Remember to yield to this dude if you see him on the trails. |
I rounded what I guessed would be the last in a series of switchbacks on my way down a steep embankment to the James River near Richmond, Virginia. I was already well behind my seat to compensate for the steep downward angle and travelling beyond a comfortable speed. Ahead of me appeared a wooden ramp structure with one more ninety degree turn. A single two-by-four was all that stood between my inertia filled body and a ten foot dive onto rocks and pavement below. As my tires skidded onto the dirt covered wood it was all I could do to keep them from locking. As I looked ahead at the fast approaching two-by-four, I couldn't help but notice that it was conspicuously fresh looking and unpainted.
I clearly wasn't the first person to test that ramp.