Today I Took a Tumble

I am not a gymnast, nor am I a motorcycle daredevil...but today I pretended I was Evel Knievel and attempted to jump the gorge. Actually it was just a small hole in the ground, and I was really trying to avoid falling into it. Hey, a girl can exaggerate, can't she? Down I went, and I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. Hell, I'm already sore.

For a few years my husband and my brother have been talking about the dirt bikes they wanted to buy, and they finally started the hunt and actually bought a few last year. Next thing you know there's a slew of us with bikes and we've been tearing up the desert on 'em. There's nothing quite like flying across sand and hard pack with the wide open blue skies and mountains all around. Watching my nephews start out pretty scared and getting to the point of wanting to ride all day has been an experience. I'm very lucky to have family that gets along and enjoys one another's company. El Paso is just a fantastic place to live for all year outdoor fun. It was chilly and sunny out there, the best type of riding weather.


At one time I was very irresponsible (young, dumb and drunk) and I flipped off a 3 wheeled ATV right smack into my face. Damn near tore my bottom lip off. Of course I wasn't wearing a helmet, and I was tanked up on Budweiser. I told you- DUMBASS--that was me, and pretty much every other person riding that day with us some 25 years ago. The fact that I ended up in the hospital was a pretty compelling reason to not want to get on motorcycles again, except I know how much fun it can be.

Today we still see families out with their very small children riding with absolutely no protection for themselves or their kids. I want to scream at them all and show them that photo of my H.R. Pufnstuf, head which I forced my sister-in-law to take of me when I was battered and bruised in that hospital bed. It's one scary image, like some grotesque Halloween mask, but it was so real. I know, I lived it.

It's no fun having gravel scraped out of your tongue with a wire brush, or watching your breast skin get peeled off with your hospital gown from the weeping road burns that have adhered to the cloth. I spent the rest of my days in hospital with my perky boobs hanging out for all the world to see, cuz I was just not having that fire-ant sensation of skin removal again! I'm lucky I didn't break any bones in that wreck. I flew through the air like superman, but my arms never had a chance to break my fall; I landed on the backs of my wrists, then my lower lip hit gravel and began to peel and tear the skin at the edges of my mouth. I looked like a ventriloquist's dummy, (dummy being the operative word). My chest and shoulders were burned raw. Luckily my nipples were not scraped completely off. Are you getting the picture? Good.

Now I wear full gear. Helmet, goggles, riding boots, gloves, body armor, sunscreen, and lip balm! I do not drink any alcohol out there, and I have just about the most legal fun I've ever experienced. Sure, I fell today, and my arm hurts a little bit, but I got back up, got back on that little Yamaha and sped back around to see where I had made my mistake. Ah, that's the problem...I was following Brett, and he's a freaking maniac! No, it really wasn't like that at all, but this teaches me to be more wary on certain approaches, and try to improve my skills as a dirt-biking daredevil.



Life is good!