Anniversary Adventure

On the eve of our 5th wedding anniversary, we lay in bed next to each other, me nursing a sore shoulder and a sore elbow. Craig is telling the boys to go to bed for the hundredth time.

We had a great weekend so far as I write this on a Saturday night. I worked overnight Thursday night and Craig got off noon on Friday. Mom kept the boys as she usually does on Fridays and Craig and I took off to Decorah.

I’ve posted before about how much we love mountain biking and we were SO excited to hit the trails again – something Craig and I love to do together without the kids. When discussing mountain biking with people, I feel like they don’t quite grasp what we mean so Craig enthusiastically grabbed the go pro and wore it while we road to give people a taste of our favorite past times.

There are man made mountain bike trails in Decorah which is a town about 30 minutes north of our house. For miles and miles in the woods there are trails – easy trails, harder trails, steep trails, some in grass, some in woods, some on the edge of the limestone rock walls, some right by the river. We have certain trails and loops we like and we got to try some new tails too.

We rented the e-bikes again. If you missed my last blog post about the bikes, e-bikes are mountain bikes and if you pedal your normal power it takes that power and multiplies it by about 3-4 times your power to assist you up really steep trails and over rocks. We LOVE e-bikes and plan on investing in them next summer. They’ve got a pretty price tag but once you try them you’ll never go back.

We got around 18 miles in – that includes two trips into town to grab some water, take a breather, and fix the chain on Craig’s bike.

I took two big tumbles (pretty typical for me) my first one was at the beginning of a trail called Iowa Public and I’m almost guaranteed to fall at this very specific part of the trail. I kind banged up my elbow and the pedal jabbed my calf but I was okay.

The second fall really did a number. I was riding in the pines and my right handle bar must have clipped a tree. We were going pretty fast. I came to a dead stop, went up and over the handle bars, my head landed on a branch as I landed on my left shoulder.

What first went through my head was “oh my God I dislocated my shoulder, how is the ambulance going to get to me.” My second thought was “HOW IS THE BIKE?!” I started moving my shoulder around, convincing myself I would be okay – if it was dislocated I wouldn’t be able to move it.

Working in the ER, we would have many bike accidents on the trails and the fire department would have to get creative in rescuing the bikers through miles of trails. I turned out just fine but I did panic for a second before I could even assess if I needed an ambulance. Turns out I didn’t need any medical attention at all. I was able to shake it off and go another round of the loop but I’m feeling it today – I think I’ll end up at the doctor on Tuesday if it doesn’t feel any better.

Then I felt this hot burning pain in my right elbow – I got a pretty nasty scrape. Check it out.

We are so glad we caught our trip on camera – I’m pretty disappointed my epic fall wasn’t caught on camera – could have made for some good bloopers! We were able to show Carver about our trail ride and we can’t wait to bring him along some day!

Guys, if you’ve never been to Decorah, it is the PERFECT weekend getaway/fall trip. We take it for granted because Decorah has always just been there but as I grow older I realize how fortunate we are to live so close to such a cute little town. The shopping, the cute little restaraunts, the outdoor trails, the waterfall at Dunnings Springs, the fish hatchery, the paved bike trail, it’s all so wonderful and I highly recommend you plan your trip to Decorah soon.

While you’re there, check out Luna Valley Farms – a pizza farm where all ingredients are either grown on the farm or locally sourced! We met up with mom and Karl and the boys for supper.

They make wood fired oven baked pizza that is just amazing. You can enjoy your pizza overlooking their farm, watching the cattle graze and the river run through. Check out this view:

So that’s our day-date. I’ve got more to tell you and more to blog about and I can’t wait to share the video that Craig and I are editing of our mountain biking adventure. For now – I’ve got my Tyelnol and ibuprofen and I’m off to bed.

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