st louis trip part 2!

if you like this post, you may want to refer to st louis trip part 1. that one is a gem also, and probably would help this one make more sense!

so when you last left me, the robot and i had just retired after a long day of sight seeing and acting like children around st louis.

well on day 2 of our trip, we decided to get even more outside, so we packed up the car and slapped the bikes on the back and headed for eureka, MO.

why eureka, you ask? well there are a couple parks around eureka that have decent mountain biking trails (so we had heard).

the first trail we tried was at a park called tyson.  the trail was called the chubb trail, which seemed like a nice little meandering venture down to the meramec river.

so the robot suited me up with a helmet and shoes and gloves and a bike and i probably could have passed for a legitimate mountain biker.

until i started on the trail.

it turns out mountain biking is real hard. you also get real sweaty. and it's especially hard and sweaty when you are a beginner and the first trail you ever try is an intermediate/hard trail. MISTAKE. nowhere that we looked ever said it was intermediate/hard, but it DEFINITELY was.

halfway through the ride i was wondering why it was so hard. and barely fun. turns out i was in the entirely wrong gear. so add that to the difficulty of the trail and i was having a spectacular time!

we decided to turn back and try and find a slightly easier trail. and some food.

here comes the fun part! because we just happened upon this little barbecue joint called Super Smokers!

it had the BEST pulled pork sandwich that i have had in a really long time. the robot had a great pulled chicken sandwich.  and some ribs on the side and my spirits were right back up!  turns out this bbq place was a world champion and has been in the top 10 for the last couple decades or so!

so after rolling around in bbq for awhile, we decided to actually get back on the trail.  we used the GORC site (super great site for trails, at least in missouri) and we found this park called castlewood state park. 

super nice park, with trails for beginners/intermediates, which i just happen to be!  we got on the trail and i was kicking some major butt this time around! seriously though. i was doing pretty great. and unfortunately i got a little overconfident. a combination of overconfidence, a fast pace, and not very good abilities led to the following pictures:

road rash will get you, let me tell ya. and yes it is on both legs.

in case you're trying to count, that's 9 stitches in my right elbow.

the full effect. minus my back right shoulder, i got that one pretty good too!

so then we spent the next couple hours at urgent care getting me stitched up! don't worry, nothing too serious, no head injuries, broken bones, or facial lacerations (the moneymaker is still intact).  oh and i still have all my teeth!

i'm not scared off from mountain biking, though! it was serious fun right before i bit it! i just have to watch out for those foot tall downhill drops! and lay off the brakes! and lean back! lesson learned: going over the handlebars is NOT fun and should not be repeated.

after urgent care, i was still interested in camping but the robot insisted on a hotel with a hot shower and comfortable bed so i could recuperate.  so back to the residence inn it was.

and day 2 ends in a very exciting fashion, don't you think?