn’t have to hike out of there. We were almost to the crossing of Austin Creek, and it would have been a long hike out. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and we got back to Duncans Mills feeling good. We then stopped for some Mexican food in Guerneville before heading home.